I’m dedicated to bridging the digital divide to ensure our rural and unserved populations receive high-speed broadband access.
Invest in broadband access to bridge the digital divide for rural and unserved communities.
Occurrences
Evidence
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NTIA reported that all 56 states and territories had submitted BEAD Final Proposals; 54 had NTIA approval, 52 had NIST approval making funds available, and 50 had signed award agreements.
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Virginia DHCD said NTIA approval authorized Virginia to proceed with more than $545 million in BEAD awards to 23 internet service providers to extend broadband infrastructure to more than 133,000 remaining unserved homes, businesses, and community anchor institutions.
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The House Clerk recorded H.R.1681, the Expediting Federal Broadband Deployment Reviews Act, passing 384-9 on a motion to suspend the rules and pass; the roll call records Wittman, Republican of Virginia, voting Yea.
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Congress.gov lists H.R.3119 as introduced on April 30, 2025, to amend the Rural Electrification Act to establish the ReConnect program; Rep. Wittman was an original cosponsor, and the latest House action remains committee referral.
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Wittman and bipartisan colleagues wrote Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick urging NTIA to avoid new requirements that could delay or weaken BEAD’s goal of delivering high-speed broadband to rural communities.
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Wittman announced the 119th Congress relaunch of the bipartisan Congressional Rural Broadband Caucus, described as a forum to spearhead solutions closing the broadband access gap and ensure access to high-speed internet.
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Wittman’s broadband issue page says he has worked through the Rural Broadband Caucus and First District Broadband Task Force, helped draft legislation to improve mapping and add broadband funding, and that his Serving Rural America Act served as the model for NTIA’s $288 million Broadband Infrastructure Program.
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The House Clerk roll call for concurrence in the Senate amendment to H.R.3684, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, shows the measure passed 228-206; Rep. Wittman is recorded as voting Nay.
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Virginia Office of Broadband says the BEAD Progress Hub tracks deployment in real time and that BEAD projects will provide access to remaining unserved homes, businesses, and community anchor institutions in Virginia, with universal access targeted by the end of the decade.
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The House Clerk recorded H.R.1681, the Expediting Federal Broadband Deployment Reviews Act, as passed on April 20, 2026, and listed Robert J. Wittman, Republican of Virginia, as voting Yea.
Assessments
Wittman has taken concrete same-term actions supporting rural broadband, including caucus leadership, oversight letters, original cosponsorship of ReConnecting Rural America Act, and a yea vote on H.R.1681 after it passed the House. Virginia and federal BEAD implementation show real broadband investment moving forward, including approved Virginia awards, but deployment is not complete and universal access remains future-targeted. Full delivery should not be credited to Wittman because the main federal BEAD vehicle came from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which he voted against, and much of the implementation is being completed by federal and state officials. This supports partial credit rather than delivered.
Wittman has made sustained federal efforts on rural broadband, including sponsoring the Serving Rural America Act, caucus leadership, oversight letters, cosponsoring the ReConnecting Rural America Act, and voting for H.R.1681 after it passed the House. There is also concrete broadband investment moving in Virginia and nationally through BEAD and earlier NTIA programs. However, the largest BEAD investment came from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which Wittman voted against, current rollout is still in implementation rather than complete access delivery, and his 2025 ReConnect bill has not advanced beyond referral. This supports meaningful partial fulfillment with same-term effort, not full delivery.