Introducing the Last Mile Broadband Plan
Broadband shouldn’t be treated as a luxury. Not here, in the richest country on Earth. Not now, in 2020.
Internet connectivity matters to your daily life as much as electricity and water. Reliable internet is essential, especially during this pandemic. That’s why today I’m rolling out my Last Mile Broadband Plan.
Right now, the safest way to remain connected is to get online. This is true for our schools and our loved ones, for our jobs, for our healthcare providers, and for every house of worship. But this approach is just not possible for a lot of us.
Slow download speeds and unreliable satellite internet, especially in rural parts of our district, leave many of us up a digital creek and longing for a paddle.
Something has to change. That’s why our plan treats broadband as a public utility and prioritizes that last mile of coverage which private markets leave out because firms don’t see a return on investment.
Rob Wittman’s failure to lead on this issue has had devastating impacts throughout the entire First District. He’s been in office since George W. Bush was president, and nothing has changed.
I have reliable internet at home. My kids are very happy about this. But many of our friends and neighbors are struggling to accomplish basic aspects of modern life, and that’s a serious injustice.
This particular injustice has been around for a long time, for as long as I’ve lived here. Even before the pandemic, I saw students doing their homework in McDonald’s parking lots. They had to use the restaurant’s wifi because of slow speeds at home. Today the problems caused by lack of reliable broadband are magnified. The pandemic has revealed that past attempts to bring the First District online simply haven’t worked.
The current system hurts our local economy. Folks in rural areas can’t earn a paycheck because their small businesses are struggling. Our local farmers aren’t able to get the data they need to run their farms successfully. Major corporations have lobbyists, so we shouldn’t be surprised that the major farm corporations got a bailout from Donald Trump. But what about working families who play by the rules? You got nothing except forgotten.
And what if you need medical care from a hospital? Rural hospitals are struggling and closing. Our community’s health is literally on the line because folks don’t have the broadband internet they need to access crucial telehealth services.
All of this must change, urgently. On my first day in office I would propose legislation to establish a Rural Broadband Expansion Authority with the power to manage every US Government grant or subsidy program. This new Authority would set fire to red tape, rescinding the waste and inefficiency of 14 different government offices. Instead, this Authority would unite telecommunications, information technology, construction, education, and agricultural experts under one team to assist local communities with the formation of effective and efficient broadband utilities.
If we do this, we will profoundly help the economy. We will create, at minimum, tens of thousands of new jobs. When Terry McAuliffe was governor, he frequently spoke about Virginia’s tens of thousands of unfilled computer science jobs. Today we have more than 35,000 open computer science jobs. Their average salary is more than $100,000.
We need to fill future jobs. We need to support and protect present jobs. We need to get people connected. We need to do everything we can to build a sustainable future and keep our communities safe. So we must act urgently to bring people online.
Rob Wittman and I have passed the same number of bills in Congress on broadband internet. Zero. The difference is he’s been in Congress for almost 13 years. And I’m fighting for that seat because my commitment is that once I’m in Congress, I will not sit idle for 13 years and simply talk about broadband internet access. In the name of helping all Virginians, I’ll show you what leadership looks like.
Qasim Rashid is a human rights lawyer who has dedicated his life to supporting women who are survivors of domestic and sexual violence, and to serving children from vulnerable communities. Qasim is running to transform his advocacy into results for the working families of Virginia’s 1st District. He believes in service, leadership, and compassion through action. To learn more, please visit RashidForVA.com.
