WASHINGTON (NewsNation Now) — Wednesday federal lawmakers discussed how to expand broadband across the country as some are still facing challenges navigating the pandemic with lack of access.

Rep. Peter Welch (VT-At Large) and other members of the Energy and Commerce subcommittee discussed how to expand the reach of broadband.

“There’s total support to get affordable and accessible broadband throughout America, ” said Rep. Peter Welch.

Free Press Action Police Vice President Matthew Wood says the challenge is motivating service providers.

“What we’re seeing now though is that their investment has been going down for the last few years. Their profits and subscriber numbers and revenues are going up,” explained Wood.

Wireless infrastructure Association President Jonathan Adelston says it’s on Congress to expand broadband so schools and rural and developing areas don’t face the same issues they did during the pandemic.

“We need to get infrastructure in place in order to do it and we need to do it responsibly,” explained Adelston. “We need smart policy to build out 5G and close the digital divide.”

Republicans and Democrats agree that the coronavirus showcased that many parts of the country are long overdue for high speed internet.

Ohio Republican Bob Latta says the work already done by Congress will help long term expansion. Welch says more pressure from the government could bring faster results.

“If it’s not profitable for a company, whether it’s this company or another one, they’re not going to invest. So there has to be some federal role here,” explained Rep. Welch.