Griffith-Cosponsored Broadband Legislation Passes House of Representatives

Monday, December 16, 2019 – Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives today passed two bills to expand broadband coverage:

“Broadband plays a vital role in the economy and culture of the 21st century, yet too many areas of the country, particularly rural communities, are left out. Further, it can be unclear to the government in some cases whether broadband service is available in a particular area or not.

“As we build out broadband in rural areas, it is vital that we have accurate information about coverage. I cosponsored the Mapping Accuracy Promotes Services Act and the Broadband DATA Act to help fix these problems. I am pleased that they have passed the House, and I hope that the Senate will follow suit.”

Background

H.R. 4229, the Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability Act (Broadband DATA) Act, would require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to issue rules relating to the collection of data with respect to the availability of broadband services; and

H.R. 4227, the Mapping Accuracy Promotes Services Act, would prohibit the submission to the FCC of broadband internet access service coverage information or data for the purposes of compiling an inaccurate broadband coverage map.