China News Service, February 22. According to the US "World Journal" report, US Congressman Meng Zhaowen recently invited a number of elected officials from Queens to have an online meeting with Federal Communications Commission Chairman Rosen Worthy.
Many representatives of the people said that after the outbreak of the epidemic, the problem of the Internet desert has highlighted the inequality between the rich and the poor. Taking New York City as an example, 44% of low-income families cannot use the Internet, which once interrupted the distance education of children in these families.
Meng Zhaowen said that before the outbreak, she participated in a plan by the House of Representatives Majority Leader Rayburn to promote the use of the Internet in remote areas and help students in these areas to use the Internet to complete homework.
She said that after the outbreak of the epidemic, because students switched to remote classes, network problems have attracted renewed attention, and some children from low-income families even interrupted their education for a time.
In order to improve this phenomenon, Meng Zhaowen said that she and her colleagues have put forward new proposals to provide more wireless network hotspots for public schools and libraries, and provide low-income families with network connection equipment.
She said that through his efforts, President Biden allocated $1.2 billion in the "Building Back a Better Future Act" to provide related measures for 3,000 public schools and libraries across the country.
Meng Zhaowen said that the Internet is vital to every family. It not only provides an educational platform for students, but also helps job seekers find jobs, see doctors remotely, and involve daily online shopping, which is crucial to the country's economic development.
She pledged to continue to speak for relevant proposals to address the plight of the people.
State Senator Conmorey said he has introduced several proposals in the state Senate aimed at addressing the current Internet problems facing New Yorkers.
He said that a 2020 study data showed that 44% of low-income households in New York City have not yet installed the network, and the network cannot be popularized due to reasons such as network services refusing to accept cash. "The Internet should be as popular as electricity, but There should be better planning."
Rosenworthier said she called on more elected officials to speak up and let the authorities understand the plight of the people.
Taking Lei Ben and Meng Zhaowen as examples, she praised them for making the federal government aware of the Internet desert in urban and rural areas and starting to solve it. She looked forward to working with representatives of governments at all levels to jointly solve the problem that some families have difficulty accessing the Internet.
(Mu Lan)