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The Alliance for Digital Equality briefed members of Congress this week on the critical need to bring high speed broadband access to citizens in underserved communities.

CWA is a member of ADE, along with corporate, consumer, public policy and other organizations.

At the Capitol Hill briefing, House Majority Whip James Clyburn said the Alliance's work will lead to improvement in education, health care, economic and public safety sectors as it reinforces the need for full community access to high speed broadband. "Those consumers at the lower end of the pay scale should not be forced out of the digital revolution because of limited access to affordable high-speed broadband in their communities," he said.

CWA senior director George Kohl outlined CWA's two-year effort to raise the alarm that the United States was falling far behind the nations of the world in terms of citizen access to high speed Internet and the promise that technology offers.

CWA's "Speed Matters" campaign has pressed for the buildout of true high speed broadband networks in the U.S. as the necessary economic engine of the 21st century. In rural areas, in urban communities that are underserved and everywhere in between, the goal is to ensure that all Americans have access to the opportunity of the Internet Age.

Kohl said CWA, with members in every state and community across the nation, was committed to working with the ADE's Digital Empowerment Councils to ensure that "every child, every family, every community in America has the tolls they need to participate fully in the Information Age." 

The economic stimulus plan passed by Congress provides an opportunity for real progress by including $7.2 billion for broadband programs.