Broadband for All Resolution of 2020
This resolution recognizes that equal access to affordable and reliable broadband service for all Americans is a civil and human right that protects and promotes the fair, equal, and impartial treatment of all people. It also asserts that affordable broadband access enables the promotion and propagation of human rights, recognizes that this access promotes equal access for engagement in democracy, and reaffirms that the global and open nature of the internet is a driving force in progress toward development.
Further, the resolution calls on the President to (1) preserve and build upon the technological leadership of the federal government and federal funding opportunities to provide all Americans with affordable broadband access, (2) ensure tribal sovereignty over access to electromagnetic spectrum on tribal lands, and (3) address the civil and human rights threats posed by a lack of affordable access to broadband in light of the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1144 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1144
Recognizing broadband as a human and civil right for all Americans.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 23, 2020
Ms. Haaland (for herself and Mr. Khanna) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Recognizing broadband as a human and civil right for all Americans.
Whereas, in 2016, the United Nations Human Rights Council passed a resolution
affirming that the same rights people have offline must be protected
online and called for countries to promote and facilitate access to the
internet to develop knowledgeable societies with the realization of the
right to freedom of expression, the right to freedom of peaceful
assembly and association, and the right to education;
Whereas the First Amendment to the Constitution protects the freedom of speech
and expression for all persons, and the Supreme Court has ruled that
speech and expression on the internet is included in such protections;
Whereas the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) published the National
Broadband Plan in 2010 to bring broadband to all Americans but, as of
2020, 22.3 percent of Americans living in rural areas lacked access to
fixed broadband services, compared to only 1.5 percent of Americans
living in urban areas;
Whereas digital divides contribute to and exacerbate poverty and inequality in
modern society by prohibiting equal access to public services,
employment opportunities, educational resources, basic liberties, and
fundamental rights guaranteed to all Americans;
Whereas, in April 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services found that
more than 1 in 6 people with incomes below the Federal poverty level had
no access to the internet, and 18 percent of people with incomes below
100 percent of the Federal poverty level lacked internet access,
compared to only 3 percent of people with incomes at or above 400
percent of the Federal poverty level;
Whereas, in 2018, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that only 65
percent of American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians living
on Tribal lands had access to fixed broadband services, and only 69
percent of households on Tribal lands have telephone services;
Whereas the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) estimates that up to 95 percent of
students attending BIE facilities lack residential internet services
during the COVID-19 pandemic;
Whereas the GAO has further found that FCC data has overstated statistics
relating to broadband availability and digital access on Tribal lands in
the United States;
Whereas the 2017 statistics of the National Center for Education Statistics in
the Department of Education showed that 34.1 percent of all higher
education students engage in some form of online education courses, a
5.7-percent increase in enrollment in online higher education from the
previous year;
Whereas the percentage of students enrolled in online education courses
significantly increased during the pandemic and educational
administrators have made remote and online learning for the 2020-2021
academic year available to avoid public health risks;
Whereas increased access to broadband promotes economic competition,
entrepreneurship, and efficiency;
Whereas the World Bank found that every 10 percent increase in fixed broadband
penetration accelerates economic growth by 1.21 percent in developed
economies and 1.38 percent in developing economies;
Whereas counties with higher rates of broadband availability have lower
unemployment rates, and broadband helps service industry businesses
overcome geographic barriers that have traditionally hampered rural
growth;
Whereas the American Medical Informatics Association and other public health
experts have called access to wireless broadband services a social
determinant of health;
Whereas data from the American Community Survey of the Bureau of the Census
shows that approximately 5,000,000 households with school-age children
do not have high-speed internet access at home, with a disproportionate
share being low-income African-American or Hispanic/Latino households,
and low-income households are 4 times more likely than middle- or high-
income households to lack broadband access;
Whereas the United States is a signatory of the Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities, which calls on countries to take appropriate
measures to promote access for persons with disabilities to new
information and communication technology and systems, which can only be
achieved through continued access to communication technologies; and
Whereas intentional disruptions of internet access have been used in countries
across the globe to crack down on human rights, limit communication, and
harm freedom of association: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This resolution may be cited as the ``Broadband for All Resolution
of 2020''.
SEC. 2. RECOGNIZING BROADBAND AS A HUMAN AND CIVIL RIGHT FOR ALL
AMERICANS.
The House of Representatives--
(1) recognizes that equal access to affordable and reliable
fixed broadband services for all Americans is a civil and human
right that protects and promotes the fair, equal, and impartial
treatment of all people regardless of race, sex, nationality,
ethnicity, language, religion, economic status, or any other
status;
(2) asserts that affordable access to broadband enables the
promotion and propagation of human rights, including equal
access to information, government services, use of public
facilities, freedom from discrimination, freedom of expression,
freedom of peaceful assembly and association, and the right to
education;
(3) recognizes that affordable access to broadband promotes
equal access for engagement in our democracy and the exercise
of constitutionally vested rights;
(4) reaffirms the global and open nature of the internet as
a driving force in accelerating progress toward development in
its various forms, including achieving the Sustainable
Development Goals of the United Nations;
(5) acknowledges that the human right to affordable access
to broadband may only be limited or restricted if such
restriction is provided for by law and is nondiscriminatory,
necessary, and proportionate to a legitimate purpose, such as
to protect the rights of others, national security, or to
protect public order or health; and
(6) calls on the President--
(A) to preserve and build upon the technological
leadership of the Federal Government and Federal
funding opportunities for all Americans to affordable
access to fixed broadband services and infrastructure
development to bridge the digital divide, especially
for low-income households and households with incomes
below the Federal poverty line;
(B) to preserve and build upon the technological
leadership of the Federal Government and Federal
funding opportunities for fixed broadband expansion and
infrastructure development, especially in rural areas
and on Tribal lands, and in broadband deserts;
(C) to ensure that Tribal sovereignty over access
to electromagnetic spectrum on Tribal lands is
protected as part of the Federal trust responsibility
in furtherance of Tribal self-governance; and
(D) to further address the threat posed by lack of
affordable access to broadband to the civil and human
rights of all Americans, especially since the COVID-19
pandemic has further highlighted the growing digital
divide in the United States.
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Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
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