Reps. Matsui, Eshoo, and Markey Applaud NTIA for Prioritizing Broadband Grants for Schools, Libraries

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, January 19, 2010

CONTACTS:
Mara Lee (Matsui), 202.225.7163
Ben Bradford (Eshoo) 202.225.8104
Daniel Reilly (Markey) 202.225.2836

REPS. MATSUI, ESHOO, AND MARKEY APPLAUD NTIA FOR PRIORITIZING BROADBAND GRANTS FOR SCHOOLS, LIBRARIES
Anchor Institutions Provide Internet Access to American Public

Today, Representatives Doris O. Matsui (CA-05), Anna Eshoo (CA-14) and Edward Markey (MA-07) applauded the Obama Administration for prioritizing funding for essential anchor institutions, in the second round of broadband grants made possible by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA). The three members of the House Energy and Commerce Communications, Technology and the Internet Subcommittee had written a letter to NTIA in September to ensure that community centers like schools, libraries, and health facilities were included in the ARRA broadband rule-making and allocation decisions. Reps. Matsui, Eshoo and Markey issued the following statement today in regards to the NTIA announcement:

We applaud the Obama Administration for recognizing the importance that anchor institutions play in our communities. It is important that we continue to fund these critical institutions, specifically in underserved areas, to provide free high-speed internet access to the American public. As the country continues to experience high rates of unemployment, many of our constituents are turning to anchor institutions that provide access to broadband services at no or minimal cost to the consumer. Bringing high-capacity broadband to a neighborhood school or library will also make it much easier to ultimately serve the residential users and businesses in those neighborhoods.

# # #