Jim is working to expand RESP and develop a similar program to make broadband more available in rural communities throughout the country.
Expand the Rural Energy Savings Program and develop a similar program to make broadband more available in rural communities throughout the country.
Occurrences
Jim is working to expand RESP and develop a similar program to make broadband more available in rural communities throughout the country.
I am going to be as strong of an advocate for broadband being a big part of the next infrastructure package as I have ever been for anything in my life because I am convinced that that’s going to be the key to whether or not we have any real opportunities open to people in rural America.
The Task Force is developing legislation to promote high-speed internet accessibility, affordability, and adoption.
Evidence
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The campaign site states that Clyburn is working to expand RESP and develop a similar program to make broadband more available in rural communities throughout the country. The same page says RESP became law in 2014.
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Clyburn introduced H.R. 3849 to amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to modify provisions relating to the rural energy savings program. The bill was referred to committee and did not advance into law.
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Rep. Clyburn introduced H.R. 7022 to require FCC action on the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction and to set a deadline for broadband service maps. The bill was referred to committee and did not become law.
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Clyburn introduced H.R. 7447 to accelerate the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction and related broadband deployment steps. Congress referred the bill to committee and it did not advance into law.
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CRS states that Congress appropriated $42.45 billion to NTIA to administer the BEAD Program established under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which became law in November 2021. CRS describes BEAD as the single largest federal broadband investment to date.
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Clyburn's congressional page says rural America contains digital deserts and argues for affordable, accessible broadband for all Americans. It presents broadband as an active priority rather than a completed achievement.
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The official House issue page says the Rural Broadband Task Force is 'developing legislation' to promote high-speed internet accessibility, affordability, and adoption, and that funding should prioritize people without access today. That is an active work-in-progress signal, not a completed delivery of the broadband promise.
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The official House page says Clyburn led the 2010 introduction of RESP and later pushed its inclusion in the 2014 Farm Bill and reauthorization in the 2018 Farm Bill. That shows the program existed and was sustained, but the page does not show the broader expansion asked for in the pledge being completed.
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The official press-release index shows Clyburn's newest office activity in the lookback window as June 12 and June 8, 2026 items on unrelated legislation and a letter. It does not announce enactment, rollout, or completion of the promised RESP expansion or a similar rural broadband program.
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The Congressman's Rural Broadband Task Force is "developing legislation" to promote high-speed internet accessibility, affordability, and adoption, and says funding should prioritize those without access today. The page frames broadband as an ongoing legislative project, not a completed program.
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Congress.gov shows Rep. Clyburn introduced H.R. 7447 on July 1, 2020 to accelerate rural broadband deployment steps, and the latest action was referral to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. The bill's status remained Introduced.
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Congress.gov shows Rep. Clyburn introduced H.R. 3849 on June 6, 2023 to establish the Rural Energy Savings Act, with a latest action of referral to the Subcommittee on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development. The bill's status remained Introduced and it did not reach enactment.
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The official House press releases index currently tops out at a May 20, 2026 item about unrelated HUD funding. There is no June 26-28 release on the page announcing RESP expansion, a rural broadband rollout, or any other concrete delivery event for this promise.
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Clyburn's Rural Broadband page still says the Rural Broadband Task Force is developing legislation to promote high-speed internet accessibility, affordability, and adoption, and that funding should prioritize people without access today.
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The official press-release index currently lists Clyburn's newest releases as July 14, July 13, July 12, and June 12, 2026. It shows no August 18-20, 2026 release announcing enactment, rollout, or completion of an expanded Rural Energy Savings Program or a Clyburn-led rural broadband program.
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Clyburn's office says he led lawmakers in a letter urging Commerce Secretary Lutnick to reverse BEAD restructuring, noting BEAD was established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, provides $42 billion for broadband access, and was informed by Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act work by the House Democratic Rural Broadband Task Force. The letter says the restructuring notice could exclude unserved rural locations and put approved non-deployment activities on hold.
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As of September 6, 2026, Clyburn's official press-release index lists its newest items as July 14, July 13, July 12, June 12, June 8, May 20, April 29, April 22, April 14, and April 6, 2026. None of the visible newest releases in or after the September 4-6, 2026 lookback window announces enactment, rollout, or completion of an expanded Rural Energy Savings Program or a Clyburn-developed rural broadband program.
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GAO reported that NTIA oversees the $42 billion-plus BEAD program, states began releasing funds to providers in February 2026, and BEAD deployment is expected to complete in 2030 and beyond. GAO also said FCC and NTIA recommendations remain open, including improvements to broadband-data challenges and BEAD sustainability monitoring.
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Some programs expect to complete these networks before the end of 2029—others in 2030 and beyond.
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As of February 2026, all nine programs had begun distributing funding.
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Clyburn Statement on Swearing-In of U.S. Senator Darline Graham Nordone of South Carolina
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This bill has the status Introduced
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The Rural Energy Savings Program (RESP) provides loans to rural utilities and other companies who provide energy efficiency loans to qualified consumers to implement durable cost-effective energy efficiency measures.
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Congressman James E. Clyburn (SC-06), Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández (NM-03), Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) led a group of congressional Democrats in writing a letter
Assessments
Clyburn materially advanced the policy area through RESP history, later RESP-expansion legislation (H.R. 3849), rural broadband bills, task-force work, and advocacy around BEAD. But the cited RESP-expansion bill stalled, the broadband bills did not become law, and the record does not show enactment of a Clyburn-developed RESP-like rural broadband program. BEAD and other federal broadband implementation provide partial fulfillment of the rural broadband objective, but not full delivery of the specific two-part promise.
Clyburn materially pursued both parts of the promise, including introducing H.R. 3849 to modify/expand the Rural Energy Savings Program and broadband bills such as H.R. 7022 and H.R. 7447, plus later advocacy around BEAD implementation. But the cited Clyburn bills stalled in committee, official materials still frame rural broadband legislation as ongoing, and the evidence does not show enactment or rollout of the promised RESP expansion or a Clyburn-delivered RESP-like broadband program. BEAD provides partial policy overlap, but the record does not establish enough direct candidate credit to count the promise as delivered.
Clyburn made serious efforts to advance the promise, including introducing H.R. 3849 to modify the Rural Energy Savings Program and prior broadband bills, but the cited measures did not become law. The official House materials still describe rural broadband as a developing legislative effort, and there is no clear evidence that the specific promised RESP expansion or a Clyburn-driven similar broadband program was completed. Related federal broadband spending exists, but the record does not show enough direct candidate credit to count that as delivery.
The promise was framed as an ongoing effort to expand the Rural Energy Savings Program and create a comparable rural broadband program, not as a completed achievement. Clyburn made serious, material attempts on both halves of the pledge by introducing or advancing related legislation, including H.R. 3849 on RESP and H.R. 7022/H.R. 7447 on rural broadband, which supports giving effort credit. But the cited bills stalled in committee and did not become law, and his official House materials still describe the broadband work as legislation being developed rather than a delivered program. Broader federal broadband investments such as BEAD do not appear in this record as a sufficiently direct, Clyburn-driven fulfillment of the specific campaign promise. Under the rule for serious but unsuccessful attempts, this is best scored as never delivered with effort credit.
Clyburn made serious, documented efforts on both halves of the pledge, including introducing bills to expand the Rural Energy Savings Program and separate broadband bills to accelerate rural broadband deployment. But the cited bills did not become law, and the official House materials still describe the broadband objective as ongoing work rather than a completed result. Although RESP was created earlier and major federal broadband funding was later enacted, the record here does not show that Clyburn fully delivered the specific promised expansion of RESP or a comparable nationwide rural broadband program attributable to his efforts. Under the rule for serious but unsuccessful attempts, this is best scored as never with effort credit.
Clyburn made concrete legislative pushes aligned with the promise, including bills to modify the Rural Energy Savings Program and advance rural broadband deployment, but those bills did not become law. A later major federal broadband program, BEAD, delivered part of the broadband goal at the federal level, but the evidence does not show Clyburn uniquely securing the full promised outcome. The Rural Energy Savings Program itself was already law, and the specific expansion/similar broadband program was not fully delivered.
Clyburn made concrete federal legislative efforts aligned with both parts of the promise: he introduced bills to expand the Rural Energy Savings Program and to accelerate rural broadband deployment. Those bills were referred to committee and did not become law, so the promised RESP expansion and Clyburn-led broadband analogue were not fully delivered. A major federal broadband program, BEAD, was enacted later, but the evidence does not establish that Clyburn wrote, sponsored, or materially advanced it enough to credit the full promise to him. This supports partial credit for aligned activity and broader policy progress, not full delivery.
The promise had two linked parts: expanding the Rural Energy Savings Program and creating or advancing a comparable rural broadband availability program. Clyburn made serious, relevant legislative attempts, including bills to modify RESP and accelerate rural broadband deployment, but those bills did not become law. A major rural broadband funding program, BEAD, was later enacted through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, partially satisfying the broadband availability goal, but the evidence does not show Clyburn uniquely authored or secured that outcome. Because the RESP expansion was not delivered and the broadband result appears broader and only partly attributable to him, this merits partial credit rather than full delivery.
Clyburn made concrete federal legislative attempts aligned with both parts of the promise, including bills to modify the Rural Energy Savings Program and accelerate rural broadband deployment, but those bills did not become law. A major rural broadband-related federal outcome later occurred through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act's BEAD program, but the evidence does not show that Clyburn uniquely wrote, sponsored, or materially secured that program as the direct promised analogue. Because the promised RESP expansion was not enacted and the broadband outcome is only partially attributable on this record, the promise is best scored as partial rather than delivered. The failed sponsored bills justify an effort badge.
The record shows serious legislative efforts by Clyburn to expand the Rural Energy Savings Program and advance rural broadband, including bills introduced in 2020 and 2023, but those specific bills did not become law. A major federal broadband program, BEAD, was later enacted through the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, supporting partial delivery of the rural broadband goal, but the evidence does not show the RESP expansion was enacted or that Clyburn fully delivered the promised paired program outcome.