Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr slams Kamala Harris’s $42 billion broadband initiative, calling it a colossal failure in a scathing testimony earlier than the Home Oversight and Accountability Committee on Thursday.
Carr, the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Fee, didn’t maintain again, accusing the regime of prioritizing political agendas over sensible options for tens of millions of People nonetheless missing entry to high-speed web.
“It’s been 1,039 days since Vice President Harris agreed to spearhead this large program, but not a single particular person has been linked to the web. Not one residence. Not one enterprise. Not even a shovel has hit the bottom,” Carr declared in his opening assertion.
“It will get worse—no infrastructure builds will even begin till someday subsequent 12 months on the earliest, and in lots of circumstances, not till 2026. This makes Vice President Harris’s $42 billion initiative the slowest-moving federal broadband deployment program in latest historical past.”
This system, often called BEED (Broadband Fairness, Entry, and Deployment), was designed to increase web entry to tens of millions of People in rural and underserved communities.
However in response to Carr, the initiative has been slowed down by bureaucratic mismanagement and a give attention to advancing a “want checklist of progressive coverage targets” fairly than delivering on its core mission.
“The $42 billion program led by Vice President Harris is getting used to push a local weather change agenda, DEI necessities, value controls, preferences for government-run networks, and guidelines that may result in wasteful overbuilding. All of this can depart rural communities behind,” he mentioned.
The FCC commissioner pointed to the Biden administration’s broader failure to help rural America, citing the revocation of Starlink’s dedication to offer web to over 640,000 houses and companies.
“Frankly, it will not be the one time the Biden-Harris administration has left rural America behind. In 2020, the SEC secured a dedication from Starlink to offer Web to 640,000 houses and companies for about $1,300 per location in federal help.”
“However the authorities revoked that award final 12 months after President Biden gave companies the inexperienced gentle to go after Musk. The administration is now spending {dollars} on the penny to attach areas by means of its personal initiatives. Senator Cruz launched a report figuring out complete tasks the place the administration is now spending over $100,000 per location for Web.”
The listening to served as a stark indictment of Vice President Harris’s management on the problem, with Carr calling for a whole overhaul of the broadband initiative.
“Absent main reforms, Vice President Harris’s $42 billion program is wired to fail. It’s time to right course, eliminate all of the extraneous political targets, and give attention to rapidly connecting People,” Carr concluded.
WATCH:
JUST IN: FCC Commissioner @BrendanCarrFCC slams Vice President Kamala Harris’s $42 billion broadband initiative, saying it hasn’t linked a single particular person to the web in 3 years.
“In 2021, VP Harris agreed to guide a $42 billion effort to develop web entry to… pic.twitter.com/YgBoafNW0Y
— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) September 19, 2024