John -- The Internet is a crucial part of contemporary life, and the need for accessible, affordable broadband is universal.

We’ve seen that communities with little or no internet access have restricted opportunities and poorer outcomes with education, work and health.

Brand New Congress has called on Congress since 2017 to classify the Internet as public infrastructure and make broadband available to all.

This is reflected in our 21st Century Bill of Rights, where we emphasize that modern tools of communication are an essential component of the right to quality of life.

As the country locked down to contain the spread of COVID19 last year, people were pushed into working from home, students and teachers shifted to online learning with no warning or preparation. These measures, expected to be short-term and temporary, assumed everyone in the country had sufficient internet access.
 
We know now that virtual learning has been deeply challenging even for families with high-speed and stable broadband connections. Kids without adequate internet connectivity have fallen even further behind their peers, some slipping off school districts’ radars entirely. And teachers have had to adapt to a whole new style of education with very little support.
 
With in-person doctor visits restricted, many health providers began offering telehealth services. Here, the digital divide was also acutely felt in vulnerable communities. The elderly, Black and Latinx communities, Medicaid recipients, and those with disabilities, are less likely to have reliable broadband, making these services difficult to access. 

We applaud BNC Rep. Jamaal Bowman for recently introducing the Broadband Justice Act to address some of these inequities.
 
His bill would require the Department of Housing and Urban Development to classify broadband as a utility that could be subsidized through the federal government, and create a new grant program to wire buildings and build out other broadband-related infrastructure.  

If you believe, like we do, that broadband access should be treated as an essential utility and is a matter of justice, please support our efforts to recruit and prepare our 2022 slate of candidates. 

Jamaal, like me, is an educator. He has seen firsthand the way these challenges affect our students and the families in his community.

If we’re going to pass bills like his Broadband Justice Act, or Medicare for All or the Green New Deal, we need to elect more folks who have lived at the intersection of these issues, and know how to fight for them.
 
Thank you for investing in justice and equity for all. 
 
Adrienne Bell
Executive Director
Brand New Congress