E&C Leaders Applaud House Passage of Bipartisan Broadband Mapping Bill
Statement
Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA), and Committee members Reps. Dave Loebsack (D-IA) and A. Donald McEachin (D-VA) released the following statement after the House of Representatives today passed S. 1822, by unanimous consent:
"Today, the House once again passed legislation to fix our nation's faulty broadband maps. This bill is the result of an agreement with the Senate to merge multiple bills into one package that can be signed by the President. Accurately mapping the availability of broadband internet service is essential to promoting the deployment of high-speed service to all Americans, especially those in unserved and underserved areas.
"It's unfortunate that the Federal Communications Commission has failed to address these issues on its own, but this bipartisan bill marks a huge step forward in building out broadband where it is needed. We expect the Senate to act quickly on this bill and send it to the President's desk so we can target future investments in broadband to the areas that need it the most."
S. 1822 includes the following two bills that passed the House in December:
H.R. 4229, the "Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability Act" or the "Broadband DATA Act," was introduced by Rep. Dave Loebsack (D-IA) and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Ranking Member Bob Latta (R-OH). This legislation requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to issue new rules to require the collection and dissemination of granular broadband availability data, to establish a process to verify the accuracy of such data and more.
H.R. 4227, the "Mapping Accuracy Promotion Services Act" or the "MAPS Act," was introduced by Reps. A. Donald McEachin (D-VA) and Billy Long (R-MO). This legislation specifies that it is unlawful for a person to willfully, knowingly or recklessly submit inaccurate broadband service data.
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