Welch Joins Fiber Broadband Association to Celebrate Bipartisan Momentum in Rural Broadband Deployment

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee on Rural Development, Energy, and Credit, joined the Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) for a public policy summit to discuss forward momentum in the deployment of fiber broadband networks to ensure digital equity and enable every community to leverage economic and societal benefits that only fiber can deliver.

Senator Welch highlighted his bipartisan ReConnecting Rural America Act, legislation that would reauthorize and strengthen the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) ReConnect Loan and Grant Program. ReConnect plays a central role in expanding access to high-speed broadband in rural communities.

“Whether you’re talking about Vermont or North Carolina, folks in rural America have got to have affordable broadband. You need it for the doctor, to start a business, work from home, and even go to school.  We have to keep up the fight to ensure every house and farm on every dirt road has access to broadband,” said Senator Welch. “I’ll continue working across the aisle to find bipartisan solutions that expand high-speed broadband and get rural America connected.”

“The ReConnecting Rural America Act proves that closing the digital divide is not a partisan issue — it’s a national imperative,” said Gary Bolton, President and CEO, Fiber Broadband Association. “We thank Senator Welch for his bipartisan leadership and clear commitment to ensuring rural communities are not left behind in today’s economy or tomorrow’s AI-driven future. Fiber broadband gives every community, from bustling main streets to rural farms in Vermont, the reliable, high-capacity connectivity needed to innovate, grow, and compete.”

FBA’s annual public policy summit highlights policy and legislative issues related to the fiber broadband industry. Senator Welch was joined at the event by Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Reps. McClellan (D-VA-04) and Richard Hudson (R-NC-09), FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty, and fiber industry leaders including AT&T, Nokia, USDA-RD, Fidium, and others.

Senator Welch championed the BEAD program, which was created through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and signed into law by President Biden in 2021. In 2024, he announced the Biden-Harris Administration’s investment of nearly $230 million in high-speed, affordable broadband in Vermont. After NTIA’s final approval of Vermont’s BEAD plan earlier this month, funding will be distributed to Vermont BEAD applicants, who will soon connect households and businesses with fiber, fixed-wireless, and satellite internet.