FCC/USDA Coordination a Concern During House Oversight Hearing Last Week
Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas, raised concerns about coordination between the FCC and U.S. Department of Agriculture during a House Oversight Committee hearing last week on GAO’s 2016 duplication report. “The GAO report on tribal Internet access noted a lack of…
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coordination between the FCC and USDA in their efforts to increase Internet access on tribal lands,” Hurd told witnesses, asking about the risk of duplication. “One of the challenges we saw there was they were not doing coordinated training,” replied GAO Managing Director-Physical Infrastructure Phillip Herr. He said the FCC had concurred with the report, which GAO issued last year. “We’ll be following up with them this year,” Herr said. “Hopefully, they’re taking some steps forward.” But he saw potential for problems. “Is this lack of coordination creating a risk” that FCC and USDA are “going to offer conflicting advice to folks seeking to increase the access on their lands?” Hurd asked Herr. Herr didn’t rule it out: “I think it’s possible, yes.”