opinion-editorial
Why NY families need Jessica Rosenworcel as FCC chair
BY CAMILLE RIVERA-WESTIN
Over the past year and a half,
during this unprecedented pandemic,
workers and their families have
struggled to adapt to a new way of life.
We often talk about how there is
no one who was left untouched by the
pandemic, but we also need to be clear
that this pandemic disproportionately
impacted communities of color;
this pandemic hardest hit the same
communities that already had to deal
with the worst inequities before.
The same communities that did not
have access to affordable and quality
healthcare before the pandemic had
the worst health outcomes during
it. The same communities that had
the highest rates of unemployment
and the least family wealth before
the pandemic were the ones most
fi nancially devastated by it.
And, yes, the same students who
already went to underfunded public
schools were the same students that
were hit the hardest by the homework
technology gap.
There are so many areas in which
we have to fi ght for equity, and as we
continue to see jobs, schools and even
medical care facilities going in and
out of being fully remote, I can’t stress
enough how important it is to have
Jessica Rosenworcel answers a question during an oversight hearing held by the U.S.
Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee for the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC), in Washington, U.S. June 24, 2020. Photo by Jonathan Newton/Pool via
REUTERS/Files
a strong Federal Communications
Commission that will fi ght for all
Americans to access the internet.
Whether we want to or not, we are
all being asked to be on the internet
more than ever.
Acting FCC Chair Jessica
Rosenworcel has made digital equity
the heart of her agenda, and we can’t
afford to let such an important agency
fall into the hands of anti-worker
bureaucrats. President Biden must
nominate her for a permanent chair
immediately.
Since her appointment in January,
Rosenworcel used her power to make
sure all our students had access to the
internet, which has been a priority
for her ever since she coined the
term “homework gap” in 2015. The
homework gap refers to the reality for
students who can access the internet
and computers at school, but do not
have consistent access at home for
homework. Here in New York City,
especially in the Bronx, we saw in
particular how disproportionately
working-class communities of color
were hit by the “homework gap.” We saw
how our children suffered. Through
the Emergency Connectivity Fund,
Rosenworcel used the FCC’s emergency
powers to lend out $1.2 billion for
Wi-Fi hotspots, tablets, computers, and
broadband to schools and libraries
across all 50 states.
Rosenworcel has worked day and
night to make broadband accessible
for working families. When the
pandemic moved so much of our lives
online, families without high-speed
internet connections were in danger
of being left behind. In response, she
launched the $3.2 billion Emergency
Broadband Benefi t Program (EBB)
to help low-income households get
discounted broadband service and
device reimbursements. In the fi rst
week of this program, more than 1
million households enrolled, making
clear the dire need for programs like
this to close our digital divide.
Beyond her efforts to close the
homework gap and expand accessible
broadband to all Americans,
Rosenworcel knows that a free and fair
internet is critical for economic equity
and the health of our democracy. She
was one of the loudest voices advocating
against President Trump’s rollback
of net neutrality rules, which risk
creating a two-tiered internet; one for
working Americans, and a faster one
for the rich. This summer she loudly
supported President Biden’s executive
orders calling for the restoration of net
neutrality laws.
With $65 billion allocated to
expanding high speed internet should
Congress pass the Infrastructure
Investment and Jobs Act, much of
which will be administered by the
FCC, it’s critical that organized labor
and working people have an ally
ensuring that the funds are distributed
equitably. With Rosenworcel as
permanent chair, we can trust that
the $40 billion earmarked to expand
high-speed internet to unserved areas
will go to the communities that need
it most; we can be confi dent that it
will protect consumers and create and
maintain good jobs for the workers
who will be literally bringing internet
to the rest of the country.
I came up in the labor movement,
and when you see a coalition of labor
standing beside someone as they are
with acting FCC Chair Rosenworcel,
you better stop and listen. She’s earned
the support of some of our nation’s
largest labor unions. The presidents of
the American Federation of Teachers
(AFT), Communications Workers of
America (CWA), the International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
(IBEW), the National Education
Association (NEA) and the Service
Employees International Union (SEIU)
signed onto a joint letter to President
Biden urging him to confi rm Jessica
Rosenworcel as permanent chair.
Together, they stress Rosenworcel’s
“focus on greater opportunity,
accessibility, and affordability in
our communications services and
her tireless advocacy on behalf of
workers, educators, students, families
and consumers has never been more
important.”
The joint letter from these fi ve
labor unions on behalf of their nearly
8 million members speaks volumes,
and we have to listen. President Biden
has already done the hard work of
searching for a qualifi ed candidate to
lead the FCC.
Adding additional urgency, if
President Biden doesn’t act now,
beginning in January, the FCC will be
controlled by Trump Republicans who
will enact an anti-worker agenda.
We need President Biden to
swiftly nominate Rosenworcel as
permanent chair so the Senate
can vote to confi rm a true ally to
working people.
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