Broadband

Reliable, affordable, high-speed internet is essential infrastructure for families, students, health care providers, farmers, and businesses. Yet many rural communities still lack the dependable service they need to access telehealth, pursue an education, work remotely, operate a business, or participate fully in today’s economy.

For me, the issue of rural broadband dates back more than 20 years to my service on the Westmoreland County Board of Supervisors. As co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Rural Broadband Caucus and through the First District Broadband Task Force, I have consistently worked to expand reliable internet access across rural Virginia.

Accurate broadband maps are essential to determining which communities remain unserved and ensuring federal resources reach the people who truly need them. I supported the Broadband DATA Act, which requires more precise, location-based reporting from internet service providers to improve the Federal Communications Commission’s National Broadband Map. Better data helps prevent duplicative spending, reduces overbuilding in communities that already have service, and holds providers accountable for the coverage they report.

My Serving Rural America Act helped provide the model for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s Broadband Infrastructure Program. That $288 million program supports partnerships among states, localities, and broadband providers to deploy infrastructure in communities lacking reliable internet service.

Public-private partnerships are especially important in rural communities, where the cost of building broadband infrastructure can exceed the revenue a provider can reasonably expect to earn. Virginia’s Telecommunications Initiative has demonstrated how localities, the Commonwealth, and private providers can work together to extend service into communities where the business case for private investment alone may not exist.

Closing the digital divide requires more than simply spending additional federal dollars. Broadband programs must be coordinated, prioritize genuinely unserved communities, prevent overlapping awards, and ensure providers complete the projects taxpayers funded. Federal agencies must also eliminate unnecessary requirements and permitting delays that increase costs and prevent shovel-ready projects from moving forward.

In the 119th Congress, I helped relaunch the bipartisan Congressional Rural Broadband Caucus and joined colleagues from both parties in urging the federal government to implement broadband investments efficiently without imposing new obstacles that could delay deployment. I will continue working with local leaders, federal agencies, and private-sector providers to eliminate barriers, protect taxpayers, and ensure rural families and businesses have access to reliable, affordable high-speed internet.

Legislative Work

My legislative work to expand reliable, affordable broadband includes:

• Broadband DATA Act (Public Law 116-130) — I helped draft and supported this bipartisan law, which requires the Federal Communications Commission to collect more precise, location-based coverage data, improve the National Broadband Map, and establish processes for challenging inaccurate information.
• Serving Rural America Act (H.R. 6456, 116th Congress) — I introduced this legislation to create a five-year, $500 million pilot grant program supporting partnerships between localities and internet service providers to deploy broadband in unserved communities.
• ReConnecting Rural America Act of 2025 (H.R. 3119) — I am an original cosponsor of this bipartisan legislation to make the Department of Agriculture’s ReConnect Program permanent, prioritize rural communities with the greatest need, and support faster, more reliable broadband deployment.
• SPEED for BEAD Act (H.R. 1870) – I cosponsored this legislation to expand eligibility for broadband technologies that can receive funding through the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program.
• Reforming Broadband Connectivity Act (H.R. 1812, 118th Congress) — I cosponsored this legislation to modernize and stabilize the funding mechanism for the Universal Service Fund, which supports broadband access for rural and low-income households, schools, libraries, and rural health care facilities.
• Broadband Permitting Modernization Act (H.R. 3370, 117th Congress) — I cosponsored this legislation to streamline federal permitting for broadband infrastructure on federal lands and help shovel-ready projects move forward more efficiently.
• MAPS Act (H.R. 4227, 116th Congress) — I cosponsored this legislation to hold internet service providers accountable by making it unlawful to knowingly, willfully, or recklessly submit inaccurate broadband coverage information to the FCC.