Remarks of FCC Commissioner Starks at Telephone Town Hall with Rep. Clarke on the Role of Technology in the Face of COVID-19

When public health requires social distancing and quarantine, closing the digital divide becomes central to our collective safety and economic security. In particular, we should leverage the Federal Communications Commission’s $8 billion in universal service funding, and focus our efforts on students and vulnerable, struggling Americans. Each week, as millions more Americans apply for unemployment and food assistance programs - - the FCC needs to enhance its Lifeline program, the only federal program with the sole mission of bringing affordable communications to low-income Americans and a critical aspect of our social safety net in times of economic turmoil. This would not be the first time the FCC has expanded Lifeline in a crisis; the George W. Bush-era FCC strengthened its programming as a result of Hurricane Katrina. And we should be partnering with the relevant agencies to make sure people know about this critical program, which most of the people who are eligible for have never heard of. Even before the COVID-19 crisis, 38 million people were eligible but only 7 million enrolled. The FCC must to do more to educate people about Lifeline so it can benefit the ones that need it most. And the time is now. 

In times of emergency, no American should go without a connection because of cost. We must do more for struggling families, who already bear too many burdens of this health crisis and its economic fallout.