WASHINGTON – House Agriculture Committee Chairman David Scott delivered the following statement after today's hearing titled “A 2022 Review of the Farm Bill: Broadband.”

“I have said it before, and I will say it again – rural broadband is a critical and necessary tool for our rural communities and our farmers, ranchers, and foresters. We have heard that message loud and clear through our many broadband-related hearings in this Committee. However, as we turn our focus to the 2023 Farm Bill, I am glad we were able to emphasize a different, yet highly important aspect of our rural broadband challenge – maximizing our investments through interagency coordination,” said Chairman David Scott.

“USDA has valuable expertise in delivering broadband to rural areas. But we cannot achieve 100% nationwide coverage without coordination and collaboration among those with broadband resources across the Federal government. It is crucial that USDA, NTIA, and FCC work together – a point we made clear in the 2018 Farm Bill. I want to thank Under Secretary Torres Small and our witnesses for joining us today to talk about this topic,” Chairman David Scott continued.

“While I regret we were unable to hear from NTIA and FCC today, this Committee will continue to work hard to ensure the appropriate coordination is occurring between these members of the Federal family and USDA, and pursuing opportunities for our Members to communicate this message to them,” Chairman David Scott said.

Photos for use from this hearing can be found here.

Full video of the hearing can be found here.