Congressman Comer Holds Virtual Roundtable on Urgent Need to Expand Broadband Access
TOMPKINSVILLE – On Thursday, Congressman James Comer hosted a successful virtual roundtable to discuss the need to expand broadband access to all corners of Kentucky. The event was open for online viewing and included a discussion between Congressman Comer and stakeholders across a variety of industries of ways to address internet access moving forward.
Congressman Comer opened the discussion by reviewing the work he’s done to expand broadband access, including adding money in the 2018 Farm Bill for the effort, as well as advocating for broadband grant funding for local electric co-ops from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Congressman Comer then gathered input and ideas from leaders within the agriculture, education, health care and telecommunications sectors on ways to expand broadband access moving forward.
Congressman James Comer noted that the discussion was productive and focused on just how important broadband access is to rural areas of Kentucky. “In an overwhelmingly rural district like mine, the lack of universal broadband access continues to be a barrier to creating jobs in the 21st century economy. Unfortunately, this divide has only grown during the COVID-19 pandemic, as working and learning from home has become the new normal. We had a productive discussion today about some of the progress that has been made as well as action that can be taken to remedy the digital divide moving forward.”
The discussion can be viewed on Congressman Comer’s official Facebook page, @CongressmanComer.