The Senate passed the conferenced version of HR-2642,...
The Senate passed the conferenced version of HR-2642, known commonly as the farm bill, on Tuesday in a 68-32 vote. The conference report includes provisions on a rural gigabit pilot program and broadband deployment. The National League of Cities applauded…
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the passage and urged President Barack Obama to sign the bill into law as soon as possible. Obama released a statement saying the bill “isn’t perfect,” but lauding the “positive difference” it would make. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., touted the broadband provisions he helped fight to include in the bill. The provisions would allow the Rural Utilities Service to better target its broadband loans to unserved and underserved rural areas, requiring at least 15 percent of households in a proposed service region qualify as unserved or underserved, his office said (http://1.usa.gov/1fMLV0n). The provision said the minimum acceptable service level is 4 Mbps upload/1 Mbps download and also tightened the reporting requirements. “I've been working with GAO and the [Inspector General]at [the U.S. Department of Agriculture] on reforms for some time, and I'm glad that we've been able to have this language included in the bipartisan Farm Bill,” Warner said in a statement. “When I was Governor, we launched one of the country’s largest rural broadband projects in Southside, and Virginians recognize that access to broadband helps spur economic growth and create jobs.” Virginia Secretary of Technology Karen Jackson praised the Warner broadband provisions, in a statement.