Photo from the News and Sentinel, West Virgina.
Knowledge is Power.
So is the rapidity of how that knowledge is transmitted.
History recognizes the invention of the Gutenberg Press as a transformational focal point in Western Civilization where the resulting advances in literacy and the transmission of knowledge helped bring about the second half of the Renaissance, the Reformation, the Age of the Baroque, the Age of Reason, and the Enlightenment.
Fast forward to 2021 through 2023 and Americans can see the Twenty-First Equalvelent of the advent of The Gutenberg Press: the spread of internet broadband expansion, thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (that all of Arizona's Congressional Democrats voted for and none of the MAGA Republicans supported,) in neglected communities like those in rural and highly impoverished areas.
On June 26, 2023, the Biden/Harris Commerce Department announced that a $42.45 grant program to help all 50 states and United States territories expand broadband has been finalized.
The range of awards is $27 million to $3.3 billion. Each of the 50 states will receive a minimum of $107 million.
Arizona will get $993,112,231.37
According to a press release from the Arizona Democratic Party:
- "Under the Biden-Harris Administration, Arizona has already received $1.8 Billion in funding to provide affordable, reliable high-speed internet to everyone in Arizona."
- "423.3K households in Arizona are saving $30-75 per month on high-speed internet through the Biden-Harris Administration’s Affordable Connectivity Program."
According to a fact sheet released by the Biden/Harris Administration:
"These investments are part of the nearly $500 billion in private sector manufacturing and clean energy investments spurred by the President’s Investing in America agenda. The Investing in America agenda represents the most significant upgrade to our nation’s infrastructure in generations—an investment larger than FDR’s Rural Electrification effort, Eisenhower’s effort to build the Interstate Highway system, and the construction of the Panama Canal."
These infrastructure investments, along with narrowing and closing the digital divide, will also see an increase in high-paying blue and green-collar jobs.
In a statement on the grant program, President Joe Biden, in touting his Bideonomics program of building the economy from the middle class out and the bottom up, said:
"It’s the biggest investment in high-speed Internet ever, because for today’s economy to work for everyone, Internet access is just as important as electricity was or water or other basic services. Think of the parents and students sitting outside of McDonald’s or outside your office to be able to get on the Internet — in a parking lot just so their child can go online to do their homework..."
"...For around 24 million Americans across this country, there is no high-speed Internet. And for millions more, their Internet connection is limited or unreliable. High-speed Internet isn’t a luxury anymore; it’s become an absolute necessity. That’s why we acted as soon as we did — as soon as we came to office — with the American Rescue Plan.
It included $25 billion — $25 billion for high-speed Internet in places where it was out of reach, for schools and libraries to help students connect to the Internet if they couldn’t do it at home. After that, we signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, a once-in-a-generation investment to rebuild roads, bridges, ports, airports, and deliver water and high-speed Internet to every American..."
"...And today, we’re taking another big step toward Internet for all. We’re announcing over $40 billion to be distributed to 50 states, Washington, D.C., and territories to deliver high-speed Internet in places where there’s neither service or it’s too slow...The funding for each state and territory is based on their specific needs, how many of their residents currently lack Internet access, and what it will cost to provide that access. With this funding, along with other federal investments, we’re going to be able to connect every person in America to reliable high-speed Internet by 2030. I promised to be a president for all Americans, whether or not they voted for me or whether or not they voted for these laws. These investments will help all Americans. We’re not going to leave anyone behind..."
As proof that the President means it when he says these investments are for all Americans and no one is going to be left behind, please note that red states like Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Missouri, and Texas are all receiving grants of over a billion dollars.
One wonders how the MAGA Republican leaders and power brokers in those states will react when their rural base is hopefully exposed to more information based in reality on the expanded broadband that is set up thanks to the Biden/Harris Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Vice President Kamala Harris also offered a comment on the broadband expansion, describing a visit to the Lousiana rural community of Sunset:
"Sunset is like many other small towns in America. It has a Main Street with a bank, a church, and a donut shop.
And Sunset is similar to many rural communities for another reason: Almost 40 percent of households in that area do not have high-speed Internet, in large part because the fiber-optic lines that connect most Americans to the Internet just never made it to Sunset. But here’s what that means: In Sunset, I met with parents who cannot apply for remote-work jobs because they do not have a high-speed Internet connection at home. In Sunset, I met with entrepreneurs who struggle to start or grow a small business because they cannot get online. And I met with students who, when public buildings were closed during the pandemic, had to sit in the parking lot of a local library just to submit their homework over Wi-Fi. And these stories are not uncommon. Today, 24 million people in our country do not have access to high-speed Internet, either because they cannot afford the monthly cost of a plan or because they live in communities that have not yet been fully connected to fiber-optic networks. But let us agree: In the 21st century, in America, high-speed Internet is not a luxury; it is a necessity."
Remember all the members of the Democratic Congressional Delegation voted for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Most of the Republican Delegation did not support expanded broadband, modernizing and repairing roads and bridges, an increase in electric vehicles, helping combat extreme heat, and the growth of high-paying blue and green-collar jobs.
Voters need to continue to remember that when going to the polls in 2024 and beyond.
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