FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks

We stand at a crossroad in the landscape of communications and digital equity. As we navigate the complexities of the 21st century, one thing has remained unchanged—our commitment to ensuring that every American, regardless of where you live or how much you make, has access to reliable, affordable, and high-speed Internet.

The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) helps 23 million American households afford the internet. But on February 8, the program began winding down due to a lack of funding. New households no longer can enroll. Soon, current households will confront a choice between bill shock and disconnection. We cannot let this happen. The ACP is the most effective program we’ve had in helping low-income Americans get online and stay online. Indeed, it has been the most successful program ever in our decades-long bipartisan effort to solve the digital divide.

Federal Communications Commissioner Geoffrey Starks and Congressional Black Caucus Chair Steven Horsford (D-NV-04) visited the Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority to hear from residents and state and local officials about the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP)’s positive impact on closing the digital divide and the need for Congress to continue the program.

Simply put, if a household is receiving federal housing assistance, that household should be connected. We’ve made great progress getting eligible households connected. Through the Federal Communications Commission and Department of Housing and Urban Development’s ongoing partnership, we have made it easier than ever to enroll in the Affordable Connectivity Program. But there is more work to do. Approximately 5 million households receive federal housing assistance and are eligible for ACP.

I am deeply honored to serve another term on the Federal Communications Commission. Day in and day out, this agency helps build a more innovative, secure, and equitable America. I’m thrilled to continue advancing that mission on behalf of the American public – and on a Commission that is operating at full strength. I would like to express my sincerest thanks to President Biden for his nomination and to Leader Schumer, Minority Leader McConnell, and Chair Cantwell for their support during the confirmation process. I also would like to congratulate Commissioner Carr on his confirmation.

On April 18, 2023, Federal Communications Commission leadership wrote to Congressional leadership to restore the Commission's spectrum action authority. The FCC's auction authority expired for the first time in the program’s 30-year history on March 9, 2023.

Due to a shortfall in federal funding for a critical national security program under the Secure and Trusted Communications Act — commonly known as “rip and replace” — US telecommunications networks remain riddled with insecure equipment manufactured by companies beholden to the government of China that can do everything from capture Americans’ data to disrupt critical communications at US Strategic Command. The potential consequences of the widespread infiltration of U.S. networks by Chinese state-connected companies Huawei Technologies Ltd.

With Affordable Connectivity Program enrollment picking up, we’ll need to address the longevity of the program’s funding before too long. We’re much better off addressing the issue quickly and with certainty—and there are three basic reasons why that is so. First, we must keep the millions of Americans who have signed up for the program secure in their access to broadband. Second, there are millions more who are eligible, and we need to get them signed up.

As I said during the last Congress, Gigi Sohn is ‘an accomplished leader whose talent, expertise, and experience will invigorate our work at the FCC.’ I continue to hold that view. Whether we’re protecting consumers, securing our networks, or bringing the promise of new technologies to every community, Americans deserve an FCC that is working at full strength.

Congress passed the bipartisan Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2022, which restores the Commission’s authority to ensure service providers charge “just and reasonable rates” for intrastate and interstate calls and other communications methods used by incarcerated individuals in correctional facilities. The legislation is the result of the dedication of the late Martha Wright, who led the charge in 2003 to create positive change and ensure families with incarcerated individuals had the ability to stay in contact with their loved ones by eliminating the burden of