The National Grange is deeply concerned about the timing and direction of current efforts in Washington to regulate the Internet, specifically H.R. 5353, recently introduced by Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA). As the nation’s oldest general farm and rural public interest organization, we actively follow and support policies designed to assure a strong and viable Rural America. The proposed Markey legislation would undermine this vital objective. Broadband deployment and access for all Americans, especially rural Americans, is a far more pressing policy objective than asking government regulators to predict, anticipate and ultimately control the future direction of this vital innovation that is creating so many possibilities for our economy and quality of life.

The National Grange joins hundreds of other organizations, thought leaders and economists who believe preemptive regulation of the Internet is a grave mistake for our economy, for rural America and for all consumers. Micro-managing the Internet’s ever-evolving structure and applications could have catastrophic consequences on the deployment of Internet services and applications that are critical to rural America’s future, such as telecommuting, eHealth, online education and agriculture-related advances.

We are particularly disappointed to find that the proposed bill is insensitive to underserved rural communities. The bill directs the FCC to “utilize broadband technology to encourage input from and communication with the people of the United States through the Internet in a manner that will maximize the ability of such people to participate in such proceedings.” In too many rural communities, this is the equivalent of requiring a person to drive themselves to their first drivers’ license test. The National Grange believes that it is the height of hubris to assume that the experiences of existing urban and suburban broadband users should constitute the entire universe of valid policy perspectives on the issue of the government’s role in our broadband future.

We urge Congress to maintain its current focus on policies that encourage deployment of broadband to all Americans, regardless of where they live. Without universal access to broadband, far more than the policy views of rural Americans will be silenced. So will our equal right to the many opportunities that broadband investment and innovation are bringing into our lives today.