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Why an Iowa Congressperson is Fighting for Rural Internet Access

Rep. Dave Loebsack's Rural Wireless Access Act directs the FCC to make a new wireless coverage map to better ensure what communities are most in need.

(TNS) — WEST BURLINGTON, IOWA — Much like the fight to bring electricity to rural America in the 20th century, working to give all in the United States broadband access likely will be a struggle of the 21st.

Internet access is central to all aspects of school and business nowadays, affecting the way kids do homework, farmers plant their crops, hospitals provide care and companies deliver goods.

U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, is working to bridge the gap between connected cities and rural communities stuck with outdated technology, if they have access to the technology at all.

"Those small towns are not going to survive economically without making sure they have the connectivity that they need because they're not going to get people to invest in those small towns," said Loebsack, speaking to a dozen local stakeholders Friday afternoon at Southeastern Community College in West Burlington.

Loebsack represents 24 counties, including Des Moines County, in eastern and southeastern Iowa. He is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee in Congress who has consistently worked on the issue of rural connectivity since he was put on the committee three years ago.

His legislation, the Rural Wireless Access Act, was signed into law this year by President Donald Trump as part of an omnibus spending bill that funds all aspects of the federal government.

The bill directs the Federal Communications Commission to develop new maps of the nation's wireless coverage to help ensure the most underserved parts of the country are getting the broadband access they need.

"My own view, for what it's worth, is that people and communities in rural America should not be left out, and that's where the government I think has a role to play," the congressman said.

Tim Fencl, general manager and CEO of Danville Mutual Telephone Co., agreed the private sector was likely to be the innovators and come up with technological solutions to rural connectivity issues, but argued the FCC must be the "enforcement" so service was provided everywhere, even when it's not cost effective.

"We have to take the same approach as a nation and say everybody deserves the right to be digitally connected," Fencl said.

Loebsack agreed, saying Americans who were unable to participate in a digital world would be left behind economically.

"We should not have young people, who need the Internet to do their homework, have to rely upon going to a McDonald's or going to a library," Loebsack said. "They should be able to access the Internet at decent prices, good speeds, all the rest, from their home so that they don't have what the FCC commissioner calls 'the homework gap.'"

©2018 The Hawk Eye (Burlington, Iowa) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.