U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), chairman of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, maintained legislative momentum this week during a committee hearing on expanding broadband access to rural communities in his home state of Oregon and across the nation.
“Broadband is the infrastructure of the 21st century. Broadband means jobs,” said Rep. Walden during the July 17 hearing, entitled Realizing the Benefits of Rural Broadband: Challenges and Solutions.
In fact, said the congressman, expanding the nation’s broadband infrastructure into rural areas could produce myriad jobs, “from deployment – building towers and cell sites, laying fiber, launching satellites, and upgrading facilities that constitute the physical infrastructure,” he said, to maintaining the infrastructure, which “requires high-skilled jobs in engineering, network management, cybersecurity, advertising, and customer service.”
Rep. Walden called broadband a force multiplier for job creation across every economic sector in the United States and in Oregon. For instance, he said, “farmers and ranchers across my district have taken advantage of precision agriculture technology to reduce inputs. And the transition to next generation 9-1-1 is critical for strengthening public safety.”
Jenni Word, a registered nurse and associate administrator and chief nursing officer at Wallowa Memorial Hospital in eastern Oregon, testified at Rep. Walden’s request about how broadband access improves health care for patients in rural communities via advanced technologies like telehealth.
Wallowa Memorial Hospital currently offers telemedicine to provide services in areas such as oncology, rheumatology, cardiology, psychology, and palliative care, Word testified. “This technology saves patients two-and-a-half hours of driving – and many gallons of gas – for what is usually a 15 to 30 minute visit with a specialist,” she said. “Other services are available via telehealth at Wallowa.”
Word applauded Rep. Walden and the Energy and Commerce Committee for consistently working to enhance broadband connectivity in rural Oregon.
“We appreciate your commitment to removing federal barriers, increasing spectrum availability and funding broadband for rural America,” she said. “I especially want to acknowledge the work Mr. Walden has done in this area.”
Word also cited the congressman’s efforts and leadership in obtaining congressional approval that led to the Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services Act of 2018, or the RAY BAUM’S Act, H.R. 4986, being signed into law by the president in March.
RAY BAUM’S Act, championed by Rep. Walden, the original cosponsor, and introduced by U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), reauthorized the Federal Communications Commission for the first time in 25 years and provides new tools to support broadband expansion.
In his opening statement during the hearing, Rep. Walden noted that Word works at a remote hospital the size of Delaware that’s tucked into a corner of Oregon in wilderness country.
He said having rural broadband access “open up” in Wallowa County to enable the provision of services such as telemedicine has made a tremendous difference in helping residents in this area receive health care.
“This is certainly a huge benefit in a place where the county commissioner once told me … it’s winter 11 months out of the year and sometimes it snows in August,” the congressman said.