[captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] good morning, everyone. Welcome to the first Budget Hearing of the Senate Appropriations committee of justice, science and related agencies for fiscal year 2021. Today we have the honor of hearing from wilbur ross about the president s Funding Priorities for the department of commergs. Welcome, secretary ross, thank you for your appearance, we look forward to hearing from you this morning. As we know the department of commerce executes a broad range of critical activities for our nation, things that are important for every american. Things that are important to us as members of the senate and issues we care a lot about. Research and development, cutting edge technology, predicting the weather, increasing trade and investment, recruiting businesses to our communities. The census has been a significant component of the departments business for the last several years. The president s f. Y. 2021 request is 8 billion which is 6. 7 billion below the f. Y. 2020 enacted level, which represents a 44 decrease in the departments overall budget. While this is a large decrease on paper, much of it is due in large part to the planned ramp down of the funding of the 2020 census. That said, i am troubled by some of the proposed cuts to core programs that are overshadowed by the magny thifed reduction to the Census Bureau. While this is a budge hearing about fiscal year 2021, we cannot overlook that in under a month, the department, through the bureau of census, will be receiving millions of responses from the public for the desenall census. We have provide funding to ensure resources are available for a time and accurate census and i encourage everyone to fill out their forms. I am pleased to see it will increase investments for fish in initiatives to main the United States position as a leader in innovation but i believe we must also recognize that 90 of the nations Innovation Sector growth occurs in five metropolitan area, all of which are located on the coast. This underscores the importance of continued funding for the departments nationwide Economic Development programs which will allow us to expand the geographic extent of all innovation economies, of the innovation economy and capitalize on the potential for all regions of the country. The budget the departments Budget Proposal also includes a 25 million increase to prepare ntia for testing new Wireless Networks and advancing Spectrum Management can is an important component of us, the United States, winning the 5g race. However, i believe its almost however, i believe we must also not forget concerns from communities across the country who are not able to fully access broadband because theyre underserved or unserve. Im interested to hear how the departments proposed investments will address this issue as part of the budget request. Mr. Secretary, i applaud you and others in the administration for recent tridrelated achievements including the United Statesmexicocanada agreement and the phase one trade deal with china. These deals are critical for restoring and stabilizing markets for american exports, which are the lifeblood of the kansas economy. We are an export state and these issues matter greatly to me. Though the departments f. Y. 2021 budget does not include requests related to these agreements i would like to hear what role if any the department will have in regard to supporting the trade agreements i just mentioned and trade agreements still contemplated. The tariff process is a large component of the f. Y. 2021 trade budget. In light of the Inspector General management alert which details several concerns irregularities, i have renewed my concerns about the fairness and transparency of the overall execution of section 232 exclusions. It is beyond time that the department of commerce get this process right. Another way that the department significantly impacts everyday life for communities and citizens is through the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, noaa. Their programs are important to people of kansas and we regularly experience weather events and water events. Im pleased the f. Y. 2021 request includes funding for noaas satellite bus im disappointed theres no funding for its core Operational Assets including its fleet of aircraft. These are unquestionably critical for addressing the needs of our nation. Currently the department has a people problem. The vacancy rate and time it takes to hire across the bureaus has become problem mat ig. E. D. A. Has filled only 24 of 55 position, 44 , that are responsible for overseeing and executing the nearly 1. 2 billion that e. D. A. Received in f. Y. 2018 and 2019 for disaster relief. Within the office of Office Inside noaa responsible for managing our nations constellation of weather satellites theres a 24 vacancy with 240 vacant positions, 132 of which have been vacant for two years. We must ensure the department is sufficiently staffed and im interested to hear what you have to say in that regard. I thank you for being here, preert the relationship we have and i look forward to hearing your views on these and other matters in todays hearing. I now turn to my colleague and friend, the senator from New Hampshire, senator shaheen, for opening remarks. Senator shaheen thank you, mr. Chairman. Good morning, mr. Secretary, were glad you could join us this year. As senator moran indicated, the budget is really about our priorities and where the department puts its priorities. And so if we look at this budget what does it say about the priorities of this administration . The major increase in this budget is for the office of the secretary. 35 million or 58 . At the same time, the budget cuts Scientific Research and development at the National Institutes of standards and technology by 14 , overall it cuts the department by 30 . At the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration by 40 . The research provided by these agencies leads to innovation that fuels american technological leadership. The budget eliminates more than half a billion dollars in noaa Grant Programs, critical to helping communities understand and prepare for Climate Change and to support our seacoast and fisheries in New Hampshire and across the country. I was disappointed particularly to see that the budget eliminates the 10 million that the committee secured last year to help the new england fisheries which have really been devastated by the reduced catches for decades and any additional fees will drive so many of the remaining fishing operations out of business. The budget eliminates the Manufacturing Extension Partnership that helps domestic producers improve competitiveness at a time when so many of our small and mediumsized manufacturers have been hard hit by the administrations tariffs. Trade wars have cost american businesses and consumers 50 billion according to an Organization Called tariffs for the heartland including at least 111 million in New Hampshire. The budget also eliminates the Economic Development administration which funds Infrastructure Projects in communities around the country and its particularly important to maul states like New Hampshire but states also that have large rural areas that need help with development. So mr. Secretary, i have to say it feels like were in groundhog day, the movie. We have seen these same proposals decimated each year of the budget submission by this department. I understand that in the first year of the administration, given that youre looking at where your priorities want to be, but when Congress Rejects those decisions to see it submitted again and again seems to me that theres a disconnect between where we all should be going to support business and commerce in this country. On a separate topic, the 2020 desenall census begins next begins0 decennial census next week. I appreciate your commitment to say you want to get this right. This is the largest peacetime government mobilization. Its imperative that we do get it right because the census is used in congressional apportionment and directs 1. 5 trillion in federal funding. In fiscal year 2020, the committee providing 7 ppt 5 billion for the Census Bureau, sufficient to fully cover the cost of the 2020 decennial including addition a additional outreach to hard to count communities and provide a contingency if major issues arise. I look forward to getting a briefing in coming weeks from New Hampshire as theyre looking at the census in our state and i look forward to seeing how the department executes this huge challenge. I look forward to your testimony and the discussion today. Senator moran thank you, senator shaheen. Senator shelby, were honored to be joined by the chair of the full committee. Senator shelby i ask that my statement be made part of the record and i look forward to the testimony. Senator moran secretary, its time for your testimony. Mr. Ross senator moran, members of the committee, thank you for this opportunity to discuss president trumps fiscal year 2021 budget request for the u. S. Department of commerce. Its a privilege to appear before you today. We are committed to working with you to grow the u. S. Economy, defend our industries from unfair foreign competition, and protect our national security. The 2021 budget for the Commerce Department achieves these goals by providing the resources needed for successful completion ecennial census. By ensuring American Leadership in space by bolstering trade promotion, trade enforcement, and export controls. By providing for satellite acquisition and vessel recapitalization for the National Oceanographic and tmospheric administration. Generating timely Economic Data needed by businesses to analyze markets, invest in communities an hire american workers. And by supporting research, development, invention, and standards in leadingedge industries and technologies. In the short time allotted to my opening statement, i will discuss three priorities for next year. First, the Census Bureau, then space, and then trade. The request for Census Bureau for fiscal year 2021 is 1. 6 billion. Im pleased to report that with your support we are on budget, on schedule, and on track to accomplish the 2020 decennial census. Next years budget supports the important postenumeration operations for determining apportionment and the allocation of federal funding. The Commerce Departments office of space commerce is the second Priority Initiative that urgently needs funding. Hour request of 15 million advances u. S. Leadership in space as we shift responsibility for tracking tens of thousands, in fact, hundreds of thousands of pieces of space debris from the department of defense to the department of commerce. The pokes nene rble growth of commercial satellites is increasing geometrically the risk of catastrophic collisions that could generate additional debris and threaten critical space assets. The task of tracking this debris and providing accurate warnings to Space Operators was set forth in space policy directive number 3. Finally, the budget requests 474. 4 million for the International Trade administration. The i. T. A. Enables u. S. Companies and their domestic employees to compete on a Level International playing field. We seek an additional 5 million for i. T. A. s enforcement and compliance division. To keep up with the increasing number of antidumping and countervailing duty cases. Funding will also enable us to conduct additional reviews of foreign acquisitions of u. S. Companies as required by the Foreign Investment risk review modernization act, or firrma. In my time with you today we can discuss the chers departments budget request for all the bureaus, including noaa, nist, the bureau of industry and security, the u. S. Patent and Trademark Office and other agencies within the department. Thank you and on behalf of the department, ill try my best to answer any questions that you ave. Senator moran mr. Secretary, youre right, a short amount of time for a Big Department with a lot of roles and issues. Let me start my questioning concerning noaa and aircraft recapitalization. Mr. Secretary, i touched on this in my opening statement. Noaa recently provided the subcommittee with a notional plan to recapitalize its fleet of aircraft. While i recognize the president s budget doesnt include funding for that, i believe projected obs lens of noaas aircraft demand we take action to recapitalize those assets. Do you agrea that noaas fleet of aircraft are in need of recapitalization and could you elaborate what the immediate needs for aircraft are . Mr. Ross yes, mr. Chairman. Noaas aircraft recapitalization plan was published in october, 2019. And it looked at longterm recapitalization strategy and the management of current aircraft. The plan recommended noaa procure two aircraft based on the 2018 appropriation. Consistent with this plan, noaa was able to procure two additional aircraft, a gulf stream 550 and king air aircraft. Utilizing fiscal 2018 appropriations. These aircraft are essential to ensure noaa maintains the ability to plan for and respond to the nations most damaging and most deadly weather events. Agricultural security and water security. The plan also recommended the future purchase of a third aircraft. That third aircraft is being studied right now and it would have the primary missions of charting, surveying, and weather forecasting. So that was very likely to be a king air but they have not made a final decision as yet. Senator moran mr. Secretary, thank you, i would appreciate it if you or your staff would follow up with me, the subcommittee, in regard to the cost to cover that recapitalization including that additional king air mr. Ross id be delighted to, mr. Chairman. Senator moran let me turn my attention to trade. I mentioned in my opening statement, usmca and the phase one deal with china. What role will your department play in helping implement, monitor or enforce usmca and the phase one trade deal with china . And does the f. Y. 2021 request support that role . Mr. Ross let me answer the third part first, yes. The budget request does provide the funding we need for those roles. The roles we have played so far have been working very closely with ustr to help them develop the want list, the negotiating list, the product list that theyve had. Subsequently, we will be dealing with the enforcement of the rovisions that are in there. We are very confident that we have the staffing and the expertise to perform those functions and were in constant communication as between our ffice and ustr on those. Senator moran thank you. Let me pursue the section 232 excuse process. The president s budget requests an increase of 3 million within i. T. A. For section 232 exclusion process which is based off previous spending reports i take to mean the total cost to administer the process is going to be roughly 18. 5 million in f. Y. 2021. Mr. Secretary, is 18. 5 million amount that the department is that the amount the Department Needs to effectively execute this process . If not, what would you say is required . And as you know, there have been criticisms that were levied against section 232 exclusion process by the departments Inspector General in late 2019, and there are members of congress who certainly are dubious about that process. The second part of my question is would you assure us today that this process is being executed in a fair, consistent, and transparent fashion . Mr. Ross yes. Basically for the Inspector Generals comments, there were three suggestion he is made, all of which we have adopted. His instructions were well themed and we have implemented each of them. One was to make sure that any ex parte communiques were posted and made available to everybody involved. Second was to make sure that once we posted a decision it was regarded as a final decision. Those are the really two big, important parts of his of the Inspector Generals recommendation. And we have we are adhering to those. Once in a while, it does become necessary to correct an error. So thats the only deviation from regarding the posted decision as final. What causes that is the huge number of requests that we have received. 171,742we have received exclusion requests. 138,243. We posted there have been 31,381 objections filed, and thats an objection rate of about 23 . Weve processed 112,819 requests. ,011, 87,808, denied 25 and returned for improper or incomplete filings some 31,553. We have active pending cases, 27,322. Meanwhile, we have achieved a 79 decrease in the initial posting times. D we have achieved a 63 decrease in decision