Letter to Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, and Kevin McCarthy, House Minority Leader , Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Leader, and Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader - Congresswoman Elaine Luria Urges Support for Broadband Access

Letter

Dear Speaker Pelosi, Leader McConnell, Leader Schumer, and Leader McCarthy:

As you consider the next COVID-19 (coronavirus) relief package, we write to urge you to support
dedicated resources for distance learning to guarantee that all children can continue their education during
the pandemic. Without additional support from Congress, many students will be unable to continue their
education during this uncertain time. As such, we request that the next coronavirus package include at
least $2 billion in E-Rate funds for schools and libraries to provide Wi-Fi hotspots or other devices with
Wi-Fi capability to students without adequate connectivity in their homes.

The spread of the coronavirus within our nation's communities has strained our healthcare systems
beyond capacity, shuttered local businesses, and closed schools nationwide, forcing a historic reliance on
the internet to access the critical information needed to stem the impact of the pandemic. Yet, across the
United States, millions of families lack reliable home access to broadband connectivity, and as of 2019,
more than one in four rural residents do not have access to broadband.1

This lack of e-connectivity limits a student's ability to complete assignments at home and exacerbates
what is commonly referred to as the "homework gap," leaving some of our most vulnerable Americans
behind. The current public health crisis threatens to further exacerbate these historic inequities as more
and more schools move to e-learning as a way of providing supplemental education even as nearly 12
million students nationwide lack reliable home access to broadband connectivity. While research shows
that the "homework gap" alone can have serious impacts on a student's education experience, the current
pandemic may result in these same students being unable to continue their education at all.

We believe the E-Rate program could provide much-needed relief for these students and ensure that they
have the tools to continue their education both during this crisis and in the future. The E-Rate program
was established in 1997 to help schools and libraries gain affordable access to the internet through discounts ranging from 20-90% on telecommunication and internet service-related technologies. Since
then, the E-Rate program has proven to be a critical partner in helping our nation's schools and libraries
increase their access to reliable internet services. Providing additional funding for the E-Rate program to
expand these services even further to cover adequate home internet access for students across the nation
would be of immense help to students, schools, and families during this trying time.

The success of our students and the opportunities afforded to them should not be based on where they
live. It is especially important that during a time of public health crisis, we take steps to ensure that all
students can learn from home and that parents do not feel pressured to expose their children to contagions
so that they can access public Wi-Fi to complete their schoolwork. While permanently addressing this
digital divide caused by a lack of broadband access will take time and broad investments in infrastructure,
Congress can help students impacted by the coronavirus public health crisis today by providing funds
specifically dedicated to ensuring they have adequate home internet access.
We urge Congress to take immediate steps to close the "homework gap" and help America's students
continue to learn during these uncertain times by providing the additional funding needed for the E-Rate
program.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

Sincerely,