Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr wrote on Friday that President Joe Biden has yet to provide high-speed internet to a single American, despite $42.5 billion in funding from the so-called bipartisan infrastructure bill.
“In 2021, the Biden Administration obtained $42.45 billion from Congress to provide high-speed internet to millions of Americans. Years later, not a single person has been able to access that funding. In fact, we are now told that no construction projects will begin until 2025 at the earliest,” the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman wrote.
“Meanwhile, the Biden Administration has layered a partisan political agenda on top of this $42.45 billion program — a liberal wish list that has nothing to do with connecting Americans: climate change mandates, tech bias, DEI requirements, preferential treatment for government-run networks, etc.,” he continued.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration has layered a partisan political agenda on top of this $42.45 billion program, a liberal wish list that has no connection to how Americans connect.
Climate change mandates, tech bias, DEI requirements, preferential treatment of government-run networks, and more.
— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) June 14, 2024
Carr is particularly critical of the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. Assigned $42.45 billion to support broadband infrastructure and deployment;
The program was enacted by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which, as detailed by Breitbart News, contained no conservative wins and many exceptions for the left.
Congress passed an infrastructure bill in 2021, but that means the BEAD program has seen little success in the two years since Biden passed it.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg also struggled to explain why Biden is building only “seven or eight” electric vehicle charging stations, money that was also provided by IIJA.
“The timeline is bad. The Biden Administration’s cuts are even worse. The Biden Administration has launched a $42.45 billion program that will miss the target and leave rural communities behind,” Carr said in a statement to Breitbart News.
Carr went on to say that the BEAD program has failed to close the “digital divide” — the gap between those who have access to high-speed internet and those who don’t.
“The Biden Administration is hurtling toward broadband failure. Congress has allocated adequate funding to close the digital divide, but the Biden Administration is wasting time by prioritizing partisan political goals over smart policy,” the FCC commissioner explained. “They’re doing so through rate regulation, labor unions, technology, DEI favoritism, and government interference in our networks — all of which threatens to leave rural communities behind.”
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter. Sean Moran 3.
