The U.S. Senate just adopted an amendment to invest in gigabit
(1,000 megabit per second) rural broadband networks.


Our local leaders need to lobby for the House to pass this,
if they are serious about fast affordable Internet service for everyone here.
Senator Leahy’s tiny Vermont, with the population of a single Congressional district,

is already well along towards gigabit Internet.
Our three House members can help get south Georgia on the road to better
jobs, education, and health care through better Internet service.

Jennifer Reading wrote today for WCAX,
Leahy’s high-speed internet amendment passes,

What I want to make sure is that a rural area can compete the same
way an urban area can. It’s actually the argument, the debate that
went on before I was even born about whether you had rural
electricity, rural telephone or not and if we hadn’t done that much
of this country would be a wasteland,” said Sen. Leahy.

Don’t we want that, too?

The amendment,

S.Amdt. 998 (Leahy) to S. 954: To establish a pilot program for gigabit Internet projects in rural areas.
Our Georgia Senator Isakson voted against it
and Chambliss didn’t vote.
Do they represent rural south Georgia?

PR from Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) yesterday,

Senate Adopts Leahy Amendment To Invest in Gigabit Broadband Networks In Rural Areas,

WASHINGTON (MONDAY, June 10, 2013) — Senator Patrick Leahy
(D-Vt.) Monday won passage of his amendment to the Farm Bill to
establish a pilot program within the Rural Utilities Service
Broadband Program to invest in broadband projects offering
ultra-high speed gigabit Internet service in rural areas. Leahy’s
amendment was approved in a vote of 48 to 38, just before the Senate
gave final passage to the Farm Bill in a vote of 66 to 27.

Leahy said, “Next generation gigabit networks have the
potential to transform rural areas. Rural America has so much to
offer, but without the great equalizer of high-speed Internet, rural
communities cannot live up to their full potential. Investing in
next generation networks now will help ensure that rural areas do
not fall even farther behind.”

Leahy’s pilot program will allow the Rural Utilities Service to
invest in up to five ultra-high speed networks in rural areas over
the next five years. Leahy believes Vermont would be an excellent
candidate for one of the projects. Gigabit Internet speeds are
approximately 100 times faster than the average high-speed Internet
connection. High profile gigabit projects, including the Google
Fiber project in Kansas City, are bringing public awareness to the
capabilities of the next generation of broadband networks.

Leahy is the most senior member of the Senate Agriculture Committee.

In the House,
Austin Scott (GA-08) is on the

Agriculture Committee.
Sanford Bishop (GA-02) and Jack Kingston (GA-01) are on the

House Appropriations Committee
and Bishop is on its

Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, etc. Subcommittee.
If they represent rural south Georgia, they need to help get the House
to pass Sen. Leahy’s amendment as part of the Farm Bill.

-jsq