“Peter and I both decided that’s it very important that rural parts of America are represented on our committee [the Energy and Commerce committee],” said U.S. Rep. Bob Latta (R-OH) in the above interview. He was referring to the bipartisan working group that he and U.S. Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) put together to ensure that issues and challenges relating to telecommunications in rural areas are adequately addressed. The working group is an opportunity for members to share feedback and ideas from their constituents and to find common ground to help meet the unique needs of their rural districts.

“The challenges that folks in Bob’s district are similar to [the challenges] for the folks in my district and that’s much more of a bond for us to try to get the job done than Democratic or Republican labels.”, Welch added.  Both agree that telecommunications laws need to address the future, instead of the past. That’s a huge challenge in a world where technology changes so fast and there are so many competing interests.  It looks like Latta, Welch and their colleagues are on the right path to ensure that new telecom legislation include provisions that ensure rural America is not left behind.

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