{"id":4964,"date":"2020-05-14T15:08:40","date_gmt":"2020-05-14T19:08:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/covid19\/?p=4964"},"modified":"2020-05-14T16:04:05","modified_gmt":"2020-05-14T20:04:05","slug":"sen-tom-udall-d-new-mexico-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/2020\/05\/14\/sen-tom-udall-d-new-mexico-14\/","title":{"rendered":"Sen. Tom Udall (D-New Mexico)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"width: 640px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-4964-1\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/tomudall051320.mp4?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/tomudall051320.mp4\">https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/tomudall051320.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n<p class=\"m_7218583655423684888wordsection1\"><b>For Immediate Release<\/b><u><\/u><u><\/u><\/p>\n<p class=\"m_7218583655423684888wordsection1\"><b>May<span class=\"m_7218583655423684888apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/b><b>14, 2020<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"m_7218583655423684888wordsection1\" align=\"center\"><b><u>VIDEO: Udall Builds Support for Expanding Broadband Access in Indian Country at Senate Commerce Committee Hearing<\/u><\/b><u><\/u><u><\/u>&nbsp;<u><\/u><u><\/u><\/p>\n<p class=\"m_7218583655423684888wordsection1\" align=\"center\"><b><i>Many Tribes across the country lack broadband access which is more vital than ever while urging residents to stay at home amid the COVID-19 pandemic&nbsp;<\/i><\/b><u><\/u><u><\/u>&nbsp;<u><\/u><u><\/u><\/p>\n<p class=\"m_7218583655423684888wordsection1\" align=\"center\"><b><i>Industry representatives testify in support of Udall\u2019s bill to bridge the digital divide in Indian Country<\/i><\/b><u><\/u><u><\/u>&nbsp;<u><\/u><u><\/u><\/p>\n<p class=\"m_7218583655423684888wordsection1\"><b>VIDEO LINK: Udall\u2019s question begins at the 1:32:47 mark <a href=\"https:\/\/www.commerce.senate.gov\/2020\/5\/the-state-of-broadband-amid-the-covid-19-pandemic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.commerce.senate.gov\/2020\/5\/the-state-of-broadband-amid-the-covid-19-pandemic&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1589568860960000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHnge90-CkFxOsy78Clik1QjCFLkA\">here.<\/a><\/b><u><\/u><u><\/u><\/p>\n<p class=\"m_7218583655423684888wordsection1\"><b>WASHINGTON\u2014<\/b>Yesterday, <b>U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.), <\/b>a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee and vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, pressed representatives from broadband service providers to focus on expanding broadband internet access to Indian Country. Each representative on the witness panel expressed support for Udall\u2019s legislation, the <i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tomudall.senate.gov\/news\/press-releases\/udall-cantwell-heinrich-introduce-bill-to-increase-tribal-broadband-access\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.tomudall.senate.gov\/news\/press-releases\/udall-cantwell-heinrich-introduce-bill-to-increase-tribal-broadband-access&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1589568860960000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHbgMVKW7T4jobY4oi428f0v2NDbA\">Bridging the Tribal Digital Divide Act of 2020<\/a>,<\/i>&nbsp;and committed to advancing further efforts to expand service to Tribal lands during and after the COVID-19 crisis.<u><\/u><u><\/u>&nbsp;<u><\/u><u><\/u><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.commerce.senate.gov\/2020\/5\/the-state-of-broadband-amid-the-covid-19-pandemic\">The State of Broadband Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"m_7218583655423684888wordsection1\">According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC),&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/docs.fcc.gov\/public\/attachments\/DOC-357269A1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/docs.fcc.gov\/public\/attachments\/DOC-357269A1.pdf&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1589568860960000&amp;usg=AFQjCNExoaZLXW1li7Hm2-TGzkAPTJ7Q6w\">less than half<\/a>&nbsp;of households on Tribal lands have access to fixed broadband service. This represents a nearly 27-point gap compared to non-Tribal rural areas.&nbsp;This gap only widens when compared to the country-wide average. In 2018, the FCC estimated that 35 percent of Americans living on Tribal lands lacked access to broadband services, compared to eight percent of all Americans.&nbsp;&nbsp;<u><\/u><u><\/u><\/p>\n<p class=\"m_7218583655423684888wordsection1\">\u201cPrior to COVID-19, Tribal communities were significantly behind much of the Nation in terms of access to affordable broadband service,\u201d <b>Udall began. \u201c<\/b>Sadly, the pandemic has only exacerbated this reality. While Tribal communities grapple with COVID-19 response, they must simultaneously adjust to an increasingly broadband-reliant society. Now more than ever, broadband service is critical to access telemedicine, online education, and teleworking. My bill, <i>the Bridging the Tribal Digital Divide Act<\/i>, sought to update existing authorities to rapidly address this inequity.<u><\/u><u><\/u><\/p>\n<p class=\"m_7218583655423684888wordsection1\">\u201cOne provision of my bill created a Tribal set-aside under the Universal Services Fund, similar to what the FCC did under the Tribal Mobility Fund,\u201d <b>Udall continued.<\/b><u><\/u><u><\/u><\/p>\n<p class=\"m_7218583655423684888wordsection1\">\u201cWhat should Congress and the FCC do in order to bridge the Tribal digital divide? Do you support further set-asides under the Universal Services Fund for Tribal communities?\u201d <b>Udall asked.<\/b><u><\/u><u><\/u><\/p>\n<div class=\"embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9\"><div class=\"iframe-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"embed-responsive-item\" src=\"https:\/\/www.senate.gov\/isvp\/?type=arch&amp;comm=commerce&amp;filename=commerce051320&amp;auto_play=false&amp;wmode=opaque\" width=\"320\" height=\"240\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div>\n<p class=\"m_7218583655423684888wordsection1\">\u201cI can tell you that our industry is doing its best to work closely and in close coordination with the Native American community and is committed to continue to work closely with them,\u201d <b>replied Jonathan Spalter, President and Chief Executive Officer of USTelecom.<\/b> \u201cRecently, the Navajo Nation leadership worked to expedite permitting and rights of way issues that were impeding the speedy delivery of broadband to Navajo lands in Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. Frontier Communications is working with them to get this permitting streamlining done and is now able to deliver to those communities that are being hit most hard by COVID-19. There\u2019s a number of steps and a number of points of light ahead and I really look forward to evaluating your legislation in the days ahead.\u201d<u><\/u><u><\/u><\/p>\n<p class=\"m_7218583655423684888wordsection1\">\u201cWe would also be really interested in your legislation,\u201d <b>said Shirley Bloomfield, Chief Executive Officer of the NTCA- The Rural Broadband Association.<\/b> \u201cThere are so many different needs that we have\u2026in order to bridge these divides.\u201d<u><\/u><u><\/u><\/p>\n<p class=\"m_7218583655423684888wordsection1\">\u201cI think that Tribal lands have long been overlooked,\u201d <b>said Steven Berry, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Competitive Carriers Association. <\/b>\u201cI think some of those lessons that we\u2019re learning now\u2026should be explored as we move from relief to a more normal process. We would greatly appreciate the opportunity to work with you on your legislation and I think it\u2019s a very much-needed initiative.\u201d<u><\/u><u><\/u><\/p>\n<p class=\"m_7218583655423684888wordsection1\">\u201cSenator Udall, we fully support your legislation,\u201d <b>said Gene Kimmelman, Senior Advisor of Public Knowledge.<\/b> \u201cWe think that it\u2019s critical, we appreciate your leadership, along with Senator Cantwell\u2019s, in highlighting this important inequity. I believe that we should be immediately be pushing the FCC to use its Lifeline program and E-Rate program to make more resources available for Tribal lands.\u201d<u><\/u><u><\/u><\/p>\n<p class=\"m_7218583655423684888wordsection1\">In addition to introducing the <i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tomudall.senate.gov\/news\/press-releases\/udall-cantwell-heinrich-introduce-bill-to-increase-tribal-broadband-access\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.tomudall.senate.gov\/news\/press-releases\/udall-cantwell-heinrich-introduce-bill-to-increase-tribal-broadband-access&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1589568860960000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHbgMVKW7T4jobY4oi428f0v2NDbA\">Bridging the Tribal Digital Divide Act of 2020<\/a>,<\/i> Udall has pushed for dedicated funding for Distance Learning and Telemedicine in the Coronavirus Aid, Response, and Economic Security Act that passed Congress in March, helping to secure $25 million. The Navajo Nation was recently awarded <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tomudall.senate.gov\/news\/press-releases\/udall-heinrich-applaud-nearly-1-million-cares-act-fcc-telehealth-grant-for-navajo-nation-\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.tomudall.senate.gov\/news\/press-releases\/udall-heinrich-applaud-nearly-1-million-cares-act-fcc-telehealth-grant-for-navajo-nation-&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1589568860960000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFi60RybHsFwAyU2eiMBjY9vSW72A\">nearly $1 million<\/a> from this funding. Udall also fought to expand fudning for the FCC\u2019s Re-Connect program by $100 million in the CARES Act. The Pueblo of Acoma and 16 counties in New Mexico have received a total of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tomudall.senate.gov\/news\/press-releases\/nm-delegation-hails-23-million-in-grants-to-connect-over-2200-homes-in-rural-new-mexico-to-broadband-internet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.tomudall.senate.gov\/news\/press-releases\/nm-delegation-hails-23-million-in-grants-to-connect-over-2200-homes-in-rural-new-mexico-to-broadband-internet&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1589568860961000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEKKmowT4IpFYvOE1iytZB8WXZr0A\">$23 million<\/a> from this funding to connect over 2,200 households with broadband internet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>According to the Federal Communications Commission,\u00a0less than half\u00a0of households on Tribal lands have access to fixed broadband service.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[18,119,432,10,35,15],"class_list":["post-4964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-institutions","tag-116th","tag-democrats","tag-internet","tag-new-mexico","tag-scia","tag-tom-udall"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4964"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4975,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4964\/revisions\/4975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}