Pelosi Statement on New ConnectHome Broadband Initiative for Low-Income Households

July 15, 2015

Washington, D.C. – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement after the President announced in an address in Oklahoma the ConnectHome initiative, a new public-private partnership to expand high-speed broadband to more low-income families across the country:

"Affordable, high-speed broadband is increasingly essential to full participation in our society and to success in our economy. Yet too many families, and too many children are still caught on the wrong side of the digital divide – cut off from the affordable broadband they need to access the opportunity, education and engagement of the internet.

"ConnectHome represents a critical step toward ensuring that every American has access to affordable, high-speed broadband. I commend the President, Secretary Castro and the many partners in this initiative for their leadership in addressing the urgent need in low-income communities across the nation.

"With five million low-income American households with school-age kids without broadband, we must accelerate our efforts to close the obscene ‘Homework Gap' that weighs on the learning and the futures of so many children. To achieve those goals, I call on the Federal Communications Commission to move quickly and modernize the Lifeline and Linkup program to meet today's urgent needs."