Transcripts For CSPAN3 FCC Chair Ajit Pai And Fellow Commissioners Testify Before House... 20240713

Good morning. Welcome to the subcommittee on communication and technologies. Well, good morning, everyone. And welcome to the subcommittee on communication and technologies hearing on accountability and oversight of the federal communications commission. I am glad to welcome our witnesses back before the subcommittee. I know it has been serve months since we had you before us and i know that you have all missed the warm welcoming atmosphere of our hearing room. But despite that passage of time, many issues that were of concern to us then still remain unresolved today. For example, i asked about the investigation into phone carriers selling the realtime location of nearly every american. Mr. Chairman, you told me that even after more than a year had passed, we still couldnt tell whether this practice had stopped. Couldnt say whether the impacted individuals had been notified. Couldnt tell us if members of congress and Law Enforcement had their locations sold or tracked. In june of this year you told senator blumenthal that you were wrapping up this investigation and would have recommendations shortly. That was six months ago. And we still dont have them. Chairman pallone and i wrote to the chairman in november asking for an update. And we got a response yesterday saying that he now expects an answer from the Enforcement Bureau by the end of january. And the chairman says he will share those results with us as soon as practical. We will be interested to learn when that will be. Looking at the utility two it seems you immediately realized that the data you collected is garbage and that you need to go back and do it all over again. Everyone has been telling you that for years. Instead of gt aing decisively folks in Rural America will have to wait even longer to get broadband as you finally collect the data that you need. At our last hearing seven months ago and the hearing nine months before that members brought up these same concerns. And here we are with you just yesterday announcing that you were kicking off another lengthy rule making process to try again to fix this process. And stamping your new plan 5g doesnt change the fact the communities where these funds are desperately needed have been waiting years and have to wait even longer because of a bungled process. Add insult to injury you arent even taking action against the carriers that submitted the faulty or fraud len data in the first place. Whats the incentive in the future to provide accurate data if they know they are going to get a pass . Where is the justice for the people in the communities who have suffered because of this . Mr. Chairman, i would remind you you are charged with protecting and serving the American People, not the telecom industry. Shifting gears and on a more holidayspirited note, i am pleased about chairman pais recent comments about the t band. This spectrum is used by First Responders around the country. The value of selling this band will not even come close to covering the relocation costs. In allegheny county, it would cost upwards of 250,000 the relocate the spectrum. I think we need the repeal this mandate. I makes no sense to me to go forward with it. Regarding c band i am pleased you have finally come around to see the benefits of a public auction. For all the discussion about the need for speed this this debate, you unfortunate low have been moving at a glacial pace. Questions of the commissions Legal Authority remain, and threats of lawsuits on those grounds still hang heavily over the commission. I along with subcommittee elevator matsui mr. Johnson and mr. For thor introduced the s band act. Similar legislation has been introduced this the senate. I believe Congress Must pass legislation authorizing an auction in this band and resolve the commissions authority to ensure a fair and transparent auction and capture auction revenue so it may be used to pay for Rural Broadband next generation 911 and closing the divide. If we want address thats challenges the federal government needs to provide funding for it. The c ban auction presents our last best chance to do that. I stabbed ready to work with my colleagues in the committee and in the senate to address these problems swiftly. We need Real Solutions real protections for the American People and accountability from our federal regulators and industries that they oversee. I want to thank all the witnesses for being here today. I look forward to your testimony. With that, it is my pleasure to recognize my good friend mr. Latta the Ranking Member on the subcommittee for communications and technology for five minutes for his Opening Statement. Thank you mr. Chair than. Thank you to our witnesses. I appreciate that you are accessible and willing the travel across the country the so how the fcc is affecting companies and consumers. This past year commissioners both came to my district to speak on Rural Broadband and talk about telehealth a few years before chairman pai came to a town of less than 700 people to meet with a packed room of Telecom Providers to discuss rural call completion. It helps to put our work in perspective. Again, i appreciate the work all of you do. Thank you for being again with us today. At the hearing in may, the chairman and i expressed the need for Real Solutions to address Illegal Robocalls made to the American People. Idea we passed legislation out of this chamber that provides strong Consumer Protections to combat robocalls. But this problem will only be solved with a multipronged approach. I want to thank chairman pai and the rest of the commissioners for their work thus par in pushing the industry to curb fraudulent robocalls. I also want to thank the commission for injecting urgency into the 5. 9 giga hertz band they have long recognized the value of the spectrum for advancing Vehicle Safety and wireless innovation and the chairman proposes to start the discussion to modernize the band. The ongoing uncertainty have hampered the expansion of wifi services. Our focus should be putting an end to that uncertainty propel automobile safety and unlock licensed use to help expand wifi services. I look forward hearing how we can advance and protect incumbents. It is important that wifi is important to our economy and our everyall communications land ska. I am also interested to see that the fcc is looking at the six giga hertz band for unlicensed opportunities. At the same time we must be aware of the Critical Services already in the six giga hertz band. We expect and encourage the continuation of analysis and testing as they do with every band to ensure incumbents are afforded protection. It is important that industry and the fcc Work Together to find a position that allows the spectrum to be used as efficiently as possible. The commission has made many advances in reducing red tape for infrom straur. More work remains. In july a letter with nine of my colleagues on the subcommittee encouraging the fcc to clarify rules on the 5 cap on franchise fees. Which franchises have stretched. Part of the solution can be found by improving the underlaying maps. I am pleased that this committee reported favorably hr 4229, the broad ban data act to the house floor which i worked on with my friend, the gentleman from iowa, mr. Loebsack. But the maps are only the beginning to closing the Digital Divide. Last year mr. Lobe zack and i included our agriculture connectivity act in the farm bill. This provision will spur broadband dee employment on rural agricultural lands to help farmers better utilize connected equipment. I was pleased to see the commission announced the creation of a task force as mandated by our legislation to offer advice and recommendations how to best achieve this very important goal. I look forward to continuing to work with the industry and the commission to further address the connectivity issues. On the mobile broadband side there is more work to be done as our nation competes with china and others for 5g leadership. It is vital that we continue the look for opportunities in mid band to extend the reach of 5g across the entire country, especially in Rural Communities. I hope to hear more about the commissions plan today for helping to speed build out and Prioritize Development in Rural America. I also welcome any ideas the commission haf on how congress can promote broadband deployment and competition if underserved areas. Again i thank you all for being here to testify. Before i yield back, mr. Chairman, i would also unanimous concept to submit four letters for the record from carriers regarding ending their contracts to Share Location information. Without objection. Thank you very much i yield back. He yoelds back. Chair now recognizes mr. Pallone chairman of the subcommittee for his Opening Statement. Thank you chairman doyle. Kong mandated the actions policies and rules should put consumers first. Unfortunately, this committee continues to turn its back on consumers. Time and time again the commission has ignored the voice of the people and taken the path laid out by billion dollar companies. An example is turning over the internet to large corporations by eliminating strong Net Neutrality safeguards that protected a free and open internet. That was just the gingham. As part of an effort to expedite the rollout of 5g service the fcc stripped away vital protections that protect religious and tribal sites. It was struck down. It didnt end there. The fcc continued to attempt to strip away just when you think this commission couldnt slip any further down, the fcc intentionally undermined the ruling of that court by approving more cole dags after the fact. More and more challenges just like this are coming. In catering to corporate interests the fcc has repeatedly stretched the law to the point of breaking. This has resulted in delays and unsuccessful initiatives that benefit no one. Beyond that this commission has stalled when it comes to holding those mega corporations accountable for violating the slim safeguards that remain. We are for example, still waiting for a conclusion of the fccs investigation into the widespread disclosure ever realtime location date by wirlless carriers. That veg investigation started over a year ago. Thats unacceptable. In other instanceness it is as if this commission that is has intentionally gone after vulnerable americans. The commission is proposing to cut off support to connect schools and libraries, rural health care, broadband deployment, and support for low income marns by capping the universal service fund. This is shameful and it preys on americans that need our help. If these failures werent bad enough the fccs actions or lack thereof have put the American People in danger. We are increasingly experiencing hurricanes and wildfires, but the commission is all talk and no action in the wake of these disasters. I repeatedly asked the fcc to take steps to improve the Wireless Network resiliency cooperate framework but nothing happens. Finally, the investigation into the fccs electronic common filing system is producing disturbing results. The information is marked for limited use but i implore the commission to address the issues the gao has found. I think it is time for the fcc to get back on track and put consumers first. With that, i yield back my time. Thank you to the commissioners for making themselves available today being this front of committee and all the staff. We all know this country continues to face a deep and persistent Digital Divide. Unfortunately i do not believe commissioner pai that this commission under your leadership has done enough to bridge that divide. And a concern that just occurred yesterday, despite bipartisan agreement that United States of america must fix or nations broadband map, we know that the mapping system that the fcc has to accurately capture whether there is connectivity and where there is not is broken. Its not accurately collecting that information. And then to find out that wireless carriers submitted false information, false mapping information, inaccurate information what that means is wireless carriers submitted misleading coverage information to the fcc. I am concerned that it is being swept under the rug. When consumers go buy their mobile phones they have a beautiful brochure thats put in front of them and it shows coverage areas of where they live. Those coverage areas are supposed to show where there is connectivity. Many people, especially in rural areas, buy their mobile phones based on those maps. Because they may need to make a phone call to save someones life. They have elderly parents that need connectivity. There is no other family around. Why in the world would they not be held accountable . Especially when there is bipartisan agreement from this congress. Democrats and republicans saying we need to fix this problem. I hope we hear more about in a and how that can be connected. On top of that chairman pai it was announce in addition the fcc was going to rush repackaged usf funding based on this flawed data. These dollars are precious. We need to make sure that we put those dollars where they matter most and where we can get connectivity, especially in Rural America. Thank you for the time and i yield back. I yield back, mr. Chairman. Gentleman yields back. Chair recognizes mr. Walton for his Opening Statement. Thank you mr. Chairman. Good morning. Good morning to the chairman and to the commissioners. Thanks for your service to america. I know we have agreements on some of the policy issues but we appreciate the meetings the discussions we have had the service you are providing. I have talked about the need for broadband in Rural America. As chairman pai so firsthand when he joined me too many oregonians lack access to Broadband Internet service. They are not alone. Millions of americans living in Rural America face the same sort of internet dead zones. Thes at policy makers our primary goal is to ensure that federal resources are allocated responsibly. In that vein we have to have accurate broadband maps properly identifying these places we express that in different terms with different emotion. I started during the obama administration. So here we are an administration or so later or two anyway, this committee reebl passed two bipartisan mapping bills aimed at improving Data Collection and mapping efforts. But there are some actions of the committee that have some concern for us. We learned from the press release yesterday that the fcc is establishing a new 9 billion fund with 1 billion specifically for precision agriculture. It sound good. And i support buildout for 5g in rural areas but i have no details on this plan. I have a lot of questions. I am also unclear as to where the 9 billion came from. While i am still waiting for maps to accurately be updated, as you all know, we are the committee of oversight for the federal communications committee. We take our job seriously. I know you know that. I know you take yours seriously but we expect to have more notice and more communication on some of these big announcements. That would be helpful and probably alleviate some of the questions that will come today. Since we obviously need to be Crystal Clear about our intentions for the fcc action for from committee i would like to note the importance of federal programs outside the jurisdiction remain consistent with the committees goal of committing private investment in broadband infrastructure deployment. Sometimes everybody is not all in sync. Last year we appropriated 600 million towards broadband funding programs. As this money makes its way out the door i would like an update how the fcc is consulting with other agencies as required by legislation last year. Switching gears i would like to switch to spectrum issues. The fcc announced they would announce a public spectrum in c band. Any proceeds from the auction would go to deficit reduction rather than facilitating the transition transition to next generation 911. I think it is important to legislate and i look to colleagues on the other side to work on this issue in the coming weeks. As we have the discussion we must work with current licens licensees, potential bidders and others. One of the issues i have been focus on is how to address certain challenges facing Public Safety officials in telecommunications as we continue moving into a Digital World including finding a solution to the t band auction. At the same time it is imperative that we put a stop to 911 fee diversion. So they stop using funds as slush funds for unrelated programs. At the last fcc hearing and a number of times i floated proposal how to delay or repeal the t band auction process. I have not been taken up on that offer. I must say that i find it interesting that loose week chairman pai called on congress the repeal the t band auction mandate which was not coordinated nor discussed with me or my staff zpit our efforts to find a solution w. The deadline fast approach i would like to repeat my call to affected parties to work with us and my colleagues to find a consensus solution on this issue. It is a real one, there are other issues. I led the effort to implement the 911 Commission Findings that set up first net and did the auction in 2012. I know these issues pretty well. We have got to take care of our First Responders. And we will. But there are other issues socialed with this set of issues that we also need to address. We need to Work Together on these. With there i yield you back six seconds. Thanks the gentleman. The chair would like to remind members that pursuant to Committee Rules all members written Opening Statements shall be made part of the record. It gives me pleasure to introduce our witnesses for todays hearings. Ajit pai, chairman of the fcc. Welcome, mr. Chairman. Michael oreilly, welcome, sir. Honorable brendan carr. Welcome. Jessica rosenworcel, welcome. And last but certainly not least, the honorable geoffrey starks. Welcome to awful you. We thank you for joining us today. We look forward to your testimony. I will be recognizing each witness for five minutes. But before we do that we will explain the lighting system in front of you. There is a series of lights that will initially be green at the start of your Opening Statement. It will turn yellow when you have one minute left. Begin to wrap up your testimony at that point. When the light turns red your time has expired. Chairman pai, welcome, we recognize you for five minutes. Thank you chairman, Ranking Member, members 69 subcommittee. Thank you for holding this hearing. I appreciate this opportunity to apprise you of our work in the Public Interest. We will be taking up two issues in our meeting next week. The first hits home with millions of americans. It involves my proposal to introduce 988 as the three digit number for Suicide Prevention and mention assistance. Under my proposal anyone who calls 988 people will be routed to a lifeline. This proposal has a tragic backdrop. Suicide rates in the United States are at their highest levels since world war ii n. 2017 more than 40,000 americans died by suicide. Thats 33 increase since 1999. More than 1. 4 million adults attempted suicide. Atrisk populations are disproportionately affected. Every day 20 veterans die by suicide and more than half a million lgbt youth will attempt suicide this year alone. I believe 988 could help. It has an echo of 911, a number we all know. An awareness of this resource should make a real difference when those in crisis need a lifeline. And i believe that we can get 988 up and running more quickly than other three digit numbers. Of course more calls will mean more demand for Crisis Centers which in turn will require for resources. Thats why it is important this effort has diplomat congressional support. In particular i would like to thank the lead understand the house. My proposal has diverse support outside congress including the department of Veterans Affairs and health and Human Services the National Council for Behavioral Health and the trevor project. They agree that a simple number, 988, could make the difference between life and debt. Working together i am confident we can and we will save lives. The second issue i would like to discuss is my proposal to reform the 5. 9 giga hertz band. Heres the background n. 1999 dedicated Short Range Communications was established. It was intended to enable ubiquitous automobile communications. It hasnt born fruit. After two decades, it has evolved slowly at best. It is not widely deployed. So this spectrum, this public resource remains largely unused. This is unacceptable. That is why i am proposing an all termtive approach that allows consumers to benefit from approved automobile technologies and innovation. I am proposing to permit unlicensed operations in the lower portion of the 5. 9 giga hertz band. It would be a benefit for consumers. Best evidence is wifis growing popularity. Since launching in 1999 wifi has become a staple of everyday life. But it has raised a challenge. We need more unlicensed spectrum. Allowing unlicensed operations in the lower 45 mega hertz portion the 5. 9 gig a hertz band helps meet that challenge. The upper 20 mega hertz of the band would be available for direct communications between vehicles and everything, other vehicles, light poles and pedestrians. It is also expected to support new applications as we transition to 5g. It is backed by automakers like ford, audi, daimler, and tesla. We are not closing the door on dsrc. Japan has a ten mega hertz channel used for collision avoidance. I am seeking whether to al gate the remaining 10 mega hertz to Ranking Member latta, vice chair clarke and represents long issue mat swu and nerney. There is other support including citizens against government waste, the 5g automotive association, ford, and the Wireless Internet Service providers association. These two issues, a three digit number for Suicide Prevention and the 5. 9 giga hertz band are two examples how the commission is advancing the Public Interest with strong bipartisan support. There are others such as actions last monday to protect the security of our networks and improve the ability of First Responders to quickly locate 911 callers that i dont have time to discuss right now. I am happy to answer questions about them or any other issues. Thank you again for holding this hearing. I look forward to answering your questions. Thank you chairman. The chair now recognizes commissioner oreilly for five minutes. Good morning, thank you chairman, Ranking Member, and members of the subcommittee. I appreciate the opportunity to join the subcommittee as it conducts further oversight of the commission. I would like to raise three topic for consideration. First i will twin with the world Radio Communication conference 2019 wrc in egypt two weeks ago. Suffice it to see despite meeting some of our nations spectrum policy goals wrc 2019 raised concerns. Several cups, in particular russia, france and china clearly sent delegations to egypt with efforts to thwart United States can other forwardleaning countries. From my viewpoint it was done in part for larger gentlemenio political purposes and protect from u. S. Based international competition. Is incredibly valuable especially until 5g universe but must not come at the expense of our interests and like minded allies. The u. S. Could explore the formation of a g7like organization or loose coalition leading wireless nations as an alternative to itu. Second, when it comes to spectrum policy more generally, the process reaffirms for the u. S. To lead in 5g services we must avoid mid bands. I would argue that we must pursue speed ahead of other social objectives. To do otherwise is to give other countries a headstart and the ability to dictate the progress of our wireless future. In terms of specific Spectrum Brands 3. 7 to 4. 2 c band and the five giga hertz band. Given the chairman announced a c band auction for 2020 we must do all we can within legal restraints and expecting licensees to complete as soon as possible. For the 3. 1 to 3. 5 giga hertz band we are proceeding on relocating kmushl incumbents. Their main effort which involves removing dod radars and opening the rest of it to sharing requires heavy lifting and the subcommittees assistance in this matter would be invaluable. Finally the subcommittees help is also requested in addressing 911 fee diversion. I reported many times to this committee on the progress the commission is making to reduce the number of fee avetting states. We have removed several from the last published list. Of the remaining states we have thats gaining the process, changing the labels of fees or down right avoiding our calls. As nerney suggested tying fee aversion to a band would be a one time thing to consider and would show that seaboarding future diversionary tactics is welcome as well. Thank you. Mr. Carr you are now recognized for five minutes. Chairman doyle, Ranking Member latta, distinguished members of the subcommittee. It is a privilege to appear before you. When i testified seven months ago, i outlined the bold steps the fcc is taking to accelerate the buildout of 5g and other internet infrastructure. I am pleased to report that the commissions reforms are delivering results. Internet speeds are up 56 compared to just two years ago. The Digital Divide narrowed by about 20 last year alone. Providers built out more miles of highspeed fiber than ever before. And america now has the worlds leading 5g platform. The very first commercial 5g Service Launched here in the u. S. More than a year ago. The private sector brought 5g to 14 communities last year, quickly expanded that to over 30 in the first part of this year, and now one provider allone has committed to building 5g in 99 of the u. S. Population. Small cell builds jumped from 13,000 to 2017 to about 60,000 in 2018 to a total of 200,000 by the end of the year. These figures show the momentum america now has for 5g. Of course numbers alone dont tell the full story. If 2k3wa builds were limited to thewelliest neighborhoods of americas biggest cities we couldnt claim our policies are working. We reach the finish loin whenever community has a shot at necks gen detectivetivity. I spent a lot of time outside of d. C. In the communities we cant leave behind in the transition to 5g. While there is much that we do i am proud that the modernized infrastructure rules are already providing. Take the seventh ward. An community that hasnt prospered. I spent time there. Talked to the broadband providers who were there trenching fiber and pouring up new cells. Infrastructure cells boosting capacity in a community wherefore many their Wireless Connection is their only on ramp to the internet. Take sioux falls south dakota, a Community People wouldnt associate with 5g. 5g cant be a unique privilege of living in big city. Thats why we focused on ensuring that Rural America is not left behind. Not left out of the jobs, the health care, and the innovations that are going to arrive on a 5g network. To further expand, we need to expand the work force. Industry could fell another 20,000 tower climbers could complete this 5g build. These are good paying jobs, once you can raise a family on and dont require an expensive fouryear degree. Earlier this year i announced a Jobs Initiative that looks to Community Colleges as a pipeline for these 5g jobs. After i met with officials at a Community College in south dakota they recently announced they are launching their own program just next month. The new jobs and the builds that this will enable create the platform for Innovative New services. Telehealth is a latah at pro medical hospital in toledo. Thats where dr. Juma showed us how a video app on his smartphone lets him treat stroke patients from almost everywhere. Its saving precious minutes and saving lives. Its an example of a new trend in telehealth with apps that can be accessed right on a patients own device. Quality care can now be delivered directly to patients and its the health care equivalent of moving from blockbuster to netflix particularly for lowincome americans and thats why i stand up a 100 million connected care program which can do just that. I would like to move to an order and that proceeding in 2020 and i look forward to moving all stakeholders, in closing i want to thank you again, chairman doyle and members of the subcommittee for the chance to testify. I look forward to your questions. Thank you, commissioner. You are recognized for five minutes. Good morning, chairman doyle, Ranking Member latah and members of the subcommittee. Thank you for the opportunity to be here today. A few weeks ago the wall street journal published an article entitled the people left behind in a broadband world. It began by describing a parking lot in southeastern ohio. Its right next to the county library, and every evening long after the library has closed its doors, the lot is dotted with cars with passengers lit up by the light of their laptops and cell phones. You see, the library keeps the wifi on even after it has shut its doors. It means students who need Internet Access to do their school work can get their assignments done while sitting in the cars of their family and friends because so many of them do not have access to broadband at home. Today seven in ten teachers assign homework that requires Internet Access and fcc data show one in three households do not subscribe to broadband. Where those numbers overlap is what i call the homework app and according to the Senate Joint Economic committee, the homework gap is real. It affects 12 Million Students in every state all across the country. You see it in communities everywhere. Kids lingering in those Library Parking lots during after hours or sliding into booths at fast food restaurants to do their homework with a side of fries and shuttle them to homes of friends and relatives just to cobble together the activity they need for nightly school work. The homework gap is the cruellest part of the Digital Divide, but there are things we can do to solve it. The fcc could start a homework gap proceeding to identify solutions and new ways our universal Service Policies being help. We can explore how these programs can equip school bus wes wifi and turn ride time especially in rural areas into keck connected time for homework just like this Committee Recommends and we could go bigger to solve the homework gap from a portion of the funds raised from the future auction of our airwaves. This fund could be used to make sure there are wireless hot spots for loan in every School Library across the country. It would give every student a fair shot to do their homework and keep up in class, and it could solve the homework gap overnight. We can do this if we set up a fund from the revenues raised from new licenses to the sea bend. To this end, i am glad that the chairman has announced we will have a public auction of the airwaves and the next step should be exploring how we can solve the homework gap using some of the revenues from this auction. If we did this we can ensure no child is left offline, and i think we should because i think in too many fcc policies we are leaving too many people behind. We just approved the largest wireless transaction in our nations history allowing two of the Foreign National carriers to combine. We all know what happens to consumers when market concentration increases following a merger. In the Airline Industry this kind of consolidation brought us more baggage fees and smaller seats. Why do we think its going to be different this time . On top of this we are taking the wrong road in the race to 5g, auctioning off 5g when theyve focused their efforts on risk band and were at serious risk of falling behind. We have work to do if we want to secure our 5g networks and coordinate across the government because we do not have a national 5g Security Strategy and experts agree we need one, and when it comes to the resiliency of our existing networks, we need to recognize that wildfires and hurricanes are becoming more common and the Communications Outages that accompany them are becoming more severe, but we have not updated our fcc framework for disaster response, and we need to. Finally, the fcc is issuing all kinds of press releases about how well update our universal Service Policies with new funds for Rural Broadband and wireless. But how are we going to do this when our maps are so inaccurate we cant say with certainty where service is and is not. Common sense says we need maps before money and data before deployment, but i fear that is not now were going to proceed. These things need to be fixed so im glad youre holding this oversight hearing today. We have problems to solve and we have resources that are constrained and communities that have real difficulty navigating the digital age. I still believe Communications Technology can help. I believe with the right fcc policies in place we can help solve the homework gap and so many other challenges that are before us. Thank you, and i look forward to answering any questions you may have. Thank you commissioner. Commissioner starks, you are recognized for five minutes. Thank you, chairman, and members of the subcommittee, it is a privilege, of course, to appear before you here today. Since i began and in the serven months since i appeared before you, i have communities throughout america and thats why i want to begin with outlining how the Digital Divide is hardening into the state of internet inequality and how the fcc needs to improve the universal Service Fund Program to address this issue. Millions of americans in the hardest served areas are getting left behind. I have proposed a fourpoint brand to address Rural Broadband. The fcc must fund Rural Broadband with fixed maps. Weve heard it already. The fcc proposed a 20. 4 billion plan, the tenyear opportunity plan, critically, 16 billion, nearly threequarters of that fund will be based on ten years for 77 data and maps thatt neary every stake holder agrees is flawed. We should have proceeded with the budget while we fix that data and mapping and then proceeded with the bulk of the support over longer term and unfortunately the structure adopts a red, fire aim approach that favors speed over funding. Second, to address rural connectivity, we must incentivize providers to bring broadband to the communities. A closer view finds that many communities that will be deemed eligible are currently unserved and received fcc highcost funding. How did this happen . Thats why i caught a datadriven performed and bring broadband to the hardest to reach areas and sometimes you have to look back in order to move forward and what we cannot have is a world in ten years from now we wake up with another 20 billion spent and we still dont understand with precision which communities remain unserved and how we can accurately finish the job to connect them. Third, we must hold our auction winners accountable. Sadly, more than a dozen winners from our last universal service fund auction have defaulted on their bids to provide the Necessary Service to rural areas and we need to be absolutely sure that tdeliver the carriers that need it the most. Finally, to address Rural Broadband we must address a more affordable way for the poorest americans to connect to the internet. The fcc should require usf auction winners to offer an Affordable Broadband Service auction and we should examine the experience of a number of ishs sps including comcast, cox and spectrum that do provide lowcost offerings for the internet to families participating in lowincome federal programs. Connecting all americans isnt enough if those connections are not secure. So back in may i raised the alarm that we need to focus on the problem of untrustworthy chinese equipment that is in our networks. I said we need to find this insecure equipment and fix the problem and find it. Find it, fix it, fund it. Last month my colleagues and i unanimously voted want only to prohibit usf funds to purchase this untrustworthy chinese equipment and also critically how to address the equipment that already stands in our networks. There are additional security risks that must be addressed and one in particular that i focused on is Election Security and reporting indicates that at least six states in washington, d. C. , still use Voting Machines that transmits over Cellular Networks meaning that results can be blocked and altered by criminals or our adversaries that can use fake cell towers and hack untrustworthy routers. Because of these risks i met with major wireless carriers to discuss and have them tell me how they are protecting our network security. The important goal here is to be counted each and every time. Finally, we must make sure that all americans share in the benefits of 5g. That technology has the opportunity to drive solutions, Real Solutions on issues that matter most in our world, not just for today, but for our shared tomorrow. The future of work is one of these. 5g will allow Massive Iot Networks using automation and Artificial Intelligence to achieve unprecedented productivity and efficiency and that will also displace millions of workers and in particular research from mackenzie shows that this revolution will disproportionately Impact Communities of color and women. Thats due to their overrepresentation and roles as truck drivers, machinists and Food Service Workers and office clerks. The government needs to partner together to encourage and develop programs to use 5g better. Lastly, ill highlight the issue of Climate Change. It is an issue that we are seeing that folks and companies are deploying in infrastructure deployments to account for Climate Change for the disasters and 5g and electric grid efficiency will play a Critical Role Going Forward. Thank you for having me here today. Thank you, commissioner. Weve concluded our openings. We are now going to move to member questions. Each member will have five minutes to ask questions of our witnesses, and i will start by recognizing myself for five minutes. Chairman, i am glad youve come to see that its the best interest in the country and the best approach. I want to ask all of the commissioners to respond to my question by raising your hand if you agree. Ill make a statement. If you agree with it, raise your hand. Could the commission under its Current Authority use spectrum auction revenue from the c band to pay for Rural Broadband development . Could you use it to pay for nextgeneration 911 . Could you use it to close the homework gap . Would Congress Need to pass legislation to authorize revenue from an auction of the cband in order to do any of those things . Exactly. This is why we need to move quickly to pass legislation to address these issues and i stand ready to work with all members of this committee and the senate who wish to do the same. This is an opportunity we dare not miss. I ask the commissioners by raising their hand if they agree and this is a different approach from mr. Dangle. The fccs broadband Deployment Data is significantly lacking and deeply flawed. Do you agree with that statement . These flaws are so bad that some of it as the chairman has said in the case of the Mobility Fund to data will need to redo it. They need to be redone. When you have bad data as you had in Mobility Fund 2 can you agree with that . Mr. Chairman, can you collect data as you need to as in Mobility Fund 2 for other proceedings . Mr. Chairman, appreciate the question. Weve done that with the Digital Opportunity Data Collection which we adopted on august 1st with respect to fixed broadband and with respect to the 5g fund and well be exploring with the proposed rule making early next year and the way to move forward given the experience that weve had and thats why i agreed with the the staffs recommendation we should close down the challenge process and the maps we had were simply inaccurate and we cannot go forward making a good decision on the basis of bad data. Let me ask the commissioner starks. Does it seem to you that the chairmans decisions about when he needs accurate data and when he doesnt is rather arbitrary because i cant find any rhyme or reason for why he accepts that he needs good data for these renewed Mobility Fund 2 data and another proceeding such as this new forbearance proceeding regarding Competitive Services and the next round of connect america fund grants. The commission seems to be ignoring the lack of accurate data in its decision making. Would you like to both comment on that . I agree with you, chairman. I think youre right, and i think its this simple. We need maps before money and data before deployment. I could not agree more and it took us a year to say that the Mobility Fund 2 data is broken which seems shocking to me. Im disappointed as well, and were not going to hold folks accountable for those representations. You told senator blumenthal that you were wrapping up this investigation into location sharing by mobile carriers and youve been responding to the incident in the near future. Its december and we still havent seen anything, and i know yesterday your office did email me a response to my request for an update and you tried to share the results of the investigation as soon as practicable. Could you tell us more specifically when were going to get that information . Mr. Chairman as i pointed out in the letter after the bureau, they told me they would be in a position to provide those recommendations to wrap up that part of the investigation by the end of january which is why i said as soon as possible thereafter and ill be interested in sharing with you other members of the committee. Commissioner, do you have anything to add to that . Its been well over a year that there is a black market for where we are, with a few hundred dollars, thats dangerous for our national and personal security, and its crazy that Wireless Companies sold this data to skip tracing firms who then sold it to bail bondsmen who then sold it to bounty hunters and here we are months and months later and i still dont know what happened and the Chairmans Office has refused to provide us with any information about letters of inquiry or what were investigating. I think that that is something that you need to follow up on because this goes to the security of every one of us who holds on to a mobile phone. Thank you. I see my time has expired. Do you agree with that statement, commissioner . I do, mr. Chairman. I now yield five minutes to the Ranking Member. Thanks, mr. Chairman and to the commission, thank you for being here today. If i can start my questions with you. I applaud what you and the commission are doing for six gigahertz and how it might impact for picked Wireless Services and does the commission have Technical Knowledge to make sure that incumbent users are being protected . I appreciate that and the answer to that question is yes, led in part to the sterling chief engineer and the office of engineering and technology, we are doing the necessary Technical Analysis to understand the extent to which the sharing of that 5925 to 7925 band with unlicensed operations would be consistent with the important functions that the spectrum serves for the electric utilities and others that you identified. Would you commit to ensuring that the incumbent users are protected when you make 6 gigahertz available for unlicensed youth. Absolutely. We will make sure that we balance both those interests. We do want to preserve those important incumbent uses and look at unlicensed operations. Thank you. Let me follow up with another operation. Reese notally you have the 5. 9 gigahertz band made available for unlicensed use, while the remaining 30 megahertz will be split between two different auto Safety Technologies and the dsrc and the cv2x and would the proposal allow automakers to continue using the 5. 9 gigahertz band and the safety messages and provide other critical lifesaving services. It would, congressman, in fact, i would argue that my approach would deliver the most significant automotive in decades and the reason is it would allow cellular vehicle in particular with the upper 20 megahertz part of the band to progress under the current rules and cvx could not go forward at all with the approach and my goal is to enable Safety Technologies to do that to thrive and at the same time, we want to recognize my Opening Statement and the dsrc should have a fair shot at making its case and that they employ a 10 megahertz channel and seeking comment and it should have an additional 10 megahertz and that would be allocated to automotive safety and driving tremendous benefits for American Consumers and this is where they pointed out a lot of automakers are focusing their energy, as well. Have you talked with the department of transportation on that. Extensively, congressmen, for many, many month, i personally and my staff and the staff and the engineering and Technology Office and others have been consulting with them extensively and weve revised our proposal substantially to accommodate the interest and the approach reflects that compromise that we arent singling out and we have the balanced approach in an exclusive home and unlicensed operations in the exclusive home and we feel thats the best of both worlds. Thank you. Because again as the fcc, and we talked about this and has the fcc performed or evaluated anything to determine the impact on the incumbent uses of this band once opened for the unlicensed use . And thats a good question. Thats part of the reason why the approach i suggested is the best one. The contemplation is we would share the entire band between dsrc and the extensive testing was required and that testing has taken a long, long time. Under my approach with spectral separation by creating an exclusive home where auto safety can thrive and they dont need to worry about unlicensed operations with them, and because they have the 45 megahertz exclusive home in the lower part of the 9 gigahertz band and theres no problem in terms of automotive safety and its saying that everybody gets a different bite of the apple so to speak and those bites dont to conflict. Thank you. Commissioner carr, i know earlier this year you were a key driver in the fccs launch of the 100 Million Pilot Program to support telemedicine. Ive always been an advocate for telehealth and this aimed to address the mortality disparities which include utilizing connected technologies and would you give me an update on how the Pilot Program is going . Thank you, congressman. We moved to the next phase earlier this summer and the common cycle on that has closed and my hope is that we would move forward quickly in 2020 with an order that would stand up formally to the Pilot Program. Thank you very much. Mr. Chairman, my time has expired and i yield back. The gentleman yields back. The chair recognizes mr. Mcnerney for five minutes for questions. I think the commission for your work and the initiatives that you described this morning, mr. Chairman, this summer i sent you a letter urging you to start a proceeding to take a fresh look at 5. 9 and make it available for unlicensed use and i appreciate your proposal. You also put a proposal to make the 6 gigahertz ban available for unlicensed use and i hope the commission can move forward on this, as well and thats been echoed by members of the commission. Please answer yes or no. Are you committed to move forward in a timely manner to make the 6 gigahertz band available for unlicensed use and protect the incumbents. Yes, with the caveat that well be driven by the Technical Analysis and i agree with the timely action on that basis. Thank you. Commissioner rosen, if our mission to have a successful 5g strategy, how critical is it that we make more spectrum available for unlicensed use and why is the 6 gigahertz band important for that purpose . Youre right. Unlicensed is absolutely critical. When we talk about 5g, we cant talk about unlicensed airwaves and we know that about 70 of 5g traffic is going to be offloaded on to wifi at some point, so weve got to find places in our airwaves for that unlicensed activity to grow. The 6 gigahertz brand will have economies of scale and it offers big, wide channels and it will have a big capacity. This is where we get gigabit wifi and where we need to go next. Thanks for that answer. Chairman, during the recent California Wildfires hundreds of cell towers went down and when the power was turned off in Contra Costa County which is part of my district. We had 88 cell towers go out from Power Outages. This meant people couldnt call 911 or let loved ones know their status and so on. Mr. Chairman, please answer yes or no, would you commit to conducting a formal investigation into why cell towers went down during Power Outages including examination of backup generators and what coordination existed between carriers and utilities . Congressman, we are already doing that. Our Public Safety and Homeland Security bureau has already reached out to Communications Providers to look at whats going on. Thank you. As a part of this investigation would you commit to hold a hearing in Northern California to hear from those involved . I would be happy to do that in affected stakeholders in california. Are you committed to do this in six months . Yes. What should the fcc be doing Going Forward to make sure cell towers dont go down during Power Outages . Thanks. Its a terrific question because were having these once in a century weather events now. Every year, we have to start planning and learning from them. We need a new playbook for disaster. Nearly six weeks after the outages, we should have an initial report every time. We should make sure we update our policies regarding cell towers and outages. We used to have backup policies at cell towers. We discussed them extensively after hurricane katrina, but the office of management and budget tuke our rules and authority away. We have to revisit that. We have to update the wireless resiliency framework which is the subject of gao criticism and we have to network the outage reporting to make sure they know whats happening when people lose service. Mr. Chairman, i would like to submit a record of a letter from 24 Public Interest organizations. Without objection, so moved. Mr. Stark, the Lifeline Program is especially for constituencies and im troubled by the fccs repeated efforts to yushdz mine the program and its concerning that weve seen the decrease in enrollment despite a large number of mouse holds that qualify. What should the fcc be doing to increase the Program Participation . Yes, congressman. Thank you so much for the question. Lifeline is for the most vulnerable low income folks and times of emergencies is exactly when they do need those connections, issues with regard to the verifier and our ability to connect with the states electronically as opposed to doing the manual review has been part of the function of us having diminishing number, but do i have concerns that we need to do better by the most vulnerable. Here in d. C. , i visited most recently in miriams kitchen, a homeless chapter and i know we need to do better. Mr. Chairman, can i have five more minutes. No, you cant. The gentleman yields back. The chair now recognizes the Ranking Member of the full committee for his questions. Thank you for giving me his extra five minutes, mr. Chairman. I like that. Chairman, as we learned late yesterday, via the press release, the fcc plans on dealing with this whole issue of the Mobility Fund 2 data which was slated to four and a half billion to bring 4g to Rural America by proposing to move forward the new Mobility Fund 2 rebanded as 5g. Two weeks ago this committee unanimously reported out the Bipartisan Legislation to review its mobile coverage maps to fix the exact issue your investigation sought to review and accurate broadband maps built on quality data and the fccs desire to move ahead with the initially proposed 4. 5 billion with the initial 4. 5 billion in new funding and how do you make sure theyre distributed to appropriate places where we dont have accurate maps and i think we would all agree with that and you plan to distribute funds, or move forward before knowing what locations actually need the funding and the third unrelated to this, is that going to rely on bad maps, too . And this is something wed like to know more about. I appreciate the question, congressman. With respect to the question on proceeding on the basis of maps and thats part of the reason why i agreed with the career staff recommendation and ultimately the proposal to terminate that proceeding altogether and to move to the 5g fund. The entire point of the 5g fund is we are in the early stages and deployment is scant and virtually nonexistent and with respect to 4g lte is not on to the 5g requirement. In terms of the budget, and ill be rolling this out that i proposed to my fellow commissioners in early 2020 is understanding some of the puts and takes with respect to the budget, the mapping and making sure we have the right eligible area asks those are the things we want to tee up early on and the other thing i would note is we are passed the prolog, in part of the reverse auction with the interarea competition, we are able to drive down the amount of funding required from 5 billion to 1. 5 billion and our hope is that we would be able to do the same here, and when you and i were in eastern oregon, thats why in the context of our pending proposal, i took a very balanced approach mindful of that and with some of the comments i heard from chairman doyle is not to throw the baby out with the bathwater and the incumbent infrastructure is being used with the competitors and thats why we took a measured approach on that. Well see how this plays out in the comments that come in, but i was given a map the other day that shows burns oregon as an urban area and its not. They would even admit its not and there are dark fiber issues that i think deserve some reviews and anyway, we can deal with that, at the last oversight hearing, we had delay in the tband options for states that were diverting fees and i had to go up to the other hearing on Climate Change. I asked the panel if they disagreed with what we were trying to accomplish and nobody objected. You coauthored an op ed on the issue. New york state allows the fees to be put in a slush fund, my term and used for pet projects, my term, unrelated to 911 services. What are your thoughts on the diverting of fees, specifically and what impact does new york have on their Public Safety operation . Thank you for the question. Look, fee diversion is terrible. Its bad. We shoo use every resource that we have on the commission to stop it. Its an outright lie when they say thats going to 911. I think its postal fraud because if you did that or i did that and ran it through the system and used it for a different purpose i would say its especially cruel. We have about 6,000 911 call centers with 100,000 people answering those phones on the worst day of your life every day, and they pick them up and they need about 12 billion to update to nextgeneration 911 which will will make them effective and all of us safer. We have to start somewhere and stopping fee diversion is the right place to start. Perfect timing. Thank you, mr. Chairman and thank you for your service again to the country. The chair now recognizes m mr. Ill jump immediately to questions. First, commissioner im sure youre aware of the broadband mapping and i am proud that we recently passed the broadband data act unanimously on voice and that will soon head to the house hopefully where i believe it will receive strong bipartisan support again, and i know youve long been a proponent of using crowdsourcing to get better maps. I agree it is important to have multiple points of reference, multiple points of data, too, and im proud that we have a robust challenge process also to ensure in this bill to ensure that everyday consumers and tribal governments are able to challenge a map that has service when they dont. I like it when they say its common sense. This bill includes quality of Service Metrics and the bill that mr. Lad and i put forth because its important to know what sort of Internet Service is available and not just whether it is available, but what kind of services . So with the fcc working on its own mapping proposal i want to ask about advantages or disadvantages do you think this proposal or our proposal has compared to the fcc proposal or other legislative proposals. Thank you to the committee on the bipart an support on maps. It is very important and we have to pick the situation where our data is so inaccurate we dont know if were sending funds to the right place or not. Its about crowd participation. Well take crowd source data and kiehl take in information from people in communities who know where there is service and there isnt and well test it against what people file with us in washington. I think the best broadband map will not be developed by us in washington and it will be a citizens map. I do appreciate that and thank you for your response and i just want to follow up on what the Ranking Member responded and im concerned that the commission hasnt yet taken the steps that this sort of funding will close the Digital Divide. Do you think the programs will make a meaningful impact for rural islands. What do you think about that . Just follow up. It could, but weve got a basic problem and we need maps before money. I like that phrase. We are pumping out press releases about funs and were not explaining where we could tell i dont have enough time, commissioner starks or the recently announced 5g fund. Yes. I too, as being someone from cans cas kansas, i am eager to see the latest technology and connectivity each to our most rural citizen, but i have deep concerns and questions from what was announced yesterday, where is the money coming from . Is this the same type of data that was relied upon on mf2 which we all know had to be taken down and very much related to the announcement from yesterday is a real issue of holding folks accountable where they have data thats incorrect. One other thing i wanted to highlight was there was information yesterday that was redacted from the report issued by the chairman. Im working with the chairman and the staff because i think theres critical Consumer Protection information there that is not confidential and so im extremely hopeful that information will be lifted soon so that the American Public can know whats going on. I think we need to focus on the fact that we dont want to waste taxpayer dollars, as well. Otherwise this could be a waste of taxpayer dollars and one last question, if i may, commissioner. You know about the bill that we set up. What do you think should be the first focus of the task force, i should say, to ensure that were tackling this problem in the right way. Terrific. I think the chairman has set it up so that the task force has its first meeting. I spend time in iowa and i saw what it looks like when we connect cows in every corner of the agricultural field. Heres our concern, we will produce so much data from our farms well have to upload that to the cloud. Traditionally, our broadband standards have been asymmetrical and theyre at much higher speeds that come down and much lower speeds sending it back up. Thats based on the idea we watch video and we just use broadband for consumption activity, but farms are going to start to get in the business of creation activity. Right. We have to figure out how to have more symmetrical speeds. I know ive run over, mr. Chairman, but as cochair of the caucus i ask for unanimous consent for the International Alliance data, december 5g9. The chair recognizes mr. Olsen for five minutes. I thank the chair for that very warm introduction from my home state of texas happy holidays with the fcc. I have to open with a confession, chairman pie. A few years ago with an example from chairman carr we both committed to climb a communications tower. In august 2018, you did that and i believe the tower was 131 feet tall. I havent forgotten myment to climb a tower, but my problem is im from texas and in texas bigger is always better so ive been trying to climb a tower thats 20 times your tower, a 1,971foot tower in missouri city, texas. If you can, and tw miles up a tower. Congressman, i certainly welcome then vitt asian and at the risk of getting an okay viewer from mr. Carr i would have to view it from the growth fund just to be safe. Thanks for mentioning the third war in houston. A brat example of how americas Third Largest city has the same problems with 5g so thank you for mention to you, mr. Pie, and i know leadership ensuring that the e sect broad band and is able to keep us competitive internationally. Can you describe the steps youve taken in your administration and the and the and to expedite the spectrum resource. I appreciate the question, congressman. When we came into office we were start from scratch as part of the 5g fast plan is to move aggressively on lowmid and highband spectrum, and with respect to that in particular, we start theed ebs bandz for Wireless Service including a tribal window and the 3 gigahertz broadband, and i made the public auction of the c band and critical spectrum as part of the tmobilesprint merger they are bringing it quickly for the benefit of American Consumers and although it doesnt rely on spectrum in particular, the small cell reforms weve done to encourage the deployment of these nextgeneration networks and the architecture of the networks is vital, as well. Its important for those who criticized us and missing the fact that we are, in fact, moving quickly. In pack in all of those we face opposition, and you have been ad and can you explain why speed is important especially with your trip overseas and how a delay can hurt our National Security . So i believe excuse me, i believe that the c band is the most ideal space for 5g services and theyve identified in either making that available in either licenses or auctions to the provider. And theyre using the same bands that we will make available and the equipment manufacturers are making equipment for those purposes and it will be delayed as a nation and we will be harmed by that if we do not move forward on the cband as soon as possible. How does that hurt our national secureity . The Economic Security and also nasa security because the growth has been from one particular country, china and china is spregd its its equipment through a multiple of different means in a to expand their network throughout the globe before we can gheit on to the playing field. Thank you. A final question to you, mr. Carr, you talked about finding qualified talent for the fcc, can you touch on whats been done with the qualification that you need to move forward and how congress can help you get those people . I know you talked about Community Colleges and local college e but what resources have you gotten and how can we help you get the resources you need to go forward . Congressman loebsack has been working on the programs. I started working directly with the Community Colleges. I am looking to expand their program as a model. As i mentioned weve had one success with Community College and ill be working directly with them and the fcc as the committee is looking at these workforce issues and that will be a fruitful avenue, as well. The gentlemans time has expired. Go navy, beat army. [ laughter ] the chair now recognizes mr. Ohhal earn for five minutes. Thank you, chairman doyle. I would like to acknowledge the spectrum policy including maintaining fcc leadership for the public cband auction and proposing to expand wireless use into the 5 gigahertz. Making it available is important for 5g deployment and eventually closing the Digital Divide in Rural America and commissioner carr, i appreciate that as far as closure and i dont see that at all anywhere in Rural America that ive been and i am in Rural America all of the time. Our staffer will get a hold of your office and try to come up with how the numbers were put together. And it is only getting wired as we implement 5g into the entire process. A lack of Broadband Access means life and death in Rural America and the chairman mentioned that. It also means its not just Rural Americans. Its all americans that travel across our country. All 320some million of us eventually travel across an area that has very little ability to have broadband. And then packs the opportunities for children in Rural America compared to those in urban certains. It impacts Business Development and it has a profound impact on healthcare. My district is home to 12 travel nations which is the most of any Congressional District and i go back because mr. Lu han will be upset with me is the most population and not the most tribes. Unfortunately, for Indian Country the latest broadband report shows that 36 of travel households lacked access to any broadband which is simply unacceptable in todays age. This is compared to 8 of nontribal households without any access and thats your report. The raybaums ak, found in the report within 30 months. Chairman, we are now almost two years since this part of the act was signed into law and over six month since the travel broadband report was release said. With nine months left to meet the statutory deadline, why it would meet a formal proceeding to specifically address the barriers for the report and when do you think it will be done . I appreciate the question, congressman, the staff is working on that report, but in the meantime were taking serious and meaningful steps to address that issue with the lack of tribal broadband factor, for example, and the universal service and program, and including to try to exclusively can use the public resource to benefit the people. Well talk about that offline, but i just wanted to know the specific area. Yes, sir. Commissioners, worsenworsel and starks, has the Chairmans Office reaped out to either of you about what the proceeding will look like before the upcoming statutory deadline . The answer is no. Not to me either, congressman. Let me go back to chairman pi. This is an issue that the staff is working on and i myself have been working on and i am the first chairman on the table and these are bipartisan issues that bind the commission together. Whenever ive been in a leadership role ive made sure that those that have to work with me are informed in a continual basis of any processes moving forward. As you know, i care deeply about the Broadband Service spectrum option and ensuring tribal governments have ample opportunity to take advantage of the tribal proprietary window. I appreciate the xhigdcommissio recent announcement that it will be extended for 180 days to ensure all tribes have the consultation a consultation and resources to participate in the option. However, prior to this announcement ive concerns from tripes and the efforts from the fccs office of native american policy were insufficient to educate them on the auction process. Would you commit to holding more in person and educational work shops for these two seedings announced in the next few weeks . Congressman, i will and we are. And i see my time is up and thank you very much. The chair yields bark and the chair recognizes. I do have a few questions. You announced, mr. Chairman, just before the thanksgiving break that youll proceed with public auction and 280 megahertz of the cband and how the fcc would proceed on this band and there was one principle that seemed to be universal, that these proceedings need to occur quickly and efficiently. I was open to either mechanism as long as we head to the principle of doing things quickly and one other principle that substantial revenues raised for the treasury and hopefully for things like Broadband Development and given that they improved the auction, and do you need new authorities or temporary people and appropriations and one of the things we need to be aware of. With respect to some of the Public Interests and benefits that have been identified by members of the committee, the legislation three years ago i was the first propose the proceeds being for Rural Broadband and that would be legislation and we welcome the committees input on that and with respect to the conduct and structure of the option and there are resources that we have to muster and there are issues that we have to work out. I believe we do have authority currently to be able to do the necessary leg work in order to conduct the auction quickly which is what we will prioritize and i will let you know if we being. I think we would be eager to help and i want to thank the commission for its unanimous, on National Security grounds and i agree it to prohibit taxpayer dollars this committee favorably reported legislation that i and chairman doyle offered to facilitate information sharing frommet federal government to the private sector and its to better inform smaller and rural carriers about the risk that certain equipment can pose to our networks so they dont purchase or install it. Commissioner, do you believe smaller and rule carriers have. I think they would, and ive spent time meeting in rural montana meeting with the small providers that are impacted and hearing directly from them and i am happy to engage with more discussions with them as needed. Do you think that we should be doing more ask that this legislation would go and help that information flow . Im very spupportive to make sure we have secure networks and with the bill, were grateful it can get tlus. Well follow up and you can follow up with additional help you might need. Some of these security concerns, chairman pai are there cybersecurity if companies allow noncleared or unvetted personnel access to Software Development kits or application programming and interfaces for 5g . There are tremendous dangers and not to the country, but to our National Security. 5g networks would be Software Defined as opposed to especially will involve for are internet, and driving transportation, healthcare, agriculture, you name it. We have to be right across all of these different vectors and thats part of the reason why weve taken 5g security so seriously. Part of the reason why ive spoken to ally abroad, visited bahrain, germany and other countries understanding the need to collaborate on a riskbased framework. To me, the challenge china presents is one of the top National Security issues for this country and 5g is the leading edge of that challenge. Thanks. And is there a common standard to use vetted personnel . Ai or Machine Learning to analyze source code that will be distributed or used in patches for Software Updates for 5 g . Theres no standard as i understand it and part of the problem is that a lot of these networks will be managed over time and youll get Software Updates just as people get Software Updates on their home and in real time, will the governments have the source code which is being updated by a nontrusted vendor. I think we know the answer to the question which is why we have to think of security as a forethought as opposed to an afterthought and have the framework that all allied countries, and this is one area area were very united. The cheer now ridiculouses ones the scombrentel lady for five minutes. I, well which to the commission. I guess tlt we keep talking about the same things that have not been resolved, so i want to start with chairman pai, this whole issue of the letters of inquiry, you heard my displeasure seven months ago. Can you send the letters of inquiry to me. My understanding is the Enforcement Bureau doesnt do that. Im not talking about tradition and understanding. Im asking you a direct question. Will you send the letters to me . Vild i would have to talk to career staff. Yes or no, will we send the letters of inquiry. Ill see what i can do. I will move on because thats essentially a no. Kl cal h california has obviously been in the news for something that is really sorrowful, these massive wildfires and as california undergoes the pain of this, and the aftermath, the loss of life, the loss of homes and the loss of property, theres also the loss of a Telecommunications System california is not the only state that has undergone or will undergo these weather catastrophes. We have tornadoes. We have hurricanes. We have flooding. Now, it was raised that we have no backup plan. I mean, in california, 874 cell towers were out. Emergency Services People cannot communicate with one another. I had a letter from seniors a couple, a mister and misses and said what do we do . We have no way to condition tact 911 if there is a medical or fire emergency ask we cant contact the utility. How are we going to call the Fire Department or Emergency Services . So whats your answer to them . Congressman whats your answer . By the way, have you been to california . I have. Have you met with the emergency Services People . I have. When was that . Cant recall the specific dates . I cant remember if it was this year or not. Let me know. All right. Whats your answer to these people and whats the backup plan, a, and b, id like to know why omb shut that down. I dont understand what omb has to do with this, but it would be interesting to know. With respect to the second question, congresswoman answer the first one. With respect to the first question, this is part of the reason why ive stressed even before the wildfire situation you described, ive stressed the need for Power Companies to share information with teleCommunications Providers and in this case they did not do that you know what . If you asked for that information they did not give it to you. Its your responsibility just as it is mine to follow up with people. You have to be gum stuck to someones shoe on behalf of the American People. Were not just states in america. We are the United States of america and we need a approximately see that is going to serve everyone. There needs to be a plan on this. This is about lifegoing to serv. There needs to be a plan on this. This is about liis going to ser. There needs to be a plan on this. This is about lithat is going t. There needs to be a plan on this. This is about life and death. Were not talking small potatoes somewhere. Its disturbing to me that there isnt a plan. You cant articulate one. You dont remember when youve been in california. You dont remember the last time you spoke to anyone, and so, let me move on. On lifeline, ive been a broken record. This is a program that president reagan put into place. Ive spoken to each one of you individually about it, and i consider this a moral issue. A moral issue and why . Because were talking about veterans. Were talking about the elderly. Were talking about Domestic Violence victims and were talking about people that are experiencing homelessness. Now, i dont know what any of these people have done to anyone of the commissioners, but to have a program that has an unfathomable 45 in the last three years. Thats what its fallen by. Are you gladdened by that . Is that something, mr. Chairman, that you can take out there and brag about on the road . I dont think so, and i somehow, i dont know how i can ever get to people to understand that people are being hurt by this. None of us went into Public Service whether elected or appointed to hurt people, but you know what . In this 45 in the last three years people have been hurt. The gentle ladys time has expired. Thank you. I yield back. The chair now recognizes mr. Bilarackas for five minutes. Thank you, i appreciate it and thank you this afternoon. Not afternoon quite yet. Pretty soon. Chairman recognized. My distt is inaudible noise inaudible inaudible part of the peninsula, and bring in emergency with high winds and up to one day the president says the north to a limited number west and east south Pinellas County off the coast of the gulf of mexico. They are close to approval of luckily we are close to provoke additional evacuation route, that will ease congestion called the ridge road, extension project, which we feel we are still going to get the permanent to extend the roads from csis, but in 2016 the fcc modernized why the modernized the why wireless emergency system to yield targets and messages. This will alleviate the congestion from unnecessary evacuations. Have all providers complied with this requirement . And how will full implementation of 5g enable even more specific geo targeting of emergencies alerts im pleased to say we are ready to proceed with geotargeting along the lines you suggested. We needed to do for weeks of testing. My understanding is the system will be up and running in a very different future. I hope it happens in early spring, you know why with the hurricanes and all. A natural disasters. Commissioner car, last year i had the pleasure of hosting, Emergency Center center, one of the issues discussed at the time was a desperate need for system. Upgrades and thank you very much, for coming down to my district, and obviously chairman pie your welcome back as well, im sure this is something you hear back about the nine one one centers, all across the country, especially as many wish to move to nextgen services, what option is are as the commission looking out, to take advantage of those improvements to help Emergency Service center save lives . And how much money would it take to upgrade the country to nextgen nine one one services . So in your words can few can give me around figure its so important, obviously its a Public Safety issue, if you could respond i could i would appreciate it. Thank you for your leadership, i enjoy spending time with you in the past go cut center, it. Range between nine to 12 billion to upgrade we need to have accurate uptodate information at the call centers and one step that we took was the vertical Location Information so that is for the very first time and the Public Safety responders know the height to accelerate Response Time thats part of a broad speaking upgrade so thanks this this. Commissioner, youve long advocated for better use of spectrum in the the licensed and unlicensed spaces. The commission now working on repurposing and on repurposing the 5. 9 ban which was largely unused for nearly 20 years, can you talk about the benefits of bringing up the spectrum, that has gone unused for so, long and are the incumbents left with enough spectrum to engaged in Safety Technologies . If you could elaborate on that i would appreciate it. To answer second question it is, yes it does address our needs, compared to the 25 megahertz that we have allocated. And one of the reasons i have liked to the chairmans proposal so much, its something ive been advocating for a little bit of. Time it falls in line with things arent pushing, for and running the sea page ive, been working on this issue for quite awhile, sheer to colluded the reasons, the benefits that can come from having five nine, and those giggle hurts early next year, its a combination of those two bands and the additional five bigger hurt jiggered so we have those 60 megahertz the capacity, ive seen upwards of 70 upwards of 80 of the commercial wireless traffic, Going Forward and that is what were talking about. The benefit to consumers, and the Underlying Network itself, that cant be imaginable, in terms of how much costs for this band or that bank, what we can spend the money on, or we are talking about trillions overtime. From the gentlemans time has expired. Gentleman recognizes the gentleman from north carolina. Thank you mister chairman, let me think you are the five of you for this new testimony today, i say all the time that you must have a special calling. To deuce but Public Service. Thank you to all of you for your service. Chairman pie, congress has to ask the fcc to regulate our nations Telecommunications Policy in a fashion that promotes a diverse forces. You know that, i know that. My research over the last few days shows that despite that mandate, minority broadcast ownership has never risen above 3. 1 . Womens ownership, has never exceeded 6 , so my question is to you, i want and yes or no answer, do you call that rates of ownership for minorities and women acceptable . No of course. Not thank you. Last month, mister chairman, the court of appeals rolled for the fourth time that the commission failed to addict adequately facilitated and promote womens and minority media ownership, in light of that ruling will you commit to addressing the critically low rates of media ownership by minorities and women, can you make that commitment . Congressman two, parts to the answer, we have been making that commitment, i personally as a person of color think that this is a priority would you doubled down . On it the problem is, congressman, part of the decision that the court struck down is to get disadvantages communities into the program, the prom bloomed of the courts decision is that they got it, our prime or merry Diversity Initiative from 1970 eights, and i did a Little Research from 1978 to 1995 the fcc provided attacks instead of two those it sold a majority interest to the minorities, while in place that program boosted the number of minority stations from 40, to 323, so yes or no, would you call that Program Effective . So what congress did when it repealed that program in 1990s, to understand whether it was effective or. Not what i can say is that we are not waiting. They go from 40 to 3 20, three no one can dispute that that is unacceptable program. Its a client this time it goes very, fast commissioner said the earlier this year, i put the fccs tax certificate back in. Place and expanded to include women. Could you speak to the impact that reviving the Tech Certificate Program would have for women and minorities been broadcast ownership . Its a terrific idea, congressman because, there is no other policy tool with hide in history, that has been as effective at diversifying the ownership of these properties. It matters. What we see on the screen to so much better than who we are as individuals, and communities as, a nation i. Think rich storing the tech certificate is a true graphic. Idea in rural areas, many expecting moms do not have access to the medical resources necessary to receive the treatment that they need. The result is deadly and we are talking about more and more. Now the problem with women of color especially are, how can we use telemedicine to address the lack of a matory no access to care . Im the only woman here so im probably only, mom so i should speak to. That which is, we should take this hundred Million Dollar Pilot Project and address the national crisis. The United States is the only industrialized country in the world with the rising rates of mortality and we know that they are tools and telemedicine, and connected care that connect and so that when we do adopt this, as commissioner car worked, on id like to see one Maternal Health care program in every state of this, country because we have to figure out how to solve this problem. Its a crisis, and we need to. Fix it share your views on that commissioner, thank you for your response. Let me conclude with commissioner starts. Commissioner, our 2016 election, was targeted by russian cyberattackers who sought to interfere with our election process. Is the commission doing anything about it to secure our election infrastructure . Thank you congressman for the question, and thank you for your leadership on this issue. I continue to look forward to working with you. We do know that intelligence confirms that foreign actors try to impact our 2016 elections. In fact we know all 50 states and their Voter Registration rolls a were attempted to be hacked. We do know at least seven states, illinois florida michigan, maryland, rhode island, wisconsin and d. C. Still use a Voting Machines, that connect to our regular Cellular Networks. That means they are susceptible to being hacked by what week would commonly call in the catchers. This is what im specifically focused on. At the fcc is tasked focusing on our National Security, i cannot think of any higher purpose than protecting our elections, and protecting our democracy. Democracy is at stake thank you very much. Gentlemans time is expired, we will recognize mr. Johnson for five minutes. Thank you mister chairman, and chairman pie and the rest of the commission. Thanks for all that you are doing these issues are complex. And the world is moving at light speed and our taller calm arena. I appreciate what youre doing. Chairman pai i would like to thank you personally for your recent decision on cnn. It was the right decision to make. Following on mr. Kids kinzinger said, is there anything we can do to help you execute that option . Certainly, my pitch would be my reprise of my 2016 proposal, to allow the fcc to allocate a portion of that funding, my proposal was for Rural Broadband deployment, as you know in your district, theres many parts of the country that can benefit from that funding, but we cannot allocate that funding. You dont have to hit me with that hammer too hard. I appreciate it. We will certainly be looking at that issue as well. What about regulations, that might be roadblocks . Anything we can help you break now . With my exchange with the congressman, weaker and authority to take unnecessary steps, should that change we work with the staff and will keep you up today very quickly, to meet the ammunition because we need to move quickly to act. Lets move to the six gigabytes debate. We gotta ensure, theres been a lot of discussion already, we have to ensure that any decision that is not create interference issues for critical infrastructure, communications or the ability for our First Responders to do their jobs. How the fcc assuring that we will have thats the key question congressman. Thats why i said consistently, we will be driven by one thing and one thing alone, which is the Technical Analysis, that will enable us to figure out the appropriate balance, between the incumbent uses, and unlicensed operations. For example, we can imagine a case where there is a power play power plant in pittsburgh, and then unauthorized server in los angeles. If theyre both blasting weighed in the same spectrum, there might be a problem there. Or do we draw that line. Thats one of the things our engineers are looking at. Can we get a commitment from you mister chairman, to engage in a continued dialog with all the stakeholders as you move through this process, including the wireless providers, utilities and First Responders, to make sure we dont mess up . Absolutely, i will go one step further, were working with other federal partners, to make sure we hear their input as well. Okay. Mr. Riley . One thing that could be helpful on the six gigabytes, there are many people arguing, you talked about it like utilities, if they can come away with some of the hyperbole, its been incredibly difficult to get the Technical Analysis the german talks about. We want to get to the mat, instead of talking at a level to prevent any consideration. As you guys have heard me say before, im a big believer when you put the stakeholders at the table, iran has a vested in interest you are walk away with the best interests for everyone. Today we heard a lot of concerns about the the fccs flawed max. Congress has appropriated funding the ntia to make a broadband map. You know my frustrations i share that with you guys. What extent has the fcc plugged into the broadband mapping efforts . I appreciate the question, weve been working with them, particular our Rural Broadband task force. We are leasing with our counterparts in the department of commerce. I still dont understand why this is so difficult, there is obviously some naive it day on my part. I got 40 years in the i. T. Spectrum, so i dont know why this is such a difficult problem. But it is continuing to be so. You guys plan, does the fcc plan to utilize their mapping data once it is made available one when theyre making funding decisions, and how to roll out broadband . That is where things were looking at. We will be working with them and with you on that. Terminal reilly, missile riley, commissioner or reilly, before we move on i want to thank you personally for taking the time to come to my district. As you know the rural Digital Opportunity fund a holds immense opportunity, for Rural Broadband, as to the proceeds from the sea band option. Weve got some real opportunities here, to make some significant progress on Rural Broadband expansion, and i appreciate your help and diligence to do that. I yield back. The gentleman yields back, the chair recognizes mr. Matsui for five minutes. Thank you mister chairman, i want to thank the commissioner for being here today. I know its a little arduous, we appreciate you being here and youre Public Service. I just want to say first of, all you in my track record on the calling for public auction of the sea band, i was pleased to see the chairmans recent agreement commitment to put a certain amount through the public option. And maximize returns american taxpayers, including for Rural Broadband development. So important. Now that we have moved past competing proposals to relocate the spectrum, i also urge you and all of you to expeditiously is dabbling a successful auction. Ominous sound like a broken record here, but being from california i have to say this, about wireless resiliency in wildfires. The fcc wireless resiliency framework as a commitment to improve communications in disasters. In april the fcc solicited comments about improving the framework, in response to reports from 2017 and 2018 hurricane seasons. This work would help protect property, and save lives and states from hurricanes, where they present a regular threat. And states like california where wildfires are increasingly getting worse, chairmen why, yesterday i sent you a letter with my colleagues, representing issue on thompson, urging you four wildfire specific recommendations for the framework. Well you revise those . I have not had a chance to review them, but the framework includes all types of disasters within it. Its not particular or does not exclude wildfires. Theres been a particular emphasis, and these are occurrences happening. Two regularly now in california. I like to have the consent to put the letter into the record, mister chairman . No objection. The fcc also has framework on its on january 30 this year, coordinating with Power Companies. Coronation whip our companies cause widespread confusion, and severely jeopardizes Public Safety in california. Chairman pi, as the fcc made improvements to the framework, based upon this investigation, if not when will it be completed . The Public Safety and Homeland Security staff is looking at that framework, in the meantime they like theyre doing aggressive outreach to companies. Personally, i repeated even before the wildfires, emphasize the Power Companies and Telecoms Companies need to cooperate. One of the problems here, we do not have jurisdiction over energy company, we dont have the power to push them to do anything. I did in a day, if youre consuming district is affected by wildfires, you dont care whether its the Power Company or Telecoms Company who drive the ball, all you know is you dont have a nine on one. We also believe the f the fcc has a lot voice here. Putting special emphasis on this, because without meaningful action from the fcc, we fail to lose and learn a valuable lesson that could save lives in the future. The wildfire season starts earlier and ends later. The devastation is unbelievable. If there is a lot of rain, its a process that has become escalating i heard you for special emphasis on that. Thank you. I look to prohibit fcc funding from being used to purchase equipment from Companies Like huawei and cte. The bill would also make a program to help communications to buy more vulnerable equipment, so that we can buy better equipment. And i continue to push for foreign consideration, of this bill. The fcc voted to prohibit sec funding from being used on huawei or see the equipment, it did not equipped commit to replace existing equipment. Is there a need for federal government to support small careers, to identify and replace existing equipment . Thank you so much for the question. Thank you for your leadership on this. I think it is imperative that we focus on the small rural carriers that you have this untrustworthy equipment. Fine thank you, around a time already i yield back my two seconds thank you. The chair recognizes mr. Long for five minutes. Thank you mister chairman, thank you all for being here today. Chairman pai i appreciate your work. Youre work effort that i think, to free up the spectrum, many of us are excited about virginia this, months it is moving forward with a plan, to use the 5. 9 spectrum for analyze and wifi. Moving forward, there is more need, there is more that needs to be considered as the commission strives to make an equal amount of spectrum available for both licensed and unlicensed use. Before i get into some of that, the whole country to median it used to have a good bit on cocoon hunting. There are out hunting in mississippi, and they said what they thought was cocoon tree. He knocked the raccoon or the tree, and when he got up there was in a raccoon it was a links. It is shoot a big fight. They were screaming, and there were links and the guy are at it in a tree, he knows one of his guys on the ground has a puzzle, he says she would appear amongst us. He said i cant shoot up one of us has to have some relief. laughs they want some relief, they want you to shoot up and make them and give them some relief. Can you tell me where we are on al ban, when that decision after four long years is coming down . Congressman, does quite the wind up, i appreciated. Thats how he wrote it. One of the things, that i have done was instructed drop, to propose the resolution of this issue. We directed that into the inter agency process. They want extra time to revise that recommendation. One day requests extra time how long ago is that . The delights. Moral when did they request extra time . About four weeks ago. They will not meet the tomorrow deadline . I hope they will im not sure. Ill be happy to get back to you on that. One of the things that we are looking to do, is to get the review so we can move forward. I hope you can go to them, and tell them after four years, thats enough time we need to get this thing wrapped up. Given the recent decision undersea ben, are you committed to conducting the public auction in 2020 . Yes, we are aiming to conduct the auction beef by the end of 2020 okay, and will you commit to ensuring that the satellite in combat security and commitments by additional clearing within 18 months . And total clearing within 30 16 months of this fcc order . Thats one of the things that were working on now, and i would anticipate up with a proposal that reintroduced it a commission for its considering early next year, thats one of the things that were going to be focused. On as i have consistently said this is important to get it allocated quickly, and get it in the hands of and as you know as part of the controversy, part of the auctioneer, 30 years experience, i believe in the auction method, i think thats the fairest and, most transparent way to get the most money in the federal government, and most of you have done a broad way above the first testaments were, so i would hope that you can make this dumb enough timely fashion because i think its vital to getting 5g out there, and if you change your name for a judge pie to 5g pie ive been call worse so we can get things done, but i appreciate your efforts and getting that you, know moved along, and auctioned, and cleared and all that, because i think its a big big hurdle, and the way things go in washington d. C. , dragging on for five years, i hope very hopeful that you can speed the process along, because i think that its incumbent on you together try to get that done. I agree congressman, and just to be clear, this committee would have to act for us to be able to designate you was the auctioneer, so hopefully that will be incorporated into the package. I yield back. Billy i wasnt sure where you are going without. Story you tied it up their brother. Chair now recognizes mr. Wells for five. Minutes thank you, its good to have everybody here, everybodys reports were terrific we, got a new chairman out here, is he doing okay . You got a bill of health here you are doing. Good it actually is reassuring on the spectrum auction, we are all elated that the commission supports the chairmans decision, to have a public auction, that is something that i give mr. Doyle a lot of credit, in my republican colleagues a lot of credit as well, because there is real opportunity here get, a shared sense of purpose that republicans and democrats, want to get broadband to Rural America, so i just want to say, that decision is important. But theres two things that need to get part of that implementation, are we going to use the proceeds for a dedicated fund . There is unity here, about wanting to get broadband out to the dakotas, to rural new york, and vermont. If its so hard, as you know around here, on a practical basis, to get money, and some of my senate car colleagues want the proceeds to be in a dedicated fund, we dont know how that money would be spent it exactly, but it would be dedicated to Rural Broadband. I know the commissioner has something that is of interest to you, maybe you can speak on it, than i ask the chairman to address them as well. Sure. A lot of the networks have asked a version of this, question what can you do to help us with this event . Im going to say there are two things. The first, were going to have to figure out how to properly in such a visors existence satellite licenses for their spectrum. There are legitimate legal questions for what authority do we have today under the title three of the act. We might need your help to make that authority more. Clear the second thing that we need to do, is go straight to what you said. You have billions of dollars that may come, in as a result of the. Sale lets figure out how we can use these billions of dollars, from the sale of public airwaves. To solve a problem. We have a huge problem with brought broadband in this country, and we can fix it with a homework app. Kids everywhere cant do their. Homework we can solve. It with a sled shun. And i hope. You chairman . Congressman i couldnt agree more, i would reiterate my call from 2016, for congress to create what i call a rural dividend. Just to give you context, when i made that proposal 2016, the fcc hides done 1 Million Dollars worth of. Auctions imagine if that extra 10 million back in 2016, was allocated for Rural Broadband. It would be a great ad for rebel vermont. We have mr. Xi and 14 as a leader on this, go ahead mr. Rally. Personally i want to add that if a fund is created, if money is allocated when it comes to the billet youre talking about, you can use the fccs model, because you have existing federal agencies which have been distributing dollars against competition against, us which is problematic and i helped the committee will consider. This thats a very practical suggestion. The second part of this, and we gotta get this right down, with recreate a funded, im here to support a fund, because if we dont have a fun this will be very difficult for us to actually deliver for Rural America. And the money will go somewhere else. The money is can we have standards, the future proof the speed and the quality, of the broadband that goes out there . Right now, i think it could be 25 three, and chairman paul you dont think that 25 three is adequate for Rural America to . You its part of the digital importunity fund, were going to increase the gigabytes speed. Here is a question why dont we just eliminate . That because we know that is dumbing down, why dont we just get rid of 25, three and pretend that its supposed to be an adequate . Because there it will be a lot of excitement in a Rural Communities if theyre going to get. Broadband weve got no g in parts of. Vermont okay . And if, people are given that opportunity to get something thats relief superior quality, but they a lot. It okay . We can understand that thats the standard. And i just ask for some comments from you, mr. Carr you are out there, i think you said in iowa. And you were in south dakota too . It what are your thoughts about establishing a high standard, as opposed to a low standard perpetually trying to make america secondclass . I do want to get as much speed and capacity to everyone in, america but i can tell you that when we raise the speeds in the pass, dollars tend to flow into the easiest places to serve. And the places that havent been served will continue to be ignored. If we get some standards, i think that this is a request that you guys have to play a role in this, its not, its done for the benefit of rural citizens, not for the entrepreneurs i want to make these a quick. Money we need audacious toll for broadband, i completely agree with bra. Chairman recognizes mr. Brooks for five. Minutes thank you mister chair, chairman pie, since the fcc began reviewing potential for greater areas in 2017, so much has changed. In communication space. And as weve already heard, were expecting over 95 g to u. S. Carriers by the end of this, year i believe. With these deployments comes a clear need for the broader spectrum that weve been talking about, have you thought at all about licensing the ten megahertz of instead of opening all up and licensing use . Appreciate the question congresswoman, and our focus has been on unlicensed operation in the cisco her ban but, we continue to take meetings from folks who support that approach, and we will move ahead with an open mind. And will some of those groups be those emergency communications, utilities or those folks groups . There is a wide variety of stakeholders nine votes that involve that constituency. We need to make sure that this spectrum can benefit all players, in the space and lets make sure we get that. Right i come from indiana, a huge argo motive states, and i want to commend the commission for proposing the proposal proposed rolled making it had spin under utilized for too long i want to consider excuses, i also cochair the 5g caucus, and recently visited with the 5g automotive association, and i have to tell, you one of the greatest concerns when we talk about constituents, about autonomous vehicles, is everyone remains concerned about safety. That is the number one issue, but i am encouraged in the draft proposal which ive allowed, to learn more, which i didnt really know much about, and i certainly think the american citizen knows little to nothing about, to have access to the spectrum band has a lot of tremendous potential to reduce highway fatalities, i understand theres a 5g version of this needs to be considered for additional poll portion of the spectrum band, but regardless how the commission proceeds i want to make sure that consumers safety is first and paramount, as the commissioners can you tell me how youre a prioritizing road safety . Because people are still very concerned, as the motive industry is moving forward, we need to move forward how are we prioritizing road safety, and automobile safety . And how can we ensure that it will be protected regardless of how its all allocated . It is a critical question, part of the reason why its important to allocate these 20 megahertz which will allow for safety applications, taking public a comments in the next ten megahertz, but even beyond the five make giggle hurts brand, this commission under my leadership highs in 2017 two years ago, i propose that we allocate portion of the 26 giggle hurts spectrum there, for vehicle radar, and which is now being words for the safety type of locations that youre talking about. So its not just the five gigabyte the commission is committed that the technology goes. Ahead and how are we working with the Automotive Industry . I just want to say that the chairman has done a good job, setting up the discussion, for the five dead nine get hurt span, its technology the needs of auto safety, and the needs of and how are we, working with, industry that is developing these technologies, to make sure that youre being insured success ugly commissioner. Reilly weve been working on this issue for quite awhile, ive talked to and a lot of Auto Industry has migrated to the. One thing that could be helpful and, ive been on label to do this process it is whatever portion it remains its used for safety, push the Auto Companies to commit to using actually safety, oh no i dont know i want to commit. Thats a problem, so if we want to have bandits dedicated for safety, not advertising a parking, spot or all these other ideas that are out there. I yield back gentlelady yields back, i recognize the chairman of the committee mr. Pallone for five minutes. Thank you chairman doyle. I have a have serious concerns about the fcc provide a little noticed to the committee, before taking significant action like the nine billion dollars 5g funding it was announced yesterday. And that proposal raises many questions that need to be answered, including how the money will be spent, in addition are stromboli that our members only seem to get letters to you, hours before oversight hearing. So there is bipartisan agreement that you need to know better, and i expect so as we go. Forward but i wanted to ask some questions about resiliency, which is so important in my district. We had the most impact by super storm sandy, all these hurricanes and storms that have repeatedly done by climate, change getting worse, i have repeatedly asked the fcc to improve the resiliency of networks in the wake of disasters, and i have many concerns shared by americans, its time for congress to step in and address this issue. Since 2018 the fcc has issued two, reports and recommendations on how to improve our network resiliency, in part of this investigation the controller general issued in 2019 resiliency with xi fcc. Agrees so were talking about two fcc, reports one controller general, report to three taller. I just wanted to, im kind of assuming, in that all of you have at the chance to review. This but just to be sure, if anyone has a review this reports, while you just raise your hand . I assume you have, so i dont expect any want to raise your. Handed means you will have. Okay. Do any of you disagree with the recommendations in the probe ports if implemented, that the recommendations that they have, if implemented, could meaningfully improve our communications network, if you can just raise your hands if you disagree with the reports recommendation . I dont expect anyone to raise their hand. Perfect. So i, think thats good and i, appreciate the generally within the agreement when it comes to, using it as a, baseline but let me ask commission rosenberg, i know youre all focused on this issue, so be on the recommendation of this report, what more do you think should be done . Thank you, we need to update the wireless resiliency framework. The two years the gao told us that they dont know how to measure, it they dont know how and enforce it, we have work to. Do since that time weve issued for public notices, asking for comment about, it i think we should ask for comment and start fixing. It i certainly. Agree as you know, the Trump Administration is well known for undermining Civil Services and asking experts in exchange for corporate interests, and 2016 we approve the merger of tmobile and. Sprint and weather expert agnosticism was ignored, and i publicly side im concerned about these allegations. So again, commissioner you voted against this merger, and raise concerns about the process, would you mind explaining your process concerns a little bit . Sure. This is the largest merger of Wireless Companies in early nations industry. We are all gonna pay more for our wireless bills as a result. And here is the problem, before we even had any engineering, legal, or Economic Analysis before, us the majority of our commissioner announced that it was going to supported. And then the department of justice reorganize the entire transaction, they took a lot of meetings on, it but they deny the public the ability to actually come in, and comment about. It and then we wrote the original draft from our export stuff, from front to back, on major competition issues. On this committee, i think you should ask, for a copy of that original draft, because there are such glaring differences between eight, and what we should publicly. And i think that sunlight is the best disinfectant. Congress courts should know what was changed in. Why it was certainly follow up on that. But let me follow commissioner stark on this, you have some process concerns related to this merger can you elaborate as well . Thank you mister chairman, in particular with regards to watch and the largest investigations to the lifeline investigations ever, i said that we should pause all review of the transaction, actually study what happened, but the investigation run its course, in particular as a former enforcer official, i wanted to know more before we allow the transaction to go. Forward as it turns, out there wasnt wall street journal article just yesterday, that was published, that says that more investigations were down to spread. And so, it certainly confirms that there needed to be more time, or investigations went forward. One of the things that i would highlight for you is, when youre talking about enforcement action like, that there really only two phases, with the first one is going to be a claw. Back because the u. S. Government must be made hall. And so, for whatever, improper and knowledgeable lifeline recipients,s received money for, all that money should come back. The second phase, is going to be a penalty phase. Previously we have a should penalties, where there are improprieties for the lifeline fund. Ill expect significant action on both. Fronts thank you mister. Gentleman s time is expired law thank you mister chairman, i thank you for commissioners in chairman for being here today. I want to start by thanking you all for your work, on helping us and Illegal Robocalls, we passed the house yesterday, and its a significant milestone. I also want to thank you for next weeks anticipated action around nine eight eight, mister chairman you, highlighted that in your opening comments, i commend you for that. For a National Suicide hotline, unfortunately montana has the highest suicide right in the country, with about 164,000 montanans that have some sort of Mental Health condition. Unfortunately, Mental Health care is not available to many montanans, in fact more than 600,000 montanans had of a population of just over 1 million, 60 , live in an area where there is a shortage of a Mental Health professionals. Ideally, everyone would have access to preventative Mental Health care, but montanans know how difficult this is to achieve in a world corrals communities, as we work to expand Teller Health services to let montanans have health to critical care. This crisis to Mental Health care as to why this nine it is so important, so thank you for your anticipated auction. Commissioner car, i wanna thank you for coming to montana, and seeing forced hand the challenges we face, and i mentioned while you are there, commanding you well over 30 states, around the country, are cell phone coverage is actually the worst youve experienced anywhere in the country, so i appreciate you coming fuel some of the pain with us. And i appreciate the commissioners action and improving our maps, which is forward to fixing that problem. It mapping religious sleigh shun a lot of an fusses has been put on workable challenge process, to correct some of these mistakes. Can you just talk a little bit about why a challenge is so important to making sound mexico decisions . Thank you congressman, thank you for your leadership. I mentioned idea the dry from missouri to false. I had zero bars the entire way, so i was talking to one of my fcc colleagues for the whole time. The mechanism has to be right, because we have to make sure that no matter what community are and, you are see the investments needed to give you connectivity, weather to your point Mental Health services, or youre working on an initiative that lets people tell a, work work from home. Lets bring a lot of economic boost to rural column unities where people want to. Live connectivity makes a big difference is. Well what a challenger validation process improve the accuracy of the maps . We absolutely have a mechanism in place where you are not sending money where the private sector is already on its own, building out to sustain those bills without. Funding okay, thank. You, chairman pie, i want to thank you for listening to my concerns, around the best way to repurposed a cbs, and i applaud your announcement, moving forward at a public option, as we continue to move forward on clearing other mid bands spectrum for 5g, id like to raise my concerns, and this has been raised by other members, i want to add my voice, here that make sure incumbents are on the. Table particularly electric utilities, and railroads, that are currently working some of the spectrum, can you comment that they will have a seat at the table . And priscilla congressman they. Will okay. Ranking member walden raised an issue earlier, with recent fcc and pergram proposes a definition of urban, for a population of 2500, the beauty of standard is up we have so many of. Them we operate in an agricultural state, farm bell is piece of legislation that, affects all of our agricultural producers, in the farm bill the definition of rural, as 50, 000, people can we sink these two so that we dont have multiple standards . Im hearing concern from back home with us the really low bar of 25 population that this would exclude maybe communities, from the back hall, in the resale that they need under this curriculum. Can we just think it up with the farm bill and make it 50 . Thousand congressman, in regards to that issue when i come to god rural town, but then going to places like wisdom incentive nations, i understand how rural it is. So i understand there is an important fight priority for the ftc but all federal agencies to have this is closer. Impossible without a yield. Back gentleman yields back. Chairman now recognizes mr. Cardenas for five minutes. Thank you very much mister chairman, i appreciate very much all of your service to the people of our can gauge great country and the tremendous responsibilities on her shoulders, and i want to start off by applauding you, as i get into some different. Questions as americans continue to depend on technology more and more everyday, the decisions you make regarding our Public Airways to have an incredible impact to shape our lives. Several of our colleagues sent a letter in october, in support of the probe lick option to see ben spectrum to help the americans develop 5g technologies. I was really glad to receive your response a couple of weeks ago, and now the commission is proceeding with the public auction to give the people the transparency and accountability they deserve, increase such a crucial process to help maintain american standing as a Global Leader in innovation and technology. I also applaud the commissions continued efforts and the highlights in spectrum arena, to make more room for wifi needs so that we can continue to close the whole more gap, and on business and streamer favorite entertainment. Id like to pivot to a different cop topic. Now over a year ago the fcc unanimously approved a hearing designation order in the sinclair tribune merger. And that documents, the commissioner stated quote, there is substantial and material questions of fact, as to whether sinclair affirmatively represented material facts, with the intent to consummate this transaction, without fully complying with a broadcast monitored ship rules. And quote. Earlier this year the fccs administrator stated in her ruling that, quote, honestly the foundational requirement is license. And quotes. And she referred to section 1. 1 seven of the fcc rules when she wrote quote, mandates that the fcc deal truthfully with the agency, not only by reframing for misrepresenting information, but also by not omitting material information, that is necessary to prevent any material factual sex statement, that is made from being incorrect, and misleading and quotes. And then five months ago, it was reported in the media bureau started investigation into sinclair. My colleagues and i would be happy to know more about this investigation, but i want to focus on the administrative lost said. That, honestly before the agency is foundational, to holding the broadcast license. This is important as broadcast license reviews to start next, year in the public should be aware, and have all the information about broadcasters, that weve house public airwaves. To my first question to you chairman pie, if you could please give me a short answer, to you believe that lie into the agency the fcc, is a serious . Issue yes. Thank you. And yes or no, do you both agree whether the Administrative Law judge that honestly is the foundational to hold a . License yes. Thank you. Do you believe an entity that has led to the agency should be held accountable . If theyve lied. Yes consistent with longer regulation. Yes should an entity that has lied to the agency be eligible to hold a license . Sorry can you repeat that . Should an entity that has lied to the agency be eligible to hold a license . If they havent fight light . Or recently etc . If its material to the holding of a license, yes. Okay thank you. Pretty straightforward questions, youre not evading im just saying i just want to be, clear. Thats why asked for clarification. Thank you very. Much commissioner rosen will, do you agree . Where those questions and answers . Im not entirely sure if the chairman said if they are dishonest, showed a certain poll be able to hold the license. Thank you for that clarification. So for example, as many entities that hold licenses, they have an application in 2000, 18 or 16, or 17 and for some reason, they materially, it was found that they materially allied to the fcc, and they hold licenses, and for example they are up for relicense he it, central renewal should that be a material fact . Whether or not they have the integrity and should be given the responsibility to hold those licensees as well . Well congressman its obvious based sport particular inquiry all reiterate what i said, honesty good, dishonesty bad. Its pretty simple. And bad meaning that is a trust that they have by being howling a license . And therefore, i threw bun bad actors to the degree that theyve actually lie to the organization upstairs that eyes license upon, the than perhaps they should not be given that opportunity again . Congressman i think ive been clearer than most of my predecessors the, candor before the commission is a serious value that we share, and this commissioner challenges as well. Finger thank you i yield. Back on the chair now recognizes mr. Flores for five minutes. Thank you madam chair, and i also want to thank the commissioner for your services in being there. Today chairman pilot me start with you i, think its important and as ive discussed before for intelligence auto safety on the and pr rim would regard to 6. 9 seaview to our acts, and for gsr i do have some concerns from the transformation industry about the drc future and a Significant Research thats been put into this technology so far. Two quick questions on that, the npr im scented con meg gras hertz spectrum for drc, do we have the summit that it would be enough to show this Adequate Research for the standard was the fact that the japanese and others have allocated part of megahertz part of it also involves making sure we have enough where the most of a automakers have shifted their focus, thats one of the reasons i wanted to make sure that we have an open conversation about the ten megahertz portion, to lick anyone know that the case is based on the merits not based on a particular appeal. And i understand that both the fcc and the and age tea see a were enough three face process with access devices and yes or see, how do you now that provided to to the mix how do you see the process evolving . Carson grossman this is part of why my colleagues have said, that this approach is the right one for the automotive safety. Under the Previous Administration a framework the our star she would be sharing the megahertz license and extensive testing would be required over use cases by separating the two with, automotive safety, on one hand, and then a separate part, on that we can avoid the problems are expensive testing would require. You dont need extensive testing to have an exclusive home in the bend. So our hope is that this removes in certain deadly, removing those technologies to be developed to put into use for American Consumers. This is public resource devoted to automate of safety and thats why my colleagues would agree that the steps we are poised, to take next i, believe truly would be the biggest benefit for automotive safety consumers have seen in history. I appreciate your feedback and i also appreciate how thoughtful youve been to putting this out for the public to look at, a look forward to seeing what the comments are in this regard. Shifting gears, commissioner you or reilly you supported comments in the past about modernizing the merger views of the fcc into mueller efficiently applications, i plan on reintroducing legislation to codify the us sissi. Current practice of using 180day shot clock for the commission to consider merger application, this common sense provision would give more certainty to the industry and consumers, can you speak to the importance of having a most important review process . I believe whatever decision we come to should be and done in a timely manner. The time that we spend in these transactions goal lengthy is, the money thats being spent on, lawyers and bankers, and not in terms of deployments, and facilities, and networks, and services, and thats a problem. We can speed up our, process thats one thing that you have to behave it openended timeframe, the chairman has done a wonderful job compared to. The pass theres also room to improve anything that congress can do to helpful to that will be very helpful. Thats helpful feedback. Are there any other lessons the fcc learned that we should be aware of . As we consider legislation to this to codify the shot clock 80 days . I think the shot clock is going to be applied in many different situations not just merger transactions, i actually have a number of different ideas on how to improve. I look forward to working a deal on. That i yield back the balance of my time. The gentleman yields, back chair recognizes miss clark for five. Minutes thank you mister chairman i think our Ranking Member and i think all of our commissioners for your presentations before us. Today id like to start with the idea that its every citizen in our nation regardless of income, or race, or national origin, their gender, have to be concerned about in the, next couple of weeks, actually, and that is the 2020 census. For the first time in the enumeration of our nation, we are going to be doing this. Online and i want to start with you commissioner, rosen war sun, during our visit to our district, and are just a caution on your podcast, we visited the topic a few times, but the first time, broadband deserts, have taken on another dynamic or dimension. One of our basic rights, true and fundamental to our democracy, is part of representation, thats because for the very first time again, will conducting this primarily online. However we know that millions of people are at risk of being undercounted because they lack access to the internet and many communities across this nation even without that dynamic so miss question is, do you see risk in this approach and, what can we had to be doing to make sure that everyone is counted . Commissioner . We all know sitting at this table that we had from broadband deserts indigent in america. Now we have a constitutional duty and, the administration will have decided that its digital forest, and theyre going to tell everyone to respond online, were hiring 125,000 fewer people to knock on doors, i will tell you right now im worried we are not going to be wary to count people who are on the wrong side of the Digital Divide both in Rural America and urban america. And it will have constitutional consequences. And i think this constitution has to help, and i think that this commission has to health the department of commerce to take sure we got it in the next ten years we have to get it right. I thank you for that and i hope that we are focused on this because indeed, we get one shot and it happens once every ten years. Commissioner i am concerned that the fcc, is not complying with the existing law, specifically it has not followed the statutory mandate, to collect equal opportunity Employment Data for, cavil cable operators. Even though the recently sought comment on the enforcement it has made no moves to implement the law. Can you describe this decision and which steps the fcc should taken to remedy this longstanding failure to come by reply . Thank you for the question, vice chair clark. From behind the camera to the front of the camera to, whom makes decisions of what local news really looks, like i believe diversity is imperative, that we solve this issue, we have a statutory duty, to collect this information, from our broadcasters and we have fallen down. On the duty i have requested that we specifically satisfy that. And there are constitutional questions that i have been raised. I figured i would take on those constitutional questions, i thought it would be part of the comet there period. Im frustrated that people have constitutional issues by asking the constitutional questions. That really cannot be the quick the case so no im eager that the economic period has ended, that we move forward quickly to make sure that resounds farai our obligations. Absolutely. And as cochair, i understand that importance be mid band spectrum. As being held of this the goldilocks of frequencies, and that vein i have some quick question for each commissioner, and answers a course or yes or no. With regards to the relationship between 5g and see ben spending, would you agree that yes. All three bands are going to be important. Yes. If cnn spectrum is not made available as soon as possible while, the u. S. Fall behind china . Congresswoman we are not behind china in terms of 5g, i said if its not made available soon, will be fun behind china . We could, yes. Yes. No i dont think we would we were in leadership. If its not done soon, could be fall further behind . China china is not going to be beat us and 5g. Thats aspirational i love that about. You im going to disagree with my colleague over, here we are falling behind the rest of the world world where will arresting on her 4g. Laurels mid band love spectrum is one of the ways to. Fix it yes and we need to move as quickly as possible. I appreciate your answers and i yield back mr. Chairman the chair would request unanimous consent to waive miss plants rochester into the committee. Without objection and now the chair recognizes mr. Blunt rochester for five minutes. Thank you so much mister chairman, and thank you to the commissioner. Sorry i wasnt able to be here at the beginning of this really important hearing, i was in another subcommittee on Climate Change, disgusting building 100 percent clean a comedy, and its very pivotal and tied to what you are talking about here, and the work youre doing. I also want to gotten permission to start future word on a bipartisan protests in caucus in the congress its one of those issues that we have to come together on, again your work is pivotal here. I want to thank you for that for your service, also just to say how incredibly important it is to my colleagues to understand the decisions that you made, and the strategy as it evolves involves americans and the economy. Like most of my colleagues probably today, theyve brought up the issue of broadband axis, just like miss clark did, and i am concerned that some of the actions that you have taken having courage that some that we are dealing with Broadband Access, but im also concerned that we are not as far as we need to be, and i specifically wanted to share an issue thats personal for me, and delaware the coverage maps the current coverage map suggests that the entire state of delaware has at least one provider that provides at least one megabits per second yet for my personal experience up and down that states whether, its in mice farms, in the city we have patches where there is no access. So this is a priority. And while i appreciate the willingness to adopt a shape violent approach to resolve some of these issues, it seems not as precise, priests particularly when youre measuring through census tracks, and for a small state like delaware that has great impact. I wanted to think ask you a question, about the sort of the rejection of the proposal to utilize our location fabric, approach which is more granular, i understand, and also have bipartisan support, was endorsed i think two weeks ago, under can you. Ill start with commissioner, pie can you share why the fcc rejected that proposal . That wouldve been a little more, provided more realistic . Coverage it i appreciate the concern, ive seen that for myself, in a recent silly trip to delaware. In the rural parts of delaware, and in the urbans as well, its one of the reasons were focused on more accurate data. On regards to the question that you, raised im proud that the agency has a bipartisan voice when it adopted a new Digital Opportunity upgraded the system, weve included a shape file but also crowd servicing, to understand where from consumers where they live, where access is, where it is not, so we have more importance data driven decisions. There are a lot of things that make the decision very complicated, but at the end of the day we want to understand that for not just from providers reform consumers we can get as many granulars as we can, and we are making sure that people understand the challenges that are out there. I won also turn to commissioner rosenberg, to just get your interpretation of this as well, i have many technical things to ask you on this page, peoples eyes will deliver is over, but bottom line id like to get your perspective. I know what you mean about eyes glazing. Over regard or get our most accurate data possible. Thats the bottom line. So if were going to start with shape files great, but if we can improve it with a broadband location fabric, thats where were going to need to go next. And i would point out that this committee, and this broadband data act, include both. Thats important. Just as important is are we get a perspective of people driving up and down the roads of delaware, to tell us where they get bars, tell us where they dont get service. Were gonna bring car outsourced crowd sir saying and Public Knowledge to improve on this level. Commissioner. Stark i agree as well, youre right on the issue of census tracks, i think that was a tremendous problem, we needed as granular responsible is told, ive also been someone that set for our maps, share files are good place to start, getting more granular at the address levels, people actually live at their addresses, and we need to make sure that were getting it as detailed as possible, so we can advocate for activity the people need. To the other commissioners gentle ladys time is expired i will hear from you following but thank you so much for a work. I thank the gentlelady. No more members have ready to testify, the chairman asks to enter the following to the record a letter said to me by chairman pie, a letter from this moron, a letter from the ultra wide a, letter to the fcc a letter from this Public Safety railroads in public railroads, and a statement from the statement consul. Without objection so ordered. I want to thank the witnesses for participation in todays hearings. I remind all members that they have ten members to submit the questions, i asked the witnesses to respond promptly to respond to any questions they might receive, and i want to wish all the members of the commissioner happy holiday season. And to all a hoppy holidays. The committees adjourned. [inaudible conversations]