Section 1 Short title
This resolution may be cited as the “Broadband for All Resolution of 2020”.
Broadband for All Resolution of 2020
RESOLUTION
Recognizing broadband as a human and civil right for all Americans.
Sec. 2 Recognizing broadband as a human and civil right for all Americans
The House of Representatives—
recognizes that equal access to affordable and reliable fixed broadband services for all Americans is a civil and human right that protects and promotes the fair, equal, and impartial treatment of all people regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, economic status, or any other status;
asserts that affordable access to broadband enables the promotion and propagation of human rights, including equal access to information, government services, use of public facilities, freedom from discrimination, freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and association, and the right to education;
recognizes that affordable access to broadband promotes equal access for engagement in our democracy and the exercise of constitutionally vested rights;
reaffirms the global and open nature of the internet as a driving force in accelerating progress toward development in its various forms, including achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations;
acknowledges that the human right to affordable access to broadband may only be limited or restricted if such restriction is provided for by law and is nondiscriminatory, necessary, and proportionate to a legitimate purpose, such as to protect the rights of others, national security, or to protect public order or health; and
calls on the President—
to preserve and build upon the technological leadership of the Federal Government and Federal funding opportunities for all Americans to affordable access to fixed broadband services and infrastructure development to bridge the digital divide, especially for low-income households and households with incomes below the Federal poverty line;
to preserve and build upon the technological leadership of the Federal Government and Federal funding opportunities for fixed broadband expansion and infrastructure development, especially in rural areas and on Tribal lands, and in broadband deserts;
to ensure that Tribal sovereignty over access to electromagnetic spectrum on Tribal lands is protected as part of the Federal trust responsibility in furtherance of Tribal self-governance; and
to further address the threat posed by lack of affordable access to broadband to the civil and human rights of all Americans, especially since the COVID–19 pandemic has further highlighted the growing digital divide in the United States.