One Senate Democrat flagged the importance of rural...

One Senate Democrat flagged the importance of rural high-speed broadband. Agriculture Subcommittee on Jobs, Rural Economic Growth and Energy Chairwoman Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., wants regional strategies in rural economic development to address the provision of high-speed Internet, she said in an opening statement (http://1.usa.gov/1o6Ea8O) at a hearing Thursday. “'Regional strategies’ may sound vague, but the main point is that they target resources to where they will have the most impact locally,” Heitkamp said. “It could mean working with multiple counties and state officials to install high-speed Internet services in homes in those areas to support a regional plan to attract food processing businesses to locate closer to the farm.”