Seventh District Democratic Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger is holding what she calls a “Rural Broadband Summit” in Louisa Saturday during which she hopes to bring federal officials and constituents together to precipitate some action to close the digital gap. Charles Fishburne reports.
Transcript:
Charles Fishburne: Congresswoman Spanberger says it hurts education and it hurts the economy.
Abigail Spanberger: We have counties in the Seventh District where we have high school students doing their homework in McDonald’s parking lots. We have farmers who are unable to use the latest technology of agricultural equipment because they can’t do the online updates.
Fishburne: She has legislation pending in Congress to increase federal funding by 55 million and she’s lobbied the USDA leadership to help expand broadband.
Spanberger: But I also want to impress upon federal officials the level of urgency.
Fishburne: Some will be at the Louisa High School event Saturday and she wants constituents to come and share their stories.
Spanberger: How can you attract business, where some of the most basic technologies, the ability to hook up to the internet, don’t exist?
Charles Fishburne, VPM News