U.S. Senator Ken Salazar

Member: Finance, Agriculture, Energy, Ethics and Aging Committees

 

2300 15th Street, Suite 450 Denver, CO 80202 | 702 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510

 

 

For Immediate Release

May 23, 2007

CONTACT:    Cody Wertz – Comm. Director
303-350-0032


 Sen. Salazar Fights to Improve Broadband Access for Rural Communities

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. economy is becoming increasingly dependent on access to information. However, rural communities already at risk of being left behind face the additional hurdle of a lack of broadband Internet access, preventing them timely access to a wealth of relevant information. This week, United States Senator Ken Salazar joined Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) in introducing the Rural Broadband Improvement Act of 2007, bipartisan legislation to improve broadband delivery to rural communities Nationwide.

“My family’s ranch in the San Luis Valley didn’t get electricity and phone service until after I left home for college,” said Senator Salazar. “Rural broadband Internet access today represents the same leap forward that rural electrification represented to my family just 30 years ago.”

The Roberts-Salazar bill will improve broadband access by:

  • Clarifying the definition of a rural population to ensure more efficient delivery of broadband resources to communities that need it;
  • Streamlining the Rural Utilities Service’s application process to ensure that loan applications are decided within six months;
  • Promoting public-private partnerships to improve analysis of existing broadband infrastructure; and
  • Clarifying loan standards, to make it more secure for the RUS to make broadband loans and extends the life of the loan to 35 years, making it easier to pay back.

“Revitalizing and diversifying economies in rural areas begins by connecting them up with the rest of the Nation, and broadband is the key to an online and interconnected future,” said Senator Salazar.

The Rural Broadband Improvement Act of 2007 has been referred to the Senate Agriculture Committee, where Senators Roberts and Salazar are both members.

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