Washington (July 18, 2024) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, and Congresswoman Grace Meng (NY-06), a member of the House Appropriations Committee, released the following statement after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted at its July meeting to modernize the E-Rate program to allow schools and libraries to loan out Wi-Fi hotspots to students and educators. 

“The FCC’s vote to modernize the E-Rate program affirms that internet access is crucial infrastructure for students and educators,” the lawmakers said. “Following the end of the Emergency Connectivity Fund and Affordable Connectivity Program, this much-needed update to E-Rate is critical to deliver service to millions of students without access to internet at home. The FCC’s action will bring us closer to closing the Homework Gap and provide more students internet access – an essential tool that they need to succeed. We applaud Chairwoman Rosenworcel, Commissioner Starks, Commissioner Gomez, and Commission staff for their efforts and close partnership on closing the digital divide.”

“The Federal Communications Commission has been a long-time champion of libraries and schools. For more than two decades, the E-Rate program has been a quiet powerhouse responsible for providing schools and libraries in every state with support for communications.  Yet despite E-Rate’s overwhelming success connecting schools and libraries, too often that connectivity ends at the edge of the building. That is why today the FCC successfully voted to modernize the E-Rate program to ensure that schools and libraries nationwide can loan out Wi-Fi hotspots to support high-speed internet access in rural America, urban America, and everything in between,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “We can help close the digital divide, keep our communities connected, and support the millions of students who fall into the Homework Gap with this updated approach to E-Rate. I would like to thank Senator Markey, Senator Van Hollen, and Representative Meng for their commitment to connect students and library patrons across the country.  Their work in this area is historic and it has informed our efforts today.”

In February, Senator Markey, Senator Van Hollen, and Congresswoman Meng led 64 of their colleagues in a letter to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel supporting the Commission’s proposal to expand the E-Rate program. Senator Markey is the House author of the original E-Rate program, which has invested more than $64 billion to connect schools and libraries to the internet across the country. Massachusetts schools and libraries have received nearly $900 million from the E-Rate program and another $97 million from the Emergency Connectivity Fund, a $7 billion program that Senators Markey and Van Hollen and Congresswoman Meng created within the American Rescue Plan to provide devices and connectivity for students and educators at home.

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