Books and ebooks are sold. And now todays Senate Commerce committee hearing, lawmakers examine the effect the pandemic is having on keeping rural is having on keeping Rural Communities connected via broadband. From this morning, this is about 2 1 2. Come to order. Welcome, welcome. Today, the committee convenes to discuss the state of broadband and thank them for appears. Today, we will hear from mr. Steven berry, and miss shirley bloomfield. Chief executive officer of mtca, the Rural Broadband association. Mr. Gene kimmerman who will be appearing and testifying remotely and mr. Jonathan spolter. As the administration and centers for Disease Control and prevention encourage social distancing to prevent the further spread of the virus, normal activities like school and Health Care Services are kreinsingly taking place online. This has caused a huge uptick in the use of broadband. One estimate shows average Broadband Usage is up by 47 since the pandemic began. Good news is that theres be
The meeting now. This is a special meeting of the Small Business commission. The meeting is being called to order at 11 05 a. M. Small Business Commission thanks Media Services and sfgov tv and the department of technology for televising this meeting, which can be viewed on sfgov tv 2, live streamed at sfgovtv. Org. Members of the public, who will be phoning in, the number is 888 3634735. And the access code is 4134030. When prompted, dial 10 in order to be added to the speaker line. The auto prompts will look at callers entry. The questionandanswer time. But this is the Public Comment period. If you call in before Public Comment is called, youll be added to the queue. When you are called for Public Comment, please mute your device that you are listening to the meeting on, when it is your time to speak, youll be prompted to do so. Public comment during the meeting is limited to three minutes per speaker, unless otherwise established by the presiding officer of the meeting. Speakers are
I would suggest only under those circumstances anticipated by this resolution can we continue work on behalf of the american public. I yield back. There is no constitutional issues revolving around whether or not committees can meet virtually. But congress creates the committees so hopefully we can all agree on that. Mr. Chairman i want to make a comment on the suggestion the Public Health people are making policy. They are not the governors cares one mayors and policymakers seek advice during a crisis from experienced scientist and Public Health officials, they can take that advice are not. All over the country there isic evidence some people take the advice and some are not. But all scientist that i know and the Public Health people in this country and many of whom i have worked with for years are very careful not to be policymakers they are particularly careful to present the evidence and not substitute for the policymakers. This country which has invested hundreds of billions of do
Perfect. Sorry, dominica. Okay. Sfgov tv, we are ready to start the meeting now. This is a special meeting of the Small Business commission. The meeting is being called to order at 11 05 a. M. Small Business Commission thanks Media Services and sfgov tv and the department of technology for televising this meeting, which can be viewed on sfgov tv 2, live streamed at sfgovtv. Org. Members of the public, who will be phoning in, the number is 888 3634735. And the access code is 4134030. When prompted, dial 10 in order to be added to the speaker line. The auto prompts will look at callers entry. The questionandanswer time. But this is the Public Comment period. If you call in before Public Comment is called, youll be added to the queue. When you are called for Public Comment, please mute your device that you are listening to the meeting on, when it is your time to speak, youll be prompted to do so. Public comment during the meeting is limited to three minutes per speaker, unless otherwise e
[captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] this hearing will come to water. Welcome, welcome. Today the committee convenes to broadband during the covid19 pandemic. I extend my appreciation for my colleagues attentions attendance and participation. I welcome our distinguished panel of witnesses. Mr. Y we will hear from stephen barry, president and chief executive officer of the competitive cares organization and the chief executive officer of the Rural Broadband association. Mr. Gene kimmelman, Senior Advisor on public knowledge, who will be appearing, testifying remotely. Jonathan spalter, of u. S. T and ceo broad,. Covid19 crisis has changed life dramatically for almost every american. As the administration and the centers for Disease Control and prevention encourage social distancing to prevent spread of the virus, normal activities like work, school, Healthcare Services are increasingly t