President Donald Trump said that expanded access to broadband internet service in rural areas will be part of the infrastructure plan he will submit to Congress, helping to bridge a digital divide between rural and urban America.

During a June 21, 2017 rally in Cedar Rapids Iowa, the President claimed, “I will be including a provision in our infrastructure proposal… to promote and foster, enhanced broadband access for rural America.”  While aboard Air Force One, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told reporters, “we think we ought to have the same push to have broadband connectivity all over the country,” because broadband deployment has become an “infrastructure of necessity,” in the 21st century.

On June 20, 2017, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a hearing on updating the “Universal Service Fund” for the benefit of broadband deployment in rural areas.  In addition, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government held a hearing on the FCC’s Fiscal Year 2018 budget request.  Throughout the hearing, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai emphasized that rural broadband deployment is the number one priority for the Commission. Federal investment in broadband infrastructure is needed in rural counties where millions of Americans are underserved by private carriers.