[House Hearing, 119 Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] WIRED FOR GROWTH: HOW EXPANDING BROADBAND CAN REVITALIZE RURAL SMALL BUSINESSES ======================================================================= HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED NINETEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION __________ HEARING HELD SEPTEMBER 3, 2025 __________ [GRAPHC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] Small Business Committee Document Number 119-017 Available via the GPO Website: www.govinfo.gov __________ U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 61-674 WASHINGTON : 2026 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOUSE COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS ROGER WILLIAMS, Texas, Chairman PETE STAUBER, Minnesota DAN MEUSER, Pennsylvania BETH VAN DUYNE, Texas JAKE ELLZEY, Texas MARK ALFORD, Missouri NICK LALOTA, New York BRAD FINSTAD, Minnesota TONY WIED, Wisconsin ROB BRESNAHAN, Pennsylvania BRIAN JACK, Georgia TROY DOWNING, Montana KIMBERLYN KING-HINDS, Northern Marina Islands DEREK SCHMIDT, Kansas JIMMY PATRONIS, Florida NYDIA VELAZQUEZ, New York, Ranking Member MORGAN MCGARVEY, Kentucky HILLARY SCHOLTEN, Michigan LAMONICA MCIVER, New Jersey GIL CISNEROS, California KELLY MORRISON, Minnesota GEORGE LATIMER, New York DEREK TRAN, California LATEEFAH SIMON, California JOHNNY OLSZEWSKI, Maryland HERB CONAWAY, New Jersey MAGGIE GOODLANDER, New Hampshire Lauren Holmes, Majority Staff Director Melissa Jung, Minority Staff Director C O N T E N T S OPENING STATEMENTS Page Hon. Roger Williams.............................................. 1 Hon. Nydia Velazquez............................................. 2 WITNESSES Ms. Kristi Westbrock, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager, CTC, Brainerd, MN..................................... 5 Mr. Jimmy Todd, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager, Nex- Tech, Lenora, KS............................................... 7 Mr. Jeff Vander Werff, Owner, VWF, LLC, Kent City, MI............ 8 Ms. Karen Jackson-Furman, Chief Executive Officer, West Kentucky & Tennessee Telecommunications Cooperative, Mayfield, KY....... 9 APPENDIX Prepared Statements: Ms. Kristi Westbrock, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager, CTC, Brainerd, MN................................. 31 Mr. Jimmy Todd, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager, Nex-Tech, Lenora, KS....................................... 39 Mr. Jeff Vander Werff, Owner, VWF, LLC, Kent City, MI........ 43 Ms. Karen Jackson-Furman, Chief Executive Officer, West Kentucky & Tennessee Telecommunications Cooperative, Mayfield, KY............................................... 45 Questions and Answers for the Record: Question from Hon. Scholten to Mr. Jeff Vander Werff......... 54 Questions from Hon. Scholten to Ms. Karen Jackson-Furman..... 55 Additional Material for the Record: APT Letter................................................... 58 Competitive Carriers Association (CCA) Letter................ 67 Defense Credit Union Council (DCUC) Letter................... 70 Fiber Broadband Association Letter........................... 74 NH Delegation Letter......................................... 77 Small Business Majority Letter............................... 79 Starlink Capacity Letter..................................... 82 Western Governors' Association (WGA) Letter.................. 88 WIRED FOR GROWTH: HOW EXPANDING BROADBAND CAN REVITALIZE RURAL SMALL BUSINESSES ---------- WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2025 House of Representatives, Committee on Small Business, Washington, DC. The Committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:07 a.m., in Room 2360, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Roger Williams [chairman of the Committee] presiding. Present: Representatives Williams, Stauber, Meuser, Van Duyne, Ellzey, Alford, Finstad, Wied, Downing, Velazquez, McGarvey, Scholten, Cisneros, Morrison, Tran, Simon, Olszewski, and Goodlander. Chairman WILLIAMS. Before we get started, I want to recognize Representative Cisneros of the great State of California to lead us in the pledge and the prayer. Would you stand. Mr. CISNEROS. Please place your hand over your heart. ALL. I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Mr. CISNEROS. Dear Lord, I ask that you give this Committee, this Congress, and our nation guidance so that we may bring justice and do the work of the people, for the benefit of the people. For that, I pray. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. Chairman WILLIAMS. Good morning everyone. Before we get started, we are going to have--so you are not worried about what you said or what you did, we will have people moving in and out a lot today because there are a lot of other hearings going on. So if somebody gets up after you talk, don't worry about it. They are heading--but they will be back. So I want you to be aware of that. And I want to also say good morning to everyone, and I now call the Committee on Small Business to order. Without objection, the Chair is authorized to declare a recess of the Committee at any time. I now recognize myself for an opening statement. Welcome to today's hearing entitled: Wired for Growth, How Expanding Broadband Can Revitalize Rural Small Businesses. I want to begin by thanking our witnesses for being here today and access to reliable, affordable broadband is not a luxury. It is a necessity for small businesses, families, students, and communities across America. It is rural areas, in particular, that broadband can mean the difference between growth and stagnation and between new opportunities and being left behind. For years, we have heard the frustration from rural entrepreneurs who cannot compete on a level playing field because of slower, nonexistent internet service. They cannot expand their market, streamline operations, or use new technologies. That divide is real and holds back small businesses and the communities they serve. This is why I have been proud to introduce legislation over the years that would eliminate the digital divide. Further, broadband deployment must be free from political interference. That is why I am encouraged by the steps taken by the Trump administration to reduce red tape, lower cost, and accelerate broadband deployment, ultimately improving connective opportunities. But cutting through regulatory burdens that slowed investment and innovation for too long, the Trump administration is ensuring that rural communities finally get connected. President Trump promised to put America first, ensuring every American has the tools to thrive in the modern economy. So today's hearing is about listening to small businesses and rural providers who are experiencing this challenge. As legislators and advocates for main street in Washington, we need a better understanding of what is working, where the roadblocks remain, and how we can continue to build on the progress for small business owners, broadband providers, and local leaders. Our Committee is committed to ensuring that rural, small businesses have the same opportunities as those in our cities and suburbs. Broadband is a critical infrastructure, workforce, development, education, and healthcare. Most importantly, it is freedom, freedom to innovate, freedom to compete and succeed. I want to thank our witnesses again for joining us today. You have come a long way. And I look forward to the discussion ahead as we work to ensure that rural America is not left behind in the 21st century economy. So with that, I would like to distinguish our Ranking Member and acknowledge her for being here and leading New York, Ms. Velazquez. Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for calling this crucial hearing. Rural small businesses play a central role in local economies, accounting for nearly 85 percent of firms and 54 percent of jobs in rural counties. However, they face unique problems requiring unique attention, one of which is access to broadband or high-speed internet service, essential activities that many Americans take for granted, like videoconferencing, online banking, e-commerce, and most importantly, reliance on the high-internet speeds and capacity made possible by today's broadband infrastructure. It is this technology that makes new ideas and companies soar across the nation and the world literally at the speed of light. Over one in four rural Americans have not been connected to broadband internet infrastructure. The reason this gap exists can be found in the issues rural telephone deployment encountered about a century ago. Put simply, when faced with fewer customers per square mile and more difficult geography than American cities, large corporations find it less profitable to invest in rural infrastructure, be it phones, electricity, water, or broadband, and put their money instead in more densely populated easier to reach places. This is why government spending is sorely needed to fill the holes in private spending. The previous administration made the single largest investment in this space with a Bipartisan Infrastructure Law through the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment, or BEAD, program. BEAD is a generational $42.5 billion investment in high-speed internet service nationwide, specifically targeting the rural and tribal areas underserved by private industry and creating jobs in those areas to install and maintain broadband infrastructure. These projects were by law to be powered mainly by fiber- optic cables, the fastest and most reliable broadband technology currently in existence. However, the Trump administration abruptly issued a policy notice upending the BEAD program, requiring grant applicants to quickly rewrite and resubmit their proposals within mere weeks. The biggest change to the program overturns its emphasis on fiber-optic cables, the best technology around, in favor of an untested technology cornered by Elon Musk's satellites, citing cost savings. I am concerned that the administration is missing the realities of satellites, namely, that it cannot effectively match the speed, reliability, and capacity offered by fiber. I will jump at the opportunity to make BEAD projects more economical and improve this once-in-a-lifetime investment. It seems like this change will make BEAD focus more on cheap work than on good work. In other words, President Trump isn't lowering this cost for rural America. He is selling rural America short. Rural small businesses deserve the same high-speed, high- quality internet service as any other business in the country and the world. That means the playing field we give them must be truly level. It is time for BEAD to honor the on-the-ground perspective clamoring for fiber projects. We must also consider the views of America's territory. Mr. Chairman, I request unanimous consent to insert into the record a written statement of the Puerto Rico Telecommunications Alliance. Chairman WILLIAMS. So moved. Ms. VELAZQUEZ. With that, I look forward to having a robust conversation today and thank all the witnesses for their presence. I yield back. Chairman WILLIAMS. The lady yields back. And now I would like to recognize Mr. Stauber from the great State of Minnesota to introduce his constituent, Ms. Kristi Westbrock, testifying before us today. Mr. STAUBER. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, for the opportunity to introduce the Minnesota witness this morning. I am pleased to recognize Kristi Westbrock, who resides in Merrifield, Minnesota, located in my district, with her husband and daughter. Kristi has served as a leader at Consolidated Telecommunications Company, headquartered in Brainerd, Minnesota, for over 17 years. Her work has been instrumental in expanding broadband access to underserved communities, reinforcing her passion for rural America and ensuring that all communities, regardless of geography, have access to reliable and affordable technology. With a strong voice in the telecommunications industry and heartfelt commitment to community impact, Kristi continues to lead with vision, integrity, and a commitment to making a difference, which is why I am pleased--so pleased to have her join this Committee today. Kristi, I thank you for being here, and I look forward to hearing from you. Chairman WILLIAMS. Thank you, Mr. Stauber. And our next witness is Mr. Jimmy Todd. Mr. Todd is the chief executive officer and general manager of Nex-Tech based in Lenora, Kansas. Since 2014, he has overseen the company's operations and strategic growth while also serving as Chairman of Nex-Tech's wireless and holding board positions with the Fiber Broadband Association and other organizations. Mr. Todd previously served as an infantry officer in the Army National Guard, as an aviation electronics technician in the U.S. Navy, and thank you for that service. He earned a bachelor of arts in social sciences from Chapman University and a master of business administration from the University of Portland. Our next witness here is Mr. Jeff Vander Werff. Correct, Jeff? Mr. Vander Werff is fourth-generation farmer and the other of VWF, LLC, from Kent City, Michigan. He oversees precision agriculture and agronomics on the farm focusing on the data-driven practices that have positioned his operation as a community leader. In addition to farming, he is also co-owner of the multilocation agricultural retail business that serves much of Michigan. Here, they offer specialized support for everything from apples to zucchini and crops in between. Does that taste good when you mix all that together? Mr. Vander Werff is an American Farm Bureau Federation Member and studied crop and soil science at Michigan State University. And so thank you for that. And I now recognize the Ranking Member from New York, Ms. Velazquez, to briefly introduce our last witness appearing before us today. Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Ms. Karen Jackson-Furman is the CEO of West Kentucky and Tennessee Telecommunications Cooperative, or WK&T, a rural co- op serving West Kentucky, Northwest Tennessee, Southern Illinois and Northern Alabama, founded in 1951 to connect rural Kentuckians and Tennesseans to telephones. WK&T now also delivers high-speed broadband to over roughly 2,500 miles and more than 33,000 network connections. Ms. Jackson-Furman has over 31 years of experience in telecom co-ops, including nine years at WK&T, holding roles like CEO, CFO, and COO. As CEO, she has prioritized new strategic partnerships in pursuing state and federal grants to expand access to unserved and underserved communities. She holds a bachelor's degree from Southeast Missouri State University and an MBA from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Welcome, Ms. Jackson. Thank you for being here. Chairman WILLIAMS. The lady yields back. Again, I want to thank all of you for being here today. Before we recognize the witnesses, I would like to remind them--we have got some rules around here. I am going to tell you the rules. They are not hard, okay? I would like to remind them that their oral testimony is restricted to five minutes in length. We want to stay with that. If you see a light turn red in front of you, it means your five minutes is up, and that you need to conclude, and you should wrap it up. Okay? So with that in mind, I now recognize Ms. Westbrock for her five-minute opening remarks. STATEMENTS OF KRISTI WESTBROCK, CEO AND GENERAL MANAGER, CTC, BRAINERD, MINNESOTA; JIMMY TODD, CEO AND GENERAL MANAGER, NEX- TECH; JEFF VANDER WERFF, AGRA BUSINESS OWNER. MICHIGAN; AND KAREN JACKSON-FURMAN, CEO, WEST KENTUCKY AND TENNESSEE TELECOMMUNICATIONS COOPERATIVE; STATEMENT OF KRISTI WESTBROCK Ms. WESTBROCK. Chairman Williams, Ranking Member Velazquez and Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to participate in today's hearing which focuses on the importance of rural broadband connectivity and how it can revitalize small business. I am Kristi Westbrock. I am the CEO and general manager of CTC, headquartered in Brainerd, Minnesota. I am a native of Browns Valley, Minnesota, with a population of 505. I grew up in a small town where my graduating class was 26 people, and everyone knew everyone by their first name. That grounded my passion for rural America. Today, I live in Merrifield, Minnesota, with my husband Mike and my daughter Emily. I have been with CTC for 17 years, and I have over 25 years of industry experience. CTC is a full-service technology adviser serving Central and Northern Minnesota for the past 75 years. With our fiber network, we offer our members fast, reliable internet, phone, TV services, as well as business phone systems and IT systems. CTC is a cooperative, and we live by our mission to empower our members, employees, and communities through exceptional service and life-changing technology solutions for a sustainable future. As today's hearing will hopefully underscore, fast, high- capacity broadband in rural areas promote small business growth and creates jobs. For example, Leedrick Studios, a cutting-edge video production and marketing company in Hibbing, Minnesota, saw an immediate boost in its process and its production efficiency after having a robust fiber connection. Leedrick had previously served with spotty, less-reliable connection, but we were able to help his company achieve more and receive more from its clients. Jim Lee from Leedrick studios has stated, in our fast-paced industry where every second counts and digital connectivity is paramount, CTC's unwavering reliability has been a game changer. It is the bedrock upon which we have built our enhanced operational efficiency. CTC hasn't just met our expectations; they have redefined them. Our transition has been transformative. This is just one example of showing how we have been able to contribute to our community and how a reliable connection can impact rural broadband, rural businesses, and economic growth and vitality. However, we have more work to do. This is where public policy plays such a key role in helping build and sustain broadband in rural markets that would not otherwise justify such investments for ongoing operations. For example, there has long been bipartisan recognition for years that the lengthy review process is slowing down broadband deployment, particularly in regions with short construction seasons. In Minnesota, even a brief delay can push projects back by years. These setbacks increase costs, as unpredictable timelines make it more challenging to secure contractors and maintain our work schedule. Grant programs play a key role in rural broadband deployment, and I provide specific examples in my written testimony of programs that CTC has leveraged, as well as thoughts on where the BEAD program is headed. Last week the Minnesota Office of Broadband unveiled their draft plan for public comment. CTC is expected to receive approximately 20 million of the BEAD funding, along with our members' capital investment of 6 million to build out 2,209 locations with 35 of those being small businesses. To be clear, grants by themselves are not enough to keep rural America connected. It ultimately takes a mix of community commitment and private capital to build networks as well. And in many rural areas where terrific broadband exists today, those networks were not built by leveraging grants but, rather, through a mix of private capital and loans and support from the FCC's Universal Service Fund. In fact, the continued operation and sustainability of network efficiency and affordable services in rural areas can present a significant challenge. This is where USF has its greatest impact. Even if federal funding is available to help with construction capital, we still need to recover our matching investments, keep our rates affordable for consumers and small business, and maintain our networks. As I explain in my written testimony, while USF has been highly successful, we need to modernize how this program is funded. And we appreciate the work of bipartisan lawmakers from the U.S. Senate and House in considering such reforms. I thank this Committee and interest in all these issues and look forward to working with you to ensure all Americans experience the benefits of broadband over the best possible networks both today and for decades to come. Thank you. Chairman WILLIAMS. Great on your timing. Ms. WESTBROCK. Thank you. Chairman WILLIAMS. And if you hear me do this, that is to remind you to move on. Okay? All right. I now recognize Mr. Todd for his five-minute opening remarks. STATEMENT OF JIMMY TODD Mr. TODD. Chairman Williams, Ranking Member Velazquez, Committee Members, I am Jimmy Todd, CEO and general manager for Nex-Tech, a rural cooperative serving 33,000 customers across 11,000 square miles in Kansas. I have been in the telecom and technology industries for about 40 years now and have spent a lot of years advocating for fiber broadband, precision agriculture, and USF reform. I have had appointments to the Kansas NG911 Coordinating Council, Team Kansas on the Department of Commerce, and the FCC's Precision Ag Task Force, where I was a co-author of the 2023 report. I am a proud veteran of 21 years with the U.S. Navy, U.S. Army, and Army National Guard. And I would like to share that, as we know, broadband is not a luxury. It is an essential economic infrastructure, and robust connectivity helps our rural communities attract new businesses, retain businesses that we have, support entrepreneurs, and help keep our young people in our rural communities. For agriculture, fiber infrastructure enables precision tools and ag tech that can serve resources, improve yields, and strengthen the supply chain for food. I would like to share a quick success story about McCarty Dairy, who over a decade ago reached out to us. They were eight miles outside of our cooperative footprint, and yet, they needed fiber connectivity to secure a contract with a national yogurt brand. Now, between where we served and their area, there was no one. We looked at this as an economic development opportunity, and we figured out how to make it work. With that robust fiber connectivity, they are able to monitor the health of 32,000 cows daily. The processing and condensing plants are controlled through fiber optics. The robots are used to milk 10,000 cows a day, and the impact is jobs created, family livelihoods sustained, and communities strengthened. Farming has transformed a great deal from the days where the single source of truth was the Farmer's Almanac to today's ag technology and data availability. Sensors, automated irrigation, drones, robotic labor all require fiber last-mile infrastructure, and that fiber last-mile infrastructure enables that LAST ACRE network that connects all of these activities going on in today's farms and ranches. There are many success stories that I can share, but challenges continue to remain. Burdensome permitting processes delay builds, which add to costs and discourage investments. Congress can help by streamlining permitting so rural America doesn't fall behind. Nex-Tech was the first in the nation to bring fiber to a rural exchange. And despite early criticism of gold plating, we persevered and continued with that focus. Fiber is the do-it- once, do-it-right technology, and it supports smart ag, it supports AI, telehealth, remote education--and will for decades--innovation in the future. According to the Center for Rural Innovation, rural counties with broadband adoption above 80 percent see 213 percent higher business growth, 10 percent higher self- employment growth, 18 percent higher per capita income growth, and 44 percent higher GDP growth. Broadband adoption directly drives entrepreneurship, jobs, and community growth. Millions of Americans, however, are still unserved or underserved. I urge Congress to ensure federal broadband funding continues to prioritize fiber, the most reliable, scalable, and cost-effective technology. Further, you know, if possible, cut the red tape so that we can see permitting reform, as well as USF reform because that will help rural America faster. Finally, ensuring affordability for all Americans is going to remain important. Thank you for the opportunity with the Small Business Committee here for this hearing and the opportunity to share with you. I look forward to your questions. Chairman WILLIAMS. Great job. I now recognize Mr. Vander Werff for his five-minute opening remarks. STATEMENT OF JEFF VANDER WERFF Mr. VANDER WERFF. Good morning, Chairman Williams, Ranking Member Velazquez, Members of the Committee. Thank you for having us. My name is Jeff Vander Werff. I am visiting you this morning from the State of Michigan where my family and I operate an agribusiness and farming operation near the town of Sparta. Like many Americans, we depend on reliable internet service as a part of our daily lives, and in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, that need has only become more acute, and I want to thank you for the opportunity to share some thoughts on this topic. As a small business owner and farmer, the internet is a part of our daily lives. From the connectivity of our precision agriculture software to the use of cloud-based billing systems for our agribusiness, reliable high-speed internet is a necessity we have to have. The lack of infrastructure, however, has made that more challenging as our connected world continues to evolve. It seems a weekly occurrence in our community Facebook groups that someone is asking if there are better internet options available for their homes and businesses. And, sadly, they are offered only one or two providers in the area, and coverage is less than ideal. Our family has tried to be a part of that solution for years by installing and hosting broadband internet at our farms, utilizing our physical elevation, as well as our 130- foot grain systems to boost signals and help more folks reach high-speed fixed point internet. While private industry is making strides every day to improve this, there is a lot of work to be done. We often hear the phrase the last mile when describing services in rural areas, whether it be the Postal Service or Amazon or high-speed internet, and this is where the need is greatest. And while innovations such as Starlink have helped tremendously, they often are cost-prohibitive, putting a further burden on rural America where poverty levels can often match those of our most populated cities. I do believe there is a better answer. Growing up, I often heard my grandparents talk about how life-changing the Rural Electrification Act of the 1930s was and how much life on their farms and rural communities improved. Today we are at a similar inflection point with part of our country living in the modern era while rural America lags behind. This is just another contributing factor in the decline of our rural towns and the small town America that we all love so much. It isn't just about businesses or farms being able to access internet service. It is about lost opportunities for rural Americans in an increasingly digital world. From education and job opportunities to simple things like trying to order a tractor part, families are being forced to make hard choices when it comes to where they live and where they want to raise a family. And the increase in online virtual work has made it more difficult for young Americans to plant their roots in the hometown that their families have lived in for generations, further hollowing out middle America. I want to thank you again for your time this morning to discuss this topic, and I certainly welcome any and all questions from the Committee. Thank you. Chairman WILLIAMS. Thank you very much. I now recognize Ms. Jackson-Furman for her five-minute opening remarks. STATEMENT OF KAREN JACKSON-FURMAN Ms. JACKSON-FURMAN. Chairman Williams, Ranking Member Velazquez, and Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today on the important topic of how expanding broadband access can ensure small businesses are able to thrive. My name is Karen Jackson-Furman, and I am CEO of West Kentucky and Tennessee Telecommunications Cooperative, a local provider serving rural parts of Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois, and Alabama. We serve more than 33,000 customers covering approximately 2500 square miles, and employ 109 people from the community. I am also here representing WTA, Advocates for Rural Broadband. WK&T will be celebrating its 75th anniversary next year. We got our start with a loan from USDA's Rural Electrification Administration to provide telephone service to the citizens of several counties in Kentucky and Tennessee. Since then, we have expanded and upgraded our operations. Today we provide 100 percent fiber connectivity to our customers. High-speed internet continues to transform our world, including rural areas, and is a necessity for full participation in modern life and economic competitiveness. WK&T isn't just a residential internet provider. We are also a small business that provides vital services to more than 1,000 other small businesses. Its critical infrastructure is vital for rural communities and small businesses. For example, Ralph Brothers Farms in Graves County, Kentucky, has 24 poultry barns connected to WK&T's fiber internet service. The brothers are able to monitor the barns on a mobile app on their cell phones at any hour of the day and recognize problems immediately. In another example, Michael Warren and Nassar Nassar of Savant Learning Systems in Weakley County, Tennessee, worked with Tennessee's Bethel University to develop one of the first online academic programs allowing police officers to complete their continuing education and required training without having to travel, saving both time and money. They say that their WK&T fiber connection makes all the difference in what they do. These are just a couple examples, but without a robust broadband connection, it is virtually impossible for a small business to make it in today's world. And if small businesses aren't making it, America's overall economy suffers. Last year the White House noted that small businesses are responsible for more than 40 percent of America's economic output and two-thirds of net new jobs, and it is not just any connection that matters, but one that can support high bandwidth applications. At WK&T, we have chosen to deploy fiber because we want to make sure our communities are not just getting by today with good-enough service, but that they have a high-speed, robust, scalable broadband network that will provide opportunities decades from now. And, as shared in my written testimony, connectivity to our buried fiber network during the destructive EF-4 long-track tornado in December of 2021 was never interrupted, allowing emergency services to assist and potentially save lives. I would be missing an opportunity if I did not give credit to several important federal broadband programs, without which WK&T would not be able to do what we do. We are able to build, operate, and upgrade our network primarily because of the Federal Universal Service Fund administered by the Federal Communications Commission. The principles of reasonably comparable service at reasonably comparable rates among urban and rural areas across the country has guided U.S. telecom policy for decades. The USF covers a portion of the costs of our network construction, but also ongoing operations, maintenance, and upgrades so we can keep our network on pace with what Americans in more urban areas enjoy. Thankfully, the constitutionality of the FCC's USF program was recently upheld by the Supreme Court. In addition, grants from programs like USDA's Reconnect Program created by Congress in 2018 and now the BEAD program have and will provide us opportunities to expand our network and services. Lastly, as I alluded to earlier, having a broadband connection is incredibly important, but it is also important that it be affordable. As Congress looks to modernize USF, finding a solution to the affordability question must be part of that discussion. I would like to extend an invitation to each of you to come see us. We would love to introduce you to our small town business owners that rely on high-speed internet to run their successful businesses while living in an area that they choose to live in. Thank you for the opportunity to testify, and I look forward to answering any questions you may have. Chairman WILLIAMS. Great job. I will now move to the Member questions under the five- minute rule, and I will now recognize myself for five minutes. Mr. Vander Werff, as a small business owner and farmer myself, I understand that the right technology is crucial to precision agriculture. So my question is, how has limited or unreliable broadband impacted your day-to-day operations? Mr. VANDER WERFF. Well, thank you for that question, Mr. Chairman. The simple answer is we can't operate without it. From, as some of the other folks described, complicated ag operations, precision ag, monitoring our grain systems, things like that require good, reliable, high-speed connectivity. From our agribusiness perspective, we have had to deliberately look to locate facilities in areas that have access to cable internet. If we aren't able to do that, then we are stuck using fixed point wireless or satellite systems, but it just increases our costs much more greatly on that. So it is definitely something that is a very, very critical part of the overall picture of operating a successful agricultural business today. Chairman WILLIAMS. Thank you. Now, this question is for both Ms. Westbrock and Mr. Todd. Rural communities aren't one size fits all when it comes to connectivity. In your view, how important is it for federal broadband programs to take a technology neutral approach, such as allowing fiber, wireless, satellite, and other solutions to compete based on what best fits each community's needs? Ms. Westbrock? Ms. WESTBROCK. Thank you, Mr. Williams. Yes. So we believe that there is room for all technologies in networks, especially when you are looking at how we can potentially serve communities. But in my professional opinion, fiber broadband is the answer mostly because we know that it is scalable, and with the AI explosion that we will see, the networks are going to have to be that robust. I also want to make sure that in the BEAD program that the dollars are spent well and that we are not back asking for additional dollars because one of the technologies didn't stand up for the long haul. I believe in doing that with our taxpayers' dollars and making the best investment when we can. Chairman WILLIAMS. Good. Thank you. Mr. Todd, you want to add to that? Mr. TODD. Yes, Chairman. Thank you for the question. And I would agree with Ms. Westbrock in that fiber is the preference, and here is why. It is a generational investment. When using federal funds to make an investment for broadband connectivity, it is something that we want to stand for generations. You know, we go back to the early, mid 1990s with fiber infrastructure and it is still operating today. However, we have used other technologies that in short periods of time have to be fully replaced. And so when you look at the reliability and the long-term generational use of the investment, in my opinion, fiber is the preference. Chairman WILLIAMS. Let me move on, Mr. Todd. How do your companies adapt their deployment strategies to account for unique challenges of serving sparsely populated rural areas where higher cost and terrain or geography may limit certain technologies? Mr. TODD. So we have been very fortunate to leverage funding through grants from the federal government, as well as the State Government. We have been able to expand our network out to reach our neighbors. So beyond our cooperative footprint, we have--you know, the network is already in place. So being able to expand there is less costly than if we were start a greenfield build in a particular area. So we continue edging out as we find funding to be able to reach those sparsely populated areas because I am in a very ag- heavy area. So ranches and farms are the biggest businesses in Northwest Kansas, North Central Kansas. So with that, we expand fiber to reach those businesses. Chairman WILLIAMS. Thank you. Ms. Westbrock, as a broadband provider, what tools or approaches do you find most effective in keeping service affordable for rural communities? Ms. WESTBROCK. Yes. So from an affordability standpoint, we specifically were users of the ACP program and find it extremely beneficial during COVID. And so we--keeping it affordable and giving the best technology solutions, we have to also leverage our USF program, the grants that we get, all of those pieces because that drives, too, the affordability and the ability to offer the best services to our members for that price. Chairman WILLIAMS. In limited time, Mr. Todd, what challenges have you faced with current mapping efforts? Mr. TODD. With mapping, they continue to improve, but they tend to be a snapshot in time. Not all information presented is always accurate. It is probably worse on the mobile wireless side than it is on the fixed side. But there are improvements that we have seen in recent years, and we hope to see continued improvements in mapping. Chairman WILLIAMS. All right. Thank you. I yield back my time. And now I recognize the Ranking Member for five minutes of questions. Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Ms. Jackson-Furman, why doesn't rural broadband receive as much investment from private industry as more urban areas? Ms. JACKSON-FURMAN. Because it is a very high cost area to serve, and it is very sparsely populated. For instance, we serve 13 customers per square mile, and that drives the cost up and makes it very expensive and less profitable. Ms. VELAZQUEZ. So there is no question that fairer funding is needed to fill the gap? Ms. JACKSON-FURMAN. That is right. Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Ms. Jackson-Furman, can you briefly walk us through the pros and cons of using fiber and satellite for broadband? Ms. JACKSON-FURMAN. Sure. Thank you. Fiber is scalable, it is reliable, and it is faster than satellite broadband. Right now, the up-front cost to deploy, I know, is a point of contention right now. But once the fiber is in the ground, it is scalable because just the electronics on the end of the fiber need to be upgraded to provide the needed bandwidth for the future. Satellite deployment, we have--they share spectrum. There is only so much spectrum. Even if you launch more satellites, it is a shared spectrum resource amongst different spectrum--or satellite providers. So the throughput is not what it is with fiber. And then we have the issue of needing to replenish the constellations every approximately five years with satellite, and there are unknown environmental concerns with those satellites coming back down and different things like that that we don't understand yet. Ms. VELAZQUEZ. In fact, a recent study finds that satellites fall below broadband standards when more than a handful of users connect within a square mile. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to insert this study into the record. Chairman WILLIAMS. So moved. Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Ms. Jackson-Furman, should satellites be the exception, not the norm in bid projects? Ms. JACKSON-FURMAN. Yes, ma'am, I agree with that. I think that satellite has a place. Many times it is on things--mobile, RVs, in boats, maybe very remote hunting lodges where there isn't a lot of infrastructure, which those are far and few between. But I think there is a place for all the different technologies. But whenever fiber is available and the funding for fiber is available, absolutely, it should be fiber. Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Why is it important to have a variety of broadband programs serving different needs? Ms. JACKSON-FURMAN. The programs that I am familiar with, Reconnect, Community Connect, BEAD, USF, they all have different purposes. I think it is important that they not overlap, but for instance, Reconnect, that is a--that helps with the capital infrastructure cost, but also has a loan component that might be beneficial for some companies to utilize. BEAD, that is 100 percent capital infrastructure. But USF, it is unique in that it has got the component for maintenance, upgrades, the long-term operation support. So we need the different funding mechanisms to keep rural America connected. Ms. VELAZQUEZ. And it will help expand rural broadband beyond what a single program could provide? Ms. JACKSON-FURMAN. Yes, that is correct. I agree. Ms. VELAZQUEZ. How does the Universal Service Fund, USF, keep your rates affordable and your model sustainable? Ms. JACKSON-FURMAN. Well, it does in that it keeps rates affordable because of the subsidies that we receive. It is cross-subsidization, so that the urban areas and the rural areas can have comparable services for comparable rates. And so anybody in this room that has a cell phone helps contribute to that fund. And then the funds are redistributed so that rural America can benefit and stay connected just like urban areas. So it is paramount in keeping rates affordable. Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Thank you. In June, the Supreme Court rejected a challenge to the USF funding mechanism, letting the FCC continue its programs. What does that mean for co-ops like yours? Ms. JACKSON-FURMAN. It means everything. It allows us to stay on cutting-edge technology. It allows us to keep our networks upgraded, maintained, expansion potentially. It is the difference between operating and not operating. Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, I yield back. Chairman WILLIAMS. The lady yields back. I now recognize Mr. Meuser from the great State of Pennsylvania for five minutes. Mr. MEUSER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, very much. And thanks very much to our witnesses. Certainly, a very important subject. I travel my district, I travel my state, and sadly, here in 2025, maybe 20 percent of my district has very poor broadband service, and it is ridiculous. There is a lot of money going towards it, federal money, state money. The management of it is awful. I know in Pennsylvania, our current Governor set up an initiative three years ago--two years ago that sounded good but really accomplished nothing. Nothing has improved, but I am not just going to blame--blame our State leadership. I mean, this has been the case--this should have been improved five years ago, ten years ago. So that is why--now, Ms. Westbrock, in your State of Minnesota, let me just ask. On a scale of 1 to 10--because a lot of money goes towards this, I mean, $1.5 billion. And I know how our Democrat colleagues say we just need more money, just give us more money. That is great. Okay. But nothing is improving with the money that has gone. Now, there has been $1.5 billion sent to Pennsylvania over the last years, and, again, zero improvement. How is Kansas developing--excuse me, Minnesota. Ms. WESTBROCK. Yeah. So, in Minnesota I would say that our Office of Broadband has done a remarkable job in our State grant programs. I believe they have been allocated extremely well, although I will say that there are providers that take the money, and then they don't build out the--they say they are going to do it, and then three years later, people are still waiting for that. Mr. MEUSER. They go where the money is. Ms. WESTBROCK. Absolutely. Mr. MEUSER. They can do more--right. So the language is written terribly for rural broadband. It is not restrictive enough. So you give it a good rating. Go on. Ms. WESTBROCK. I give our office a good rating. I would say this, that we have to be very careful, again, of who is getting that money. If you look across the country in rural communities where there are cooperatives and family owns that are local to those communities, that money is being spent correctly. When you start looking at how it goes into certain corporations, that is when things start to--start to stray a little, in all honesty, and so---- Mr. MEUSER. Thank you. Mr. Todd, same question. Mr. TODD. In Kansas, the KOBD has managed federal funds that have been allocated to the State, and I would say a majority of those programs are--projects have been fiber-based. Now, I won't say that all of them have been fiber-based. I would like to say that most were the case. The fiber infrastructure is what will last, and that is what makes the difference. Mr. MEUSER. Is that a lot more money? Mr. TODD. It does cost more money, yes, sir. And in order to reach customers that are not connected, I understand the need for fixed wireless or other means, just as was described earlier. But at the end of the day, whenever a fiber project can be funded, that makes the difference. Mr. MEUSER. Mr. Werff, I am going to get to you in a second. What else is holding it back besides the misallocation? You know, there are some that say the prevailing wage issues in states like Pennsylvania, some of the deregulation that is taking place under the Trump administration should improve things. Mr. Werff, I will turn to you with that. What are the issues standing in the way besides the misallocation of federal funds and state funds that truly are allocated for rural broadband? Mr. VANDER WERFF. Well, Congressman, I am not a person who installs rural broadband, so I can't speak too much to that. But from the boots-on-the-ground perspective as an enduser, I think it is just the complexity of it. People have mentioned terrain, and a lot of parts in Michigan, it is very hilly. So point to point becomes more of an issue. So it is just a matter of getting those projects funded, getting these things going, and getting the cable into the ground, for lack of a better way to put it. Mr. MEUSER. We have the same issue in my district, the hills. That is what you hear, and that is where, of course, fiber would come in and overcome that issue. Is that your thought as well in Kansas? Mr. TODD. Well, fortunately, we don't have the mountains to deal with in Kansas. We have the Flint Hills in the eastern part of the state, but quite honestly, fiber does overcome those challenges wherever you can deploy it. Mr. MEUSER. Okay. Ms. Furman, do you have anything to say on this broad question? Ms. JACKSON-FURMAN. Sure. I will just add that we are working in four states: Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama. And I commend all four broadband offices for working very, very hard. They have been given a hard task, and they have worked very hard to execute. A few of the things that we run into that cause delays are occasionally permitting issues, railroads especially, sometimes, you know, and I am absolutely for environmental review---- Mr. MEUSER. Sorry. Thank you. I have run out of time. Ms. JACKSON-FURMAN. Oh, okay. Mr. MEUSER. I yield back, Mr. Chairman. Chairman WILLIAMS. The gentleman yields back. I now recognize Mr. McGarvey from the great State of Kentucky for five minutes. Mr. MCGARVEY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to first welcome my fellow Kentuckian, Ms. Jackson- Furman. Thank you for being here today, and welcome to the Small Business Committee. I am really grateful for all the work that you are doing to expand broadband access in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, especially in our hardest-to-reach places. So thank you for that. This is a pretty bipartisan issue, I think. I know that everybody in America wants reliable, affordable connectivity to the internet. As a parent where school just started, literally everything your kids now do is online. This is not a want. This is a need to have affordable connectivity throughout this country. And it wasn't so long ago that Democrats and Republicans actually came together and worked on this with the Affordable Connectivity Program, which gave internet access to one in four Kentucky families and 23 million households across the country. But the Republicans did let that program expire last year, and I still hear from constituents for whom that program was a lifeline, a connection to their doctor, to their school, to their kids' activities, to homework, to work. That is now gone. So Republicans and Democrats came together and created the BEAD program, too, which Ms. Jackson-Furman correctly noted in her testimony will bring broadband to 2100 underserved Kentucky locations. This is what BEAD was designed for, making it easier for co-ops like WK&T to go into the hardest-to-connect places and deliver on that last mile. But in June, the Trump administration abruptly reworked the BEAD program requirements, creating chaos for State broadband programs, offices, small service providers, and communities that were about to get reliable internet for the first time. So, Ms. Jackson-Furman, we will start there and just say, tell us about what the Trump administration's changes on the BEAD program meant to you and the people for whom you provided internet. Ms. JACKSON-FURMAN. Thank you. The biggest thing that it meant to companies like me is removing the fiber preference and allowing satellite to compete on equal footing and then fixed wireless too, specifically satellite, though. I know they have put in a lot of applications for a lot of locations. So what that means for me, I think we fared pretty well in our application area in Kentucky through a consortium that we are involved with. But in Tennessee where we applied for funding, we lost locations that were awarded to satellite. And I say that--satellite was the only other applicant in that area, so I am assuming they were awarded to satellite because they weren't awarded to WK&T with fiber technology. So that was the biggest impact. Mr. MCGARVEY. And I am hearing from everybody's testimony up here--again, the goal is to get internet to people who need it, right? I am hearing from everybody up here that this preference for satellite makes it less reliable for people to get internet. Is anybody disagreeing with that right now? Great. Silence is an answer. So there is a really well-known entrepreneur from my hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, David Jones, Sr. And he once said: Quality is often the most affordable thing you can do. So fiber is a better quality than satellite, it lasts longer than satellite, and even though it might be more expensive up front, is what I am understanding that it is cheaper over the long term and better for the people who need it, Mr. Todd? Mr. TODD. In our experience, what we have seen is that the investment, when you look at the operating as well as the capital investments, over a 10-year period, you end up being in a better position with underground fiber. Mr. MCGARVEY. And isn't that what we should be looking at is where are we in the best position for both the people of the country and for taxpayers' money with this program? Mr. TODD. Absolutely. Mr. MCGARVEY. Okay. That helps. And it is working better in the areas that most need it, right? Those hard-to-reach areas where sometimes in the mountains of East Kentucky or wherever you are, satellite might not be as reliable, this gets it there and over the long run is cheaper, it is better for people. And I would love to see us go do that to deliver on that bipartisan goal of making sure everybody in this country is connected to the internet. In an urban district like mine, a lot of people don't really struggle with broadband access. It is the affordability of broadband right now. And the Affordable Connectivity Program made it just a little bit easier for families struggling to put food on the table to get by, to have internet. I just want to ask, Ms. Jackson-Furman--you have got 20 seconds--what does it mean in rural communities and what is happening now that the funding is gone? Ms. JACKSON-FURMAN. Well, the ACP program definitely helped people connect, stay connected. And now that it is gone, they have been disconnected in many cases. And that is it in a nutshell. Mr. MCGARVEY. You did it in under 20 seconds. Thank you so much. Mr. Chairman, I yield back. Chairman WILLIAMS. The gentleman yields back. I now recognize Mr. Finstad from the great State of Minnesota for five minutes. Mr. FINSTAD. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to welcome Ms. Westbrock to the Committee. As a fellow Minnesotan, I just want to say thank you. Thank you for what you do for our neighbors. And for the Committee, what she does for our neighbors is-- there is no cookie-cutter approach. Every hookup that you provide, every high-speed internet access point that you provide, you are going through lakes, you are going through rocks, you are going through forests. You live in a gnarly part of the state when it comes to not a direct A-to-B-type hookup. So thank you for being creative and figuring it out. You know, access to high-speed internet is the great equalizer in rural America. It provides opportunities for our small businesses to, you know, really be competitive globally. And without that access, we lose opportunities in rural America. And one of the things that I have heard from small businesses across Minnesota is really just understanding the maps. You know, we see the different maps, whether it is from the State broadband office, whether it is from the federal level. As a small business is looking at locating or expanding or, you know, really trying to figure out where they can play in that global economy, you look at one map and says, well, this area has, you know, great access to high-speed internet. And then you set up shop, and you realize you don't. So from your perspective, just give me the lay of the land in regards to the mapping of what we in government, you know, think to believe to be true versus what is on the ground a reality. Ms. WESTBROCK. Sure. Thank you. Across our service territory, we receive requests on a daily basis from business owners wondering if we are going to build in their area because they don't have access to a good connection. We immediately go to the maps to look and see if there is any opportunity to be able to build to them using a federal program or a state program. And when we go there and look, they show that they are served. And this happens probably eight out of the ten times that someone calls in. And the reason that they are showing served is because people are overreporting their data, companies are overreporting. And at specific locations, they may serve someone in that area, but they are reported in the entire census block. So, for us, I would say we--we really are worried that this money is being spent, and grant programs are being created based on incorrect data. Mr. FINSTAD. So on that point, where does the buck stop for the overreporting, the inaccuracies? Because, I mean, to a certain extent, if you were an outsider looking in, you would say, well, that is a bunch of malarkey, that is fraud, that is misrepresenting where the federal dollars are going, and it is not the reality that we see. So where does the buck stop on that? Ms. WESTBROCK. Sure. So I think that the buck has to stop on that we need to put serious consequences in for chronic overreporting on this map data because until that happens, I don't see it getting corrected because what it does is it opens up those areas, then, for a provider like us to come in and use federal dollars to be able to build in that area. And those providers do not want that to happen. Mr. FINSTAD. So as has been stated earlier, I mean, I think this issue is a very bipartisan issue. I think you will see support on both sides of the aisle. I think where we can probably really hone in to make sure the dollars are getting to where they need to go is if we just start with the maps and be honest with ourselves about--we are not just going to keep throwing money against the wall and relying on maps that aren't accurate because, at the end of the day, if you are in that area that the map says you are getting the service, but you know in reality you are not, we are throwing good money at bad. And so I think that is one area for us to start. I hear it from our small businesses all the time, that they--depending on what map they look at, they say they are covered, but the reality is they are not. And it has to be frustrating not just from a small business perspective, but for a provider like you that is trying to do well and trying to really get to that farmer at the end of that three-mile gravel road that on paper might say they have service, but they don't. So I think that is one of the areas that we can really dig into here in Congress to try to figure out how do we do better with the dollars that we are spending to make sure we are actually getting to that farmer at the end of the three-mile road. And I just, again, want to thank you for what you do for our neighbors. I know that--like I said, not--not two projects are alike, but you are a problem solver and you are really trying to do good for our neighbors, and I appreciate you being here. Mr. Chair, I yield back. Chairman WILLIAMS. The gentleman yields back. I now recognize Mr. Cisneros from the great State of California for five minutes. Mr. CISNEROS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Like several have already shared today, I believe we are at an inflection point, much like electricity in the early 20th century, internet access is a foundational technology in the 21st century. Every house and small business across this great nation should have access to the internet, not just in urban communities, but in rural communities too. It is becoming more important as our country increasingly relies on the internet for information, economic growth, and communication. Just earlier this year, the Trump administration attempted to eliminate many Social Security services over the phone, essentially pushing seniors in rural areas to rely on the current access to internet or travel long distances to a field office. This highlights how access to broadband is not only critical for small businesses, but for the broader communities. For small businesses, there is no doubt internet access can foster growth and enhance capabilities to succeed in this digital economy. I am eager to work with my colleagues across the aisle to ensure all Americans have access to high-speed and affordable broadband. With that, Ms. Jackson-Furman, I would like to ask you, private sector plays a key role in building out broadband access. Do you have any notes for this Committee on how the federal government can accelerate private investment or improve collaboration within the private sector to ensure underserved areas have the access to internet they need? Ms. JACKSON-FURMAN. I think that private investment is extremely important. I know that we have had many collaborative efforts with local governments. We have had partnerships with local counties, local municipalities. It all comes down to money. But I think that the private investment from co-ops and other companies, coupled with these other local investments are what really makes it work whenever there is a lack of federal funding. Mr. CISNEROS. All right. So how can we use the federal funding that is out there? Is there any changes that we need to make to the current system right now to help the private sector continue to invest in this? Ms. JACKSON-FURMAN. Well, I think making the funding available is key. I think that is kind of what we have heard across the panel this morning. Making--the funding and the different funding mechanisms need to remain because they all have different goals, and they contribute to the success of connectivity in rural America in different ways. So continuing the funding, the USF programs, the Reconnect programs, the--make sure the BEAD money is allocated and spent and put into service. Those are all very important to get rural America connected and stay connected. Mr. CISNEROS. All right. Thank you very much. Mr. Vander Werff, your parallel between electricity and broadband is actually what I was thinking when I heard the topic for this hearing. With ongoing conversations about next generation internet technologies, what would be the impact of a wired digital divide on small town America if we don't start making improvements now? Mr. VANDER WERFF. Thank you, Congressman. That divide is only going to continue to increase. And being someone who lives in a rural community, has grown up and lived there for generations, one of the big things that we see is the number of young people that continue to leave our communities. And if we want to have rural America continue to exist, to be quite direct about it, for another two or three generations, we have to give young people an incentive to want to stay there. And if they can't further their education, if they can't access online job opportunities, things like that, that divide is only going to continue to grow and continue to erode rural America. Mr. CISNEROS. Well, thank you for that answer. Ms. Jackson-Furman, another question for you. Once networks are built, how important is it to ensure our families and businesses can afford to connect to these networks? Ms. JACKSON-FURMAN. It is very important. I think that whenever connectivity is ubiquitous, all boats rise in a community. There is opportunities for remote work, remote education, which oftentimes lead to career positions and remote work and sustainability of families in rural America. So it is extremely important. Mr. CISNEROS. All right. Well, thank you all for being here today. And like my colleagues have said, right, this is a bipartisan issue. It is something that all of America needs no matter whether you live in the urban areas, like my district is, or in rural America. This is what drives our economy now. This is how we communicate, and this is how we do business. And if we don't make these investments and if we don't support these efforts to ensure that everybody has access to this, it is only going to leave people behind. You know, I think in our day and age right now, we would never stand for anybody living in a house or being anywhere without electricity or running water in their house, and I think we have to feel the same way right now today about internet connectivity. So with that, Mr. Chairman. I yield back. Chairman WILLIAMS. The gentleman yields back. I now recognize Mr. Stauber from the great State of Minnesota for 5 minutes. Mr. STAUBER. Thank you, Chairman Williams and Ranking Member Velazquez for holding this hearing today. You know, in rural Minnesota broadband isn't a luxury. It's actually a matter of survival. I have heard from businesses across my district in all the counties and small communities who are trying to serve their communities by running restaurants, farms, auto shops, and much more. Yet they can't reliably upload a payroll file or process a credit card when a snowstorm knocks out their satellite service. It is 2025, and this can't be accepted as the status quo for our rural communities. Connectivity is no longer optional, and right now federal broadband programs are too duplicative, too bureaucratic, and too slow to deliver results for main street. Ms. Westbrock, you know this better than most. You serve rural Minnesotans every day through CTC. Could you speak to the regulatory roadblocks like permitting delays and redundant reporting that hinder your ability to build and connect our communities? Ms. WESTBROCK. Thank you. It is our primarily roadblock during construction season of getting the permitting approved. And so, in one really specific example, as you know, we hope that we can start building in April, and we hope that we can go to mid-October, but then our construction season is over. So, when we have 6-month delays for soil testing, that causes our project to get pushed back another year. And then we wait another 6 months for the State to approve it. We are now pushed back 2 years on that project only because of the delays in permitting. Mr. STAUBER. And the 2 years, it becomes more expensive every year you delay. Ms. WESTBROCK. Absolutely. Mr. STAUBER. In your testimony, you also mentioned the importance of the Universal Service Fund in helping maintain affordable service for rural areas. That is an issue that I have worked on with you directly, and I signed onto the amicus brief defending the USF before the Supreme Court, and I was glad to see the court ruled in our favor preserving this essential program. Can you expand on why the USF is so critical to rural broadband operations and what you believe Congress should do to help modernize and sustain it. Ms. WESTBROCK. Sure. And thank you for signing onto that brief. That was a very important time for us. There are several pieces of legislation right now. The Fair Contributions Act, Lowering Broadband Costs for Consumers Act, and then the USF working group that are working on updating programs which would put USF on more stable footing. Failing to address these concerns will accelerate the declining pool of resources available for USF. And for us specifically, we work very, very hard to not be dependent on it. I mean, we are building out and diversifying our business all the time, but at the end of the day, our business is still over 20 percent dependent on USF, and that number for many co-ops is a low percentage. But without that, we cut jobs. We cut services. Our networks don't stay as reliable. So USF does have to have reform. Mr. STAUBER. I actually went out and toured one of your sites there. Incredible people, incredible leadership, and trying to spice up fiber. I mean, it is just an amazing process, and I was very happy to be there just outside Brainerd. And finally, in your testimony, you provide some specific examples of how broadband service has helped small businesses in our community. Can you talk about what broadband service technology you believe is most beneficial to meet the needs of small businesses in our rural communities? Ms. WESTBROCK. Yes, and I would love to give you a specific example. 7Sigma Systems is a company that is located in Brainerd, Minnesota. They have 25 employees, but they run a software company. That software company touches millions of end users on our fiber network. And just to take into account the 25 employees they have, they have no brick and mortar, and so those 25 employees are in States like Georgia, Indiana, Wisconsin, Texas, Iowa, and they are all operating--all of those employees have to have reliable network in order to support that. And so that business is so exciting because those people can live where they want to live and have the jobs that they have for a livelihood there. But we believe in fiber, Representative Stauber. Mr. STAUBER. Yes, you know, representing a rural community, that is a quality of life issue. If you talk to realtors, I mean, the first thing people ask us: Is it a reliable service? That is a huge component to the economies that are going to drive new home buildings, first time home ownership in rural America. I remember we held a hearing in Scandia, Minnesota. We talked to a business owner who said he would have never located there had he realized there wasn't the reliable service. So we can't hear that. Small businesses are the engine of our economy, and you helped make our economy better by laying that fiber so we can go into greater America and enjoy our quality of life. Mr. Chair, that is it and I yield back. Ms. WESTBROCK. Thank you. Chairman WILLIAMS. The gentleman yields back. I now recognize Dr. Morrison from the great State of Minnesota for 5 minutes. Ms. MORRISON. Thank you, Chairman Williams and Ranking Member Velazquez for holding this hearing, and thanks to our witnesses for being here and taking the time. A quick shout out, of course, to my fellow Minnesotan, Ms. Westbrock. I love all the Minnesota representation in the House today, Mr. Chair. Thank you. While I was home in Minnesota in August, I had the pleasure of meeting with many small businesses from around my district. We all know small business plays a vital role in our economy, and their entrepreneurial spirit helps them devise innovative solutions to the unpredictable challenges that are thrown their way. One of the critical tools that help our small businesses innovate and modernize is, of course, broadband internet. So many aspects of our lives, such as e-commerce, education, and healthcare now rely on having reliable high-speed internet service. As a physician myself, telehealth enabled me to continue to connect with and care for my patients during the pandemic, and since then telehealth flexibilities have continued to play a crucial role in ensuring patients are able to access the care they need, especially in rural areas. Telehealth options fill a gap in areas where in-person care is limited or specialty care is unavailable, but to access these services, patients and providers have to have reliable broadband connections. So with that in mind, Ms. Jackson-Furman, do you have suggestions on ways that the USF can be improved to ensure that rural healthcare providers have the broadband capabilities needed to provide telehealth care? Ms. JACKSON-FURMAN. Well, we have got specific programs within USF that are designed for specific initiatives, such as E-Rate and other health services. So I think that if that were a priority, I think that potentially a specific fund could be set aside for something like that. But in the greater realm, if the BEAD funds are expended the way that they are supposed to be expended to achieve what they are supposed to achieve, we should have connectivity. It is an internet for all program, right, and we think that there may be holes left post BEAD that reconnect and different funding mechanisms can help fill. But I think that all of that has to do with deploying the facilities and then having specific USF programs to help people stay connected and to continue to maintain those networks going forward. Ms. MORRISON. Thank you. I appreciate that answer. In June, the Trump administration issued a policy notice making substantive changes to the BEAD program. One of the most significant changes was deprioritizing the installation of highly reliable fiber-optic cables and allowing funding to go to satellite broadband technology providers. This change opened the way for Starlink, America's largest satellite broadband provider and a subsidiary of SpaceX to receive funds for BEAD projects. Ms. Jackson-Furman, again to you. Can you discuss the impact of those changes? Ms. JACKSON-FURMAN. Sure. The biggest impact for providers such as WK&T was losing the fiber preference and allowing fixed wireless and satellite specifically to compete for the funds. The short answer is that it will create a landscape of haves and have-nots for fiber connectivity, which is faster, more reliable, and scalable. So some folks will be left with an inferior service, and that is unfortunate. So a specific impact to WK&T is we lost the opportunity to serve serviceable locations that we would have otherwise served with fiber. Ms. MORRISON. That is concerning. Thank you. And good to know. I, of course, would be remiss if I didn't mention that Starlink is owned by Elon Musk, and these changes made by the Trump administration came shortly after Mr. Musk's tenure as a, quote, special government employee. In the lead up to the passage of the budget reconciliation bill, the majority attempted to condition BEAD funding on States agreeing to not regulate artificial intelligence for 10 years. I am concerned about how this would threaten online safety, jeopardize data privacy, and spread misinformation. But I would like to hear from you, Ms. Jackson-Furman, on how linking program funding to an unrelated condition might hinder broadband deployment. Ms. JACKSON-FURMAN. In my opinion, AI is a separate issue from BEAD funding, and they shouldn't be linked at all. AI, obviously, is a tool that we all use in day-to-day life, and it is exciting and it is new. I think that it does need to have some boundaries on the sides of it to make sure it is used appropriately. But, ultimately, I believe BEAD funding and AI are completely unlinked. Ms. MORRISON. I agree with you. Thank you, Ms. Jackson- Furman. And thank you, Mr. Chair, and our witnesses. I yield back. Chairman WILLIAMS. The lady yields back. And it is like being at the Minnesota State Fair with all of these Minnesotans here today. I now recognize Mr. Alford from the great State of Missouri for 5 minutes. Mr. ALFORD. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am not from Minnesota, but another ``M'' State, Missouri. Good to have you with us. I have the honor of representing Missouri's Fourth Congressional District, largely rural, 24 counties in the heart of Missouri and the heart of America. Right now 15 federal agencies with more than 100 different programs have been working to try to make sure that every American has access to broadband. Despite this, I meet folks each and every time I am back in the district, and they ask me one thing: When are we getting broadband? Farmers cannot use modern technology. Families cannot access telemedicine. Small businesses are not willing to relocate to rural areas because they don't have the tools necessary to conduct small business in 2025. Many of my constituents lack the rural broadband, about 70,000 families. That is a lot. And this is despite billions of dollars being spent on attempts to expand rural broadband, including the most recent trench of $42 billion from the Biden administration's Infrastructure and Jobs Act. It is unacceptable in my opinion that 7 million homes and businesses primarily in rural areas like Central Missouri still lack access to rural broadband. Ms. Westbrock, thank you for being here today. Billions of taxpayer dollars, as we have said, have already been spent on broadband expansion, and yet rural communities still do not have adequate access. Why is that? Ms. WESTBROCK. Well, I will give you my professional opinion on that. I believe that the reason that they don't have access yet is because the way certain programs have been administered, that the programs have given money to companies that don't follow through on the work that they say they are going to do or they take shortcuts. They don't put in the robust connections that should be put in and then they are lacking that connectivity still in rural America. And we see it over and over with large corporations that say X and they don't do X, and that is very concerning when you live in small rural communities, and you hear that often. Mr. ALFORD. Are there any consequences to that lack of fulfillment for what they are really charged with doing with the federal government's money? Ms. WESTBROCK. I am unaware of any. Mr. ALFORD. Mr. Todd, you are the CEO of Nex-Tech, a company bringing fiber to rural communities in nearby Kansas. Given your advocacy for broadband funding reform, what legislative or regulatory burden do you believe most slows deployment in areas like my district? Mr. TODD. Thank you for the question. And I would say what would slow things down is generally the permitting process. As you know, there are different levels of permitting and right-of-way access that must be navigated. You have got different programs within the federal government which are not in sync, but you also have State and county and municipality codes that you have to work with. All of those can present delays in getting the permitting necessary to build out a project. That leads to delays and increased cost, unfortunately. Mr. ALFORD. As I stated, more than 100 programs have been set up to try to get rural broadband to everyone. Can you explain how a streamlined effort could help providers and their customers in rural communities? I assume some of this would be overcoming some of the regulations that are stifling the growth of expansion. Mr. TODD. I believe consistency would simplify things. Streamlining and consistency would make a difference. When a different program follows different rules and how you approach not only presenting a project but being approved and then acting on it, then that creates complications. So uniformity and consistency would be a great help. Mr. ALFORD. Mr. Werff, we have 1 minute left. There are thousands of folks just like you in my district who are forced to adapt and attempt to run their small businesses without full access to broadband. How has this lack of access to broadband, how has that affected your business? Mr. VANDER WERFF. Thank you for the question. We have been fortunate so far that we have been able to locate facilities and locate people in areas where we have access to at least something as far as broadband goes, but an overarching part of this conversation is not just broadband but cellular access because oftentimes--for example, our billing and software and everything for our Ag retail facilities, those orders are all taken on iPad. So either it is a hot spot or cellular connectivity, but the software itself is based in Illinois and operates all on cloud. So we can't operate without high-speed reliable internet, and so occasionally that forces us to reconsider where we want to locate a facility. Mr. ALFORD. Thank you. Thank you all for your answers and for being here today. And I yield back, Chairman. Chairman WILLIAMS. The gentleman yields back. And I now recognize Mr. Tran from the great State of California for 5 minutes. Mr. TRAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Ms. Westbrock, last year your company CTC announced a partnership with the Communications Workers of America to create the first broadband center apprenticeship program for Minnesota and other States in the region. How beneficial are programs like these to both workers and providers like yours? Ms. WESTBROCK. It is extremely important, especially in rural communities, that we can provide young--new workers coming into programs with the apprenticeship program. In this case, we had a tremendous experience in working with the CWA. We had our first two that graduated from the apprenticeship program. They both came straight out of high school into the apprenticeship program and are already working in a great job with great income. So, it has been super successful, and my thanks to CWA for working with us. Mr. TRAN. That is so good to hear. How can the federal government better maintain and expand its support for registered broadband apprenticeship programs like yours? Ms. WESTBROCK. Funding. Funding mechanisms are needed. Today that program is really grassroots, and we are trying to fund it ourselves with them and us involved, but we just--we need more help, and we need more awareness of how helpful these apprenticeship programs are. Mr. TRAN. I agree with that. Thank you for your testimony. For both Ms. Jackson-Furman and Ms. Westbrock, for more than 30 years the Universal Service Fund has been a critical federal program for working families, ensuring millions of Americans have access to broadband in the most rural and underserved areas in California and across the country. Reliable high-speed internet connection isn't a luxury, and it is vital to how modern small businesses operate. Thankfully, SCOTUS upheld the constitutionality of the program, but now Congress must look toward improving the program. Ms. Jackson-Furman first. In your respective written testimony, you highlighted the importance of Universal Service Fund. Could you first discuss how Congress could modernize and strengthen the Universal Service Fund and ensure it continues to meet the evolving connectivity needs of all Americans? Ms. JACKSON-FURMAN. Yes. Thank you. So major modernization does need to happen in the funding mechanism piece of that. So the base needs to be broadened for who contributes to the fund. Right now the majority of the funding comes from long distance services on voice bills, and that pool of revenue is ever retracting. And so the FUSF factor is exceeding 36 percent. So I think it will go to 39 percent for the fourth quarter of this year. That is not sustainable. So expanding the base contribution to edge providers and all ISP providers would bolster the fund, make the support predictable for the foreseeable future, and help us all operate with confidence when we are making 20-year investments. Mr. TRAN. Amazing. Ms. Westbrock, anything to add? Ms. WESTBROCK. I would just add that the modernization of USF is critical for our rural communities to have that support. Mr. TRAN. Thank you so much for your testimony and for all the witnesses for being here. Mr. Chairman, I yield back. Chairman WILLIAMS. The gentleman yields back. I now recognize Mr. Downing from the great State of Montana for 5 minutes. Mr. DOWNING. Mr. Chair, thank you very much for holding this. Thank you, witnesses, for being here. My home State of Montana is one of the least densely populated places in the country. We have really, really long roads, and we lag behind the rest of the country in broadband access. Only 73 percent of our households have access, which is below the national average of about 95 percent. This lack of access sets back rural job creators competing in our modern economy. Reliable connection to the internet is crucial for small businesses to market their products, to recruit talent, and, you know, effectively run their operations. So this one is to the whole panel. From your experience both as broadband providers and as rural businessowners, what impacts have you seen broadband expansion have on making rural small businesses more viable for outside investments? I will open that to the panel. Ms. Westbrock? Ms. WESTBROCK. Yes. I would like to specifically talk about Nature Link, which is a company that is in our service territory. They are a small resort, and they have the ability to hold corporate functions there. When they went into that area, the services that were there weren't what they needed to attract those large conferences to their resort, and so once we got the connectivity there, they were able to start booking those, and now we are bringing in those dollars into our local economy. Mr. DOWNING. Thank you. Anyone else? Mr. Todd? Mr. TODD. Thank you, sir. With regard to entrepreneurship, we have seen the ability for young people or folks that are interested in starting and growing a business facilitated by fiber broadband capabilities, and without that, they would be somewhere else. They choose our area because of the infrastructure that we have, the connectivity that they can have access to. So small businesses grow. Entrepreneurs are able to start businesses, and it just continues to benefit the community as a whole. Mr. DOWNING. Right. Thank you. Mr. Vander Werff? Mr. VANDER WERFF. Thank you, Congressman. I think the thing to recognize from my perspective on this issue as a small business owner, you know, oftentimes when we think about business growth with internet connectivity, it is sort of the big sexy things like starting an e-commerce business or a web-based business. But in reality, it is your local HVAC contractor. It is the local lumbar yard simply being able to go on LinkedIn and look for employees. It is being able to run payroll software. It's being able to order parts and services off the internet. It is not necessarily a necessity to have for a business to be able to create a digital storefront. It is just a necessity of having a cloud-based business. I mean, you can't even get QuickBooks as a desktop software anymore. It is all cloud- based, and if you don't have some kind of 5G or higher connectivity, it is not going to work. Mr. DOWNING. Something to add, Ms. Jackson-Furman? Ms. JACKSON-FURMAN. We had a seed company that was a large user of our data services, and they attracted outside investment, and they were bought by a much bigger company, a worldwide company. So that is opportunity. It brings opportunity for folks to grow when they have access to the worldwide stage to our fiber connectivity. Mr. DOWNING. Right. I appreciate that. You know, it is important to me that we have access for entrepreneurs that are in less served areas, which is, you know, a big part of my State, making sure that we have the connectivity and can attract the financing because that is, obviously, a key part to that. So, you know, I introduced earlier this year the Expanding Access to Capital for Rural Job Creators Act trying to solve some of these problems, but a big part is this connectivity as well. But in the interest of time, I am going to move on to a different topic on, you know, the impact of broadband on farming. You know, farming is a crucial sector in rural economies across our country, including, you know, in Montana. I am in the central and eastern part of the State. Small farmers and ranchers are increasingly reliant on high-tech methods and machinery in order to remain competitive. Precision agriculture tools like, you know, GPS, autonomous equipment, drones, soil sensors, all of these depend on broadband for accessing data and operating effectively. So I will start with Mr. Vander Werff. Has unreliable broadband limited your ability to adopt these tools on your farm in rural Michigan? Mr. VANDER WERFF. It has created challenges for us to do so. You have to remember when we are creating data out in the field, we are creating terabytes of data at a time, and that data, even if it is remotely uplinked to a cloud-based server, as a lot of it is, you then have to be able to access that. So even if I have great connectivity through cellular on the equipment, I still have to have a broadband connection at my office or this data is useless to me. Mr. DOWNING. Right. We are seeing more and more demand for this. And, unfortunately, I could go deep into this, but I have run out of time. So on that, Mr. Chair, I yield back. Chairman WILLIAMS. The gentleman yields back. I now recognize Ms. Goodlander from the great State of New Hampshire for 5 minutes. Ms. GOODLANDER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to our witnesses for being here today for this important hearing. We are all back from our districts. I spent 40 days and 40 nights pounding the pavement across New Hampshire, and the issue of reliable, affordable internet access came up pretty much everywhere I went. In conversations with family farmers--and I am grateful that you are here today to help us dig in on that front--rural entrepreneurs, small businesses of all kinds, you know, in New Hampshire, in my district, a lot of the challenge comes from we see just a situation where we have got weather-dependent reliability when it comes to the internet. We had an opportunity through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, which paved the way for my State to really deliver broadband across the board. $191 million has been put on the table for the State of New Hampshire. Our State, on a bipartisan basis, as we always work, put together a great 5-year plan. And just last month, changes to the BEAD program, which is really the lifeline for my State. To be able to achieve what we all want to see, which is universal broadband access that is reliable and affordable, the BEAD program is critical to that. Ms. Jackson-Furman, I know you have applied for--and the other witnesses, have you all applied for BEAD grants or worked with the program? So I just want to ask--and, Mr. Chairman, I would like to enter into the record a letter I wrote to Secretary Lutnick last month about this specifically. Thank you very much. It hasn't received a response yet. We have an opportunity here with this $191 million in the State of New Hampshire. We've got a great plan. It was already approved. It is waiting for us and waiting for the grantees across my State who have gone through a lot of trouble to navigate complicated federal programs. And I am all for cutting the red tape and waste, fraud, and abuse wherever we can find it. But Ms. Jackson-Furman, can you tell us a little bit about your experience with the BEAD program and what it means for the goal we all want to achieve? Ms. JACKSON-FURMAN. Sure. Thank you. The BEAD program is--the fiber preference was removed. I know I said that before, but that was a really large issue for us, providers like us in rural America, the fiber preference being removed. While we think there is a place for all technologies, fixed wireless and satellite alike, fiber technology is considered the future-proof technology with the full scaleability and robust reliability that fixed wireless and satellite do not offer. So it makes sense to spend the dollars in a program like BEAD to provide sure connectivity as opposed to taking a gamble on what might be, and so I think that creating a system where not everybody has access to the same technology is unfortunate. Ms. GOODLANDER. Ms. Westbrock, can you talk a little bit about your experience with BEAD and what disruptions you have seen in this freeze on federal funds? Ms. WESTBROCK. Sure. So, the BEAD program has been complicated as a provider to navigate. We have spent many nights working on a BEAD application. We are recently preliminarily awarded the $20 million, but if that fiber preference wouldn't have changed, I believe that we would have been awarded much more than that. We didn't apply for certain areas specifically because we knew that the match that we had would not be the match that we would need to have without being able to get a waiver. So we chose not to apply in certain areas. Ms. GOODLANDER. We welcome all of your ideas on how we can make these programs work better. I have got a bill, a bipartisan bill with Congressman Wied, the Office of Rural Affairs Enhancement Act. It is an office within this Small Business Administration. I wanted to--I have got 30 seconds left--ask our witnesses just if anyone has thoughts on how the SBA can be a more effective force multiplier and operator in helping to connect rural small businesses with what is theirs, these federal programs and funding streams. I would welcome your ideas since we are, after all, the Small Business Committee. Ms. JACKSON-FURMAN. I will jump in here. So I think that we would ask that individually, as Congressmen and women, whenever the contribution reform vote comes up in Congress, we need your help in order to have contribution reform so that USF remains sustainable in the foreseeable future. As far as the Small Business Committee, I don't have anything to ask right now, but as Members of Congress I do. Ms. GOODLANDER. Thank you very much. I yield back, Mr. Chair. Chairman WILLIAMS. The gentlelady yields back. And I would like to thank our witnesses for their testimony and for appearing before us today. You all did a really good job. Your hometowns and States should be proud of you. Without objection, Members have 5 legislative days to submit additional materials and written requests for the witnesses to the Chair, which will be forwarded to the witnesses. I ask the witnesses to please respond promptly. And if there is no further business, without objection, the Committee is adjourned. [Whereupon, at 11:35 a.m., the committee was adjourned.] A P P E N D I X [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] [all]