Civil and Human Rights Coalition Applauds President’s New Broadband Initiative

WASHINGTON – Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement in response to President Obama’s announcement launching ConnectALL, an initiative to help Americans from across the country, at every income level, get online and have the tools to take full advantage of the Internet, with a goal of connecting 20 million more Americans to broadband by 2020:

“We applaud the Obama administration for this important initiative, which will help narrow the digital divide and give more Americans access to job opportunities, health care, social services, and education.

As the administration has recognized, if broadband is not affordable, all other goals relevant to broadband adoption will be impossible.  Fortunately, the Federal Communications Commission will soon vote on a proposal to modernize Lifeline, the only federal program that directly addresses the cost of broadband, which will help address the serious gap in broadband adoption among low-income communities.

We commend these timely and essential steps to increase home broadband adoption and the well-being of tens of millions of people in the United States.”

Wade Henderson is the president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its 200-plus member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.