May 2020

Sen Manchin, FCC Commissioner Rosenworcel Encourage Lewis County High School to Submit Speed Tests During COIVD-19 Pandemic

Sen Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Federal Communications Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel encouraged Lewis County High School students to submit broadband speed tests while they are learning from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some US schools are pulling the plug on distance learning

Many districts around the US have pulled the plug on distance learning. It's too stressful, the lack of devices and internet access is too much to overcome, and what students get from it just isn't worth the struggle. Districts around the country are ending the school year early including Omaha and some nearby suburban districts in Nebraska, Washington (DC), and some in New Hampshire.

Trump nominee to head US Agency for Global Media is under investigation

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Robert Menendez (D-NJ) says Public Media Lab, a nonprofit organization that is run by Michael Pack, is under investigation by the District of Columbia’s attorney general. Pack is President Trump’s nominee to lead the US Agency for Global Media, the federal media agency with oversight of Voice of America and other news outlets. The attorney general’s office is investigating whether Pack’s use of Public Media Lab funds was “unlawful and whether he improperly used those funds to benefit himself.” The DC attorney general informed the committee o

Sponsor 

Communications and Technology Subcommittee

House Commerce Committee

Date 
Tue, 05/19/2020 - 17:00

A teleconference forum with Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to discuss critical consumer protection, broadband and spectrum issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic.



Senator Kennedy statement on Intelsat bankruptcy

Intelsat’s decision to file for bankruptcy reveals what many suspected all along: Intelsat had no intention of accepting the FCC’s deal. The [Federal Communications Commission] should withdraw its offer, take control of America’s spectrum and save taxpayers billions of dollars instead of shelling out that money to foreign companies.

ACLU Demands Student Privacy Protections, Equal Remote Learning Access

Even during a pandemic, governments have a legal obligation to provide all students equal access to an adequate education, the American Civil Liberties Union and over 25 ACLU state chapters warned in letters to state and local leaders nationwide. To help meet this obligation during the COVID-19 pandemic, the ACLU is demanding Congress and state and local governments ensure all students have equal access to the technologies that make effective remote learning possible, and that strong and uniform privacy safeguards are in place to protect students in the virtual classroom.