I will work diligently to ensure that the Farm Bill will ... expand rural broadband
Work to ensure the Farm Bill expands rural broadband.
Occurrences
Evidence
legacy_unverified · Source version not recorded · locator unknown
On his campaign-style issue page, Cline said he would work to ensure the 2023 Farm Bill would "expand rural broadband."
legacy_unverified · Source version not recorded · locator unknown
Cline said Congress was beginning to take up the FY2024 Farm Bill and that he wanted farmers to have a voice in it; the event was an Agriculture Listening Session on the farm bill.
legacy_unverified · Source version not recorded · locator unknown
Congress.gov lists Cline as a cosponsor of H.R. 3369, the Broadband for Rural America Act, which modified and consolidated USDA programs for expanding broadband internet in rural areas.
legacy_unverified · Source version not recorded · locator unknown
CRS notes that Congress enacted two one-year extensions of the 2018 farm bill through FY2025 and that many USDA broadband program authorizations were set to expire on September 30, 2025.
legacy_unverified · Source version not recorded · locator unknown
GPO lists H.R. 7567 as Engrossed in House on April 30, 2026. The House-passed text includes a rural broadband subtitle, updates the ReConnect Rural Broadband Program to provide grants, loans, and loan guarantees for rural broadband facilities, extends middle-mile authority through FY2031, and creates an Innovative Broadband Advancement Program.
legacy_unverified · Source version not recorded · locator unknown
The House Clerk records Roll Call 154 on April 30, 2026 as final passage of H.R. 7567, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act. The bill passed 224-200, and the vote table lists Ben Cline of Virginia voting Yea.
legacy_unverified · Source version not recorded · locator unknown
The Senate Agriculture Committee chair said committee Democrats voted against advancing a farm bill, blocking legislation for farmers, ranchers, and rural communities, and that he remained committed to advancing solutions.
legacy_unverified · Source version not recorded · locator unknown
The Senate Agriculture Committee draft table of contents includes Title VI, Rural Development, Part I, Rural Broadband Access, with sections on streamlining broadband authorities, middle-mile infrastructure, Community Connect grants, and last-mile broadband deployment.
Assessments
Cline materially worked toward the promise by participating in farm-bill activity, cosponsoring rural broadband legislation, and voting for House passage of H.R. 7567, which included rural broadband provisions. However, the promised outcome depended on a Farm Bill actually expanding rural broadband, and the record shows the bill had not been enacted; later Senate activity remained unresolved. Because there was a serious same-term legislative attempt but no final delivered Farm Bill outcome, this is best scored as not delivered with effort credit.
Cline materially worked toward the promise during the same federal term: he participated in farm-bill activity, cosponsored rural-broadband legislation, and voted yea on April 30, 2026 for House passage of H.R. 7567, which contained rural broadband provisions. But the record shows House passage/engrossment, not enactment of a final farm bill by June 1, 2026, so the promised Farm Bill broadband expansion was not fully delivered.
The promised outcome was specifically that the Farm Bill would expand rural broadband. The available record shows the 2018 Farm Bill was extended rather than replaced with a new farm bill expansion during the relevant term, and later updates continued the extension approach through FY2026 rather than delivering a new farm-bill broadband expansion. Cline did show meaningful effort by participating in a farm-bill listening session and cosponsoring rural broadband legislation, but those actions did not produce the promised enacted Farm Bill outcome.