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
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 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 been some progress in connecting all americans. The fcc has recently released broadband deployment report shows
Is extremely rare. But friends dont have to be. When youre connected, youre not alone. A house Veterans Affairsn. Subcommittee hears testimony about efforts to improve the va Financial Management. Officials from the Veterans Affairs department spoke specifically about the agencys Financial Management Business Transformation Program which is the third attempt to modernize its financial and Accounting Systems good afternoon. The subcommittee will come to order. We are here to review the progress in the Financial Management Business Transformation Program with efm bt, the vas third attempt toie modernize the hodgepodge of aging and adequate financial and Accounting Systems. The systems are a serious problem. Every year the va barely manages to pay the Financial Statement audit with a clean opinion despitefi carrying the same Material Weaknesses and deficiencies. At the same time the departments Spending Continues to be much similar to the wild west. Its been nearly ten years since the for
The president of the Social Security works joining us in d. C. The budget and entitlement policy director. Thank you for giving us your time today. Thank you for having me. But can we start with a little bit about your organizations but also the perspective your organization brings to the topic of Social Security. I worked for the cato institute, which is a libertarian think tank. We advise congress and administration of Public Policy and we have a long history of Social Security known for the plan to support private accounts. And we are building a new model at this time. Social security works. I realized there was a lot of misinformation and supposed to provide a sense of security. I forms this organization to educate everyone. The Social Security administration put out new information about the status of the program and just to summarize, you both know this as well. Currently able to pay 100 of benefits. After that the income will pay 79 . The projected fund can pay 100 of total sche
Cspan, powered by cable. Guest i work for the Cato Institute, which is a nonpartisan libertarianleaning think tank in washington, d. C. We advise congress and the administration on public policy, and the Cato Institute has a long history with Social Security, having been known, especially in the early 2000s, for its plan to support private accounts when the Bush Administration was talking about it and were building a new model at this time, so youll be seeing more policy reforms coming out of cato in the next few months. Guest Social Security works is the name of our organization. I began working on Social Security in the 1970s, and i realized in 2010 there was a lot of misinformation about it. There was a lot of, supposed to provide a sense of security, and people were insecure because they were concerned the program would disappear. So i formed this organization, Social Security works, to educate everyone that Social Security is strong and will be there for everyone. Host the Social