{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.capito.senate.gov/news/press-releases/capito-klobuchar-introduce-broadband-legislation-to-close-the-homework-gap", "Capito, Klobuchar Introduce Broadband Legislation to Close the Homework GapRead More", "2020-12-16", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "House", "WV", "Shelley Capito", "C001047", "www.capito.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), both members of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, today introduced the Every Child Connected Act\u2014legislation that aims to reduce the digital divide between students with and without internet access, known as the Homework Gap. Specifically, the legislation accomplishes this goal by targeting available funding sources from Federal Trade Commission (FTC) data privacy violations to provide vital connectivity to American students at home.\n\n\u201cWhile improving broadband accessibility in West Virginia and across rural America has always been a top priority, there\u2019s no question that the coronavirus pandemic has underscored the need to address this challenge now more than ever,\u201d Senator Capito said. \u201cWith schools nationwide shifting to digital learning, students and teachers rely heavily on the internet to keep up with their assignments and connect with one another. However, the unfortunate reality is that millions of students do not have the same access to these online tools that some of their classmates do, putting them at a significant disadvantage. The Every Child Connected Act aims to address this problem by redefining the classroom to include learning from home; redirecting funding to make telecommunication services more affordable for schools and communities.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn order to help close the homework gap and ensure that we connect every child to critical internet services, we must have the funding to do so,\u201d Senator Klobuchar said. \u201cOur bipartisan legislation will help us get one step closer to closing the digital divide by expanding the Federal Communications Commission\u2019s E-rate program to ensure that we can connect K-12 students at home to participate in distance learning.\u201d\n\nIn an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, schools across the country have closed or reduced in-person learning, forcing students to turn to the internet to complete their education. According to the Department of Education\u2019s most recent data, 14 percent of children ages 3-18\u2014approximately 9.4 million total\u2014do not have internet access at home, putting them at significant risk of falling behind academically.\n\nThe Every Child Connected Act would:\n\nRequires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to redefine the term classroom to include distance learning occurring at the home.\n\nRedirects funding captured by Section 5 of the FTC act and consent orders from privacy violations at the FTC to the FCC E-Rate program.\n\nRequires coordination among state and local municipalities and the Department of Education to assure E-Rate is utilized for distance learning taking place at the home.\n\nTo view full bill text, click here.\n\nTo view a one-pager on the legislation, click here.\n\n# # #", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-06-28T00:42:23Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.capito.senate.gov/news/press-releases/capito-klobuchar-introduce-broadband-legislation-to-close-the-homework-gap"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.640884904190898, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}