U.S. House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) will not longer be making an in-person speech at CES 2022, the massive consumer electronics show this week in Las Vegas.
He was scheduled to speak Friday, January 7, about the importance of accessible and affordable high-speed broadband but those plans have changed and he will not be speaking, in person or remotely, according to a top staffer.
CES has billed the show as setting a record for in-person appearances by senators and says a trio of senators scheduled for a Friday panel will make their planned appearances.
CES has had to make some changes to the show in light of the rise in COVID-19 cases driven by the omicron variant. Those include making sessions free to in-person attendees and shortening the in-person event by a day--it was to have extended to January 8 but will now end January 7.
Clyburn's Communications Director Derrick Hope, when asked if the in-person speech was still on or whether Clyburn would appear remotely because of COVID-19, responded: "The Congressman will no longer be attending CES due to a scheduling change."
The emphasis on affordable and available broadband runs in the Clyburn family. Jim Clyburn's daughter, Mignon, was the first female acting FCC chair and in that role and after leaving the commission has made closing the digital divide a focus of her work. ■
