'Broadband Is Infrastructure,' Biden Tells Senate Commerce Leaders
President Joe Biden said he's "prepared to negotiate" with Republicans on the size and scope of an infrastructure spending package, but "it’s going to get down to what we call infrastructure," as he began a Monday meeting with Senate Commerce…
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Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and other lawmakers on the subject. Biden told reporters, "I think broadband is infrastructure. It's not just roads, bridges, highways, et cetera." Biden's proposal includes $100 billion for broadband, in line with Democrats' legislation (see 2103310064). Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg also cited the infrastructure definition debate, tweeting, "Why would anyone turn against broadband because it's not a bridge, or come out against water pipes because they're not highways?" Democrats "just spent nearly $2 trillion on a COVID relief package -- the majority of which did not go to immediate pandemic problems," Wicker tweeted after the meeting. "Now, @POTUS has a $2.3 trillion infrastructure proposal, but not even 70% of it could be called infrastructure. Where does the spending end?" Republicans are "wary" about whether Biden's meetings with the party's lawmakers are actually aimed at "working out a bipartisan deal, or if they are about window dressing that will lead to another Democrat-only reconciliation process," a Senate GOP aide said. The White House released fact sheets before the meeting outlining each state's infrastructure needs. For instance, "26% of Mississippians live in areas where, by one definition, there is no broadband infrastructure that provides minimally acceptable speeds," that state's fact sheet said. "And 50.1% of Mississippians live in areas where there is only one such internet provider. Even where infrastructure is available, broadband may be too expensive to be within reach. 23% of Mississippi households do not have an internet subscription. The American Jobs Plan will invest $100 billion to bring universal, reliable, high-speed and affordable coverage to every family in America."