{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=C29ED2A9-8105-4CFB-87E1-054232A79931", "Thune: Effective Use of Federal Broadband Funds Will Help Bridge the Digital Divide", "2022-12-21", "2022", "2022-12", "Republican", "Senate", "SD", "John Thune", "T000250", "www.thune.senate.gov", "thune", "https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases", "scraper", "Click here to watch the video.\n\nWASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today discussed his nationwide broadband oversight effort that will hold agencies accountable and ensure that previously authorized broadband funding is being used in the most efficient way possible to protect taxpayer dollars. Thune noted that in the last two years, Congress has allocated nearly $80 billion in funding for broadband-related services, which is split among 133 programs at 15 different agencies.\n\nAs part of Thune\u2019s effort, he recently sent a letter to U.S. Department of Commerce Inspector General Peggy Gustafson for her failure to fulfill congressionally mandated oversight of previously authorized broadband funding. Thune also sent a letter to a diverse group of stakeholders, including broadband associations, public interest groups, and free-market think tanks to seek their input on the current broadband regulatory structure.\n\nThune\u2019s remarks below (as prepared for delivery):\n\n\u201cMr. President, as a resident of a rural state, expanding rural broadband access has long been a priority of mine.\n\n\u201cAnd I\u2019m not the only one.\n\n\u201cOver the years Congress has dedicated significant resources to closing the digital divide.\n\n\u201cAnd that has been especially true over the past three years.\n\n\u201cCongress has appropriated a lot of money for broadband lately.\n\n\u201cA whopping $79 billion to be precise dedicated solely to broadband-related projects.\n\n\u201c$79 billion, on top of the billions of dollars the Federal Communications Commission disburses annually under its Universal Service Fund.\n\n\u201cThat is an unprecedented amount of money.\n\n\u201cIn fact, with that much money we ought to be able to deliver gold- and diamond-laced broadband to every household in the United States.\n\n\u201cBut, Mr. President, appropriating money is not enough.\n\n\u201cWe could throw trillions of dollars at the rural broadband problem and still not close the digital divide.\n\n\u201cBecause all the money in the world is useless if it\u2019s not being spent the right way.\n\n\u201cAs I said, we have enough money now that we ought to be deploying gold- and diamond-laced broadband across the country.\n\n\u201cBut I have serious questions about whether this money is actually going to meaningfully move us toward closing the digital divide.\n\n\u201cThe money that we currently have, as much as it is, is spread out over 15 separate agencies and 133 programs.\n\n\u201c133 programs.\n\n\u201cTo say that that is not conducive to a coherent rural broadband strategy is an understatement.\n\n\u201cNow, the lion\u2019s share of the funding does go through one agency \u2013 the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, or NTIA.\n\n\u201cBut it is an agency with a very poor record of efficiently disbursing broadband funding.\n\n\u201cThe last time Congress provided NTIA with a big infusion of broadband funding \u2013 a fraction of the funding it is now responsible for \u2013 the agency struggled with implementation and ended up overbuilding existing broadband networks, resulting in billions of taxpayer dollars being spent with little to show.\n\n\u201cAnd I\u2019ve seen very little to convince me that NTIA is likely to do much better this time around.\n\n\u201cIn July of last year, NTIA called for volunteers to help determine how to allocate $1.5 billion Congress had provided to NTIA to improve broadband access.\n\n\u201cVolunteers.\n\n\u201cAnd yet Congress has now put the agency in charge of distributing the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program.\n\n\u201cI am deeply concerned that without serious oversight, NTIA will make \u2013 and is already making \u2013 similar mistakes when managing its current broadband programs.\n\n\u201cThat is why earlier this month I began an oversight effort to review the numerous federal broadband programs.\n\n\u201cOversight of how federal broadband dollars are being spent is necessary to ensure that agencies aren\u2019t misusing billions of taxpayer dollars and, most importantly, to make sure the funding is going to areas that are actually unserved.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve already requested input from a diverse group of stakeholders to identify ways we can improve broadband programs \u2013 and broadband policy more generally \u2013 as we head into the 118th Congress.\n\n\u201cAnd I\u2019ve requested that federal agencies provide information on their efforts to improve broadband infrastructure siting, a key component of deploying broadband networks.\n\n\u201cIn the new year, I will work on compiling these responses and presenting stakeholder concerns to NTIA, the Federal Communications Commission, the Department of Agriculture, and the Treasury Department.\n\n\u201cAnd if changes need to be made to the programs Congress has established, I will do everything I can to hold Congress and federal agencies accountable for making those changes so that all of these programs work as effectively as possible and as Congress intended.\n\n\u201cMr. President, to expand rural broadband access and actually close the digital divide, it\u2019s not enough to just appropriate money.\n\n\u201cWe also need to make sure that money is being spent in the right way.\n\n\u201cAnd I am committed to doing everything I can to ensure that the money that has been appropriated for rural broadband actually goes to expanding access to those who are currently unserved.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:41:06Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", 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