U.S. Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii is going to serve as the top Democrat in the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation and the Internet, as reported by Civilbeat.com. The committee “oversees matters relating to the telecommunications industry, ” and has jurisdiction over the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Federal Communications Commission.
At the age of 40, Schatz was appointed by Governor Neil Abercrombie to replace U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye when he passed away in 2012. At that time, Schatz served as Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii. At the time he was sworn in, Schatz was the youngest U.S. Senator in the 112th Congress and the 114th Congress. Currently, after winning the 2014 election, he is the second youngest after Chris Murphy of Connecticut.
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Senator Schatz said in a statement, “I am looking forward to serving as lead Democrat on this subcommittee. Innovation and technology are some of the biggest drivers of our economy and can help solve some of today’s toughest challenges.”
Senator Schatz said his top priorities will be increasing access to broadband in Hawaii and across the country. General access to internet, he said, will create high quality jobs and diversify the economy. On the agenda is a heated debate over net neutrality, which, according to The Hill, has “the potential to create deep partisan divides on Capitol Hill.”