CES 2022: Multiple U.S. Senators Highlight Rollout of Biden Infrastructure Bill as a Top 2022 Tech Priority

LAS VEGAS, January 7, 2022 – Multiple Republican U.S. senators have stated that overseeing fund disbursement from President Joe Biden’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is among their top tech policy priorities for the coming year of 2022.

Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W. Va., both of whom broke with their party to vote for the bill’s passage in the Senate, each listed fund disbursement as one of their foremost focuses for the year.

The senators spoke during a Friday CES panel discussion which also featured Sens. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.

Collins emphasized that she believes successful fund disbursement is dependent on the Federal Communications Commission updating its mapping of broadband service across the country so that in-need areas can be properly targeted.

Capito commended Collins’ work on the infrastructure package and similarly echoed Collins’ sentiments, stating that she feels the Senate has taken a large step forward to bridging the digital divide by making sure to specifically target unserved and underserved populations in its work.

She stressed that she feels this is among the crucial changes the Senate made in its recent infrastructure work to avoid making the same mistakes that it made in the past on infrastructure and connectivity policy as recent as a decade ago.

Blackburn made clear that she feels the Senate should pass legislation which specifically focuses on populations unserved by broadband before it focuses on those that are underserved while agreeing with many of Collins’ and Capito’s policy positions.