Speech

The House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) delivered opening remarks at the Communications and Technology Subcommittee hearing titled “Oversight of the Federal Communications Commission:"

On June 14, 2023, Federal Communications Commission Jessica Rosenworcel delivered remarks to the Center for Democracy and Technology Forum on data privacy, announcing a Privacy and Data Protection Task Force at the FCC. "First, we live in an era of always-on connectivity," said Rosenworcel. "Connection is no longer just convenient. It fuels every aspect of modern civic and commercial life. But too often this always-on connectivity—which has brought so many benefits—can mean a sacrifice of our privacy. Second, the monetization of data is big business.

Today kicks off the Biden-Harris Administration’s Affordable Connectivity Program Week of Action. We have more than 300 organizations from across the country committed to raising awareness about ACP. The Internet is now the essential tool for communications in our modern world. It is essential for access to work. Access to education. Access to healthcare.

Collectively, we have come a long way together since the early days of [the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers] ICANN. In fact, this year marks the 25th anniversary of ICANN. As someone who was around for those early days, it’s amazing to think about how much the Internet has changed. When ICANN began in 1998, there were less than 150 million people on the Internet.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is thrilled to share details and answer questions about the launch of the first round of funding from our $1.5 billion Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund. The Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund will allow us to invest in the next-generation of wireless innovation to unlock opportunities for new and emerging companies. It’s a long project – it will take a decade or more – and to get there, we need your help.

The Commerce Department is hard at work. Thanks to major investments like the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the CHIPS and Science Act, and your support through the appropriations process, the Commerce Department is making substantial progress on some of our nation’s most pressing economic and national security priorities, including those related to our supply chains, manufacturing, innovation, and workforce. The Department must maintain sufficient oversight of the grants it makes.

We are gathered at this summit because someday soon someone will make the very first 6G connection. And we need to prepare now for the wireless world it will bring. Much like in the early days of 5G, the scrum for 6G is already intensifying.

I look forward to discussing 6G and how we can work with our partners to promote open, interoperable, secure, and reliable approaches to this technology. 6G will be the next step in the evolution and revolution of mobile data. To start, 6G will be deployed at a time when mobile connectivity has become centrally important in our daily lives.

Today, government officials have new strategic decisions to make just as momentous as the ones the intersection of policy and technology dumped in our Federal Communications Commission laps back in the early 1990’s. As we look out on a future in which more and more of our economic and civic activity involves online communications, we should not forget there is an urgent and critical task: eliminating the digital divide.