 Ranking Member Lara, Chairman Doyle, and Ranking Member McMorris Rogers. Thank you for inviting me to this important hearing today. Our country is facing a unique opportunity about broadband right now. We have bipartisan support in the Congress for addressing the broadband digital divide, and the country supports Congress taking action due to the way in which the COVID pandemic has shown every household just how essential a robust, affordable, and reliable broadband connection is to every American. The challenge in front of us is to make sure that the policy actions that we take are comprehensive enough to address all the drivers of the digital divide, because it is clear that the policy and marketplace structures in the decade leading up to the pandemic were inadequate to the task and left many communities behind. I have personally met and heard from individuals who have been left out by the current policies and structures of investment. When I was a staffer at the FCC, I was sometimes asked by congressional staff if I could talk with a constituent who was impacted by the high cost of world employment or the digital redlining decisions made by a broadband provider. They would share how all they wanted was for the high speed broadband that was available down the street or in the next neighborhood to be extended to them. They would say they'd spoken to the provider who had decided that they either would not or could not extend service those additional few blocks. And then I would have to share the unfortunate news that there were no current rules at the FCC that could require the company to extend service to them. These broadband connections could be the difference between that constituent finding a job or starting a business without leaving the community that they love. In six years on the local school board in Alexandria, Virginia, I saw the impact of poverty on educational equity. Alexandria is a dense small city with a fairly fluent city also, but with a high poverty student population. The majority of our students are Latinx and black and a significant percentage of our families have immigrated from around the world. Alexandria's public schools use technology to offer many options and supports for students to succeed and for parents to support their students' education. Teachers suggest online tools to pre-teach and re-teach topics outside of normal class hours to help students who are working at a different level or a different pace. Parents can closely monitor their child's performance in online platforms and are encouraged to communicate with busy teachers over email. Our alternative high school campus is over 10 years old now offering flexible hours and largely online classes for students who need to work to support their families or are on an accelerated program. These innovations are limited for many families who can't afford the high cost of broadband in their home from the one option available in our city. These real-life examples of inequity disproportionately touch our most marginalized communities from rural and tribal communities to communities of color and low-income households found in rural, suburban, and urban communities alike. To fully close the digital divide we must do more than simply fund broadband providers to build more. In my written testimony I provided many ideas but in the short time I want to highlight four key ideas to directly address the challenge of affordability and the inequities of digital redlining. Congress recognized the affordability need when it authorized the emergency broadband benefit last year. However low-income Americans will still need support beyond the COVID crisis. It's time for Congress to create a long-term solution for low-income broadband support. There are several ways that Congress can pay for these critical supports including through a reform of the Universal Service Fund contribution system to include broadband and lowering the size of the fee on people's phone bills. Congress could also create a supplement create or supplement a long-term benefit through auction revenue. Appropriations are an option too but would raise the concern of predictability with the annual political process. Whatever the funding mechanism it must provide predictability and sustainable long-term funding. Funding for devices for low-income families would also make sure that parents don't have to choose between two kids' homework needs or their own. In addition to long-term low-income broadband funding Congress should promote policies that encourage actual competition in local broadband markets such as open access networks and broadband bills supported or led by local government or regional programs. The FCC should be charged to study and report on broadband competition including collecting actual costs and actual price data where they are and where they are available. Finally we also need the FCC to be empowered to address digital red line. Several examples of redlining have been studied and reported by journalists and non-profits over the years in cities like Cleveland, Dallas and Kansas City. Congress should begin this work by requiring the FCC to study the full scope of the redlining problem and take remedial steps to ensure every household has access to robust affordable broadband. Thank you for your work on this important issue and I look forward to your questions. Thank you Mr. Lewis.