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Energy and Commerce Democrats Ignore FCC Successes

by Jeffrey Westling
Sept 17, 2020
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issues: Technology and Innovation
WASHINGTON (Sept. 17, 2020)—The R Street Institute is disappointed with the Democrats’ distorting of the Federal Communications Commission’s record of success through the upcoming hearing in the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology titled “Trump FCC: Four Years of Lost Opportunities.” This hearing ignores the significant work that the Commission has accomplished over the last four years, including: keeping Americans connected during the pandemic, lowering barriers to broadband deployment, allowing market forces to allocate and assign spectrum and promoting investment in broadband networks by reversing the Title II Order.

“The Democrats on the subcommittee have not been paying attention for the past four years: The Commission’s free market, deregulatory approach led to significant investment in networks and helped Americans stay connected when the coronavirus pandemic forced thousands of small and large businesses to transition to remote work” explains Jeffrey Westling, Resident Fellow for Technology & Innovation Policy. “Further, the Commission’s ‘Keep Americans Connected’ pledge was a tremendous success, as hundreds of carriers across the country stepped up to ensure that financial difficulties did not prevent Americans from losing their broadband connection.”

To learn more about the FCC’s recent successes regarding the digital divide, please see R Street’s blog post “Bridging the Digital Divide from the Bottom Up.”

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