With media organizations from the early caucus and primary states are sponsoring this forum and following the live forum, you can provide your input by joining our callin program and adding comments on facebook and twieter on cspan, cspan radio and cspan. Org. On tuesday federal Communications Chair tom wheeler and commissioner aji pay testified before the communications and technology. They discussed rural access to broadband and over the top Video Services. This is almost three hours. Well call to order the subcommittee communications and technology and i want to welcome everyone here today and wish a very good morning to chairman wheeler and commissioner pay, delighted to have you back before the subcommittee again this year. We appreciate the work youre doing at the fcc and i look forward to your testimony and our opportunities to pursue some issues. At the risk of sounding a bit like a broken record, however i continue to be concerned with the commissionys failure to adhere to sound, regulatory process. For the nearly five years that ive had the opportunity to chair this subcommittee you all know ive consistently pushed to make the fcc a better, more Transparent Agency and it seems like the chasm between commissioners deepens over time. When the committee considered process reform legislation a few months ago id hoped we had reached the bottom of the well that it would find its way to the honest policy debates and compromises that characterized it since 1934. Unfortunately, that appears not to be the case and if commissioner pays testimony is any indication things might actually be getting worse at the commission and thats disappointing, to say the least. With all thats going on at the commission and in the world of communications we have much ground to cover in todays hearing which likely will neyes is tate a second round of questioning. Let me highlight five yearareas of policy concern that i and other members have. First, the auction. For a successful auction we all know the sellers and buyers need to fully understand and support the rules, yet when it comes to the band plan questions and uncertainty still abound. Layered on top is growing concern regarding how the repack will work including as it relates to the future of lowpowered television stations and translators. It was never our intent that these Diverse Voices in the marketplace would get fully silenced and then there are the issues of potential interference that have come up which as we all know went mishandled can doom an auction as has occurred in the past. Second, the fccs action on the designated issue raises concern for us and the changes will strengthen the integrity of the program, a goal we all share, sadly, they simply replace one set of set of rules that were gamed with a new set yet to be gamed. The commissions new rules remove the obligation to provide facilities based service and permit leasing 100 of the spectrum purchased. That sets the stage for arbitrager financed by taxpayer dollars to participate in the next spectrum auction bringing nothing to the competitive market. Chairmans advocacy for this outcome is puzzling given the assurances that the changes would protect the program from, quote unquote, slick lawyers taking advantage of loopholes in the program to unjustly enrich their sophisticated clientele. Third, telephone Consumer Protection act. My colleague from new mexico and i have had serious bipartisan discussions about the approach the fcc is taken as it relates to the fundamental nature of democracy in america and Practical Communications in a wireless age. Beyond that members of this subcommittee are just beginning to hear from adversely effected users about the disruption this new ruling will have on a variety of companies and the consumers they try to serve. Fourth expansion of the Lifeline Program. All one has to do is read todays story in politico regarding the problems over at the department of agricultures Rural Utility Service to understand why its so essential. Before any agency moves to spend money it should have tight control and a budget. Unfortunately for rate payers in a Party Line Vote the fcc rushed forward to expand into broadband with little reform and no limit on the spending. Fifth, amid this swirl of controversy that continues to surround the actions the Commission Takes let us not lose sight of what is not getting done. For example, the am revitalization proceeding described by some as grinding to a halt. Despite the chairmans assurances to this subcommittee. The quad ren yal review of ownerships of broadcast properties continues to languish in open violation of the commissions legal obligation. Let me close with this each member of the commission is very bright talented and clearly passionate. And yet as evidenced by recent Public Comments of commissioner riley and testimony today of commissioner pai, its believed their not included in meaningful and substantial way. And stakeholders feel shutout altogether. The commission and all of us work through the complicated issues in todays rapidly evolve evolving communications world. On a final note on the good side of things if you have the background i have, pleased to note that at t today announced that they are reached an agreement to allow fm chips in cell phones making at least the second carrier to do so. And we hope that other carriers will follow suit. With that i have used up my time and turn to the jegentle lady from california. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Good morning chairman wheeler, commissioner pai, welcome back to the committee. Were happy to see you. And as i said we welcome you back. Todays hearing marks the chairmans third appearance before our subcommittee in just over four months. In fact, the Congressional Research service tells me that the chairmans eight appearances before congress this year marks a new record. So congratulations, mr. Chairman. Put that one up on your wall. In the past 14 years in the past 14 years no fcc chair has testified more times before congress in a single calendar year. And of course were only in the seventh month of 2015. It is our subcommittees responsibility to conduct robust oversight. And in so doing we should hear regularly from the chairman and his fellow commissioners. Responsible oversight includes a recognition that the fcc, and i think that we should be doing this. I mean there are many things to raise that are legitimate at least in the minds of those that raise them. But we should include a recognition that the fcc has undertaken an unprecedented series of steps to promote competition, enhance Public Safety and ensure that consumers are protected against deceptive or misleading billing practices. Here are a few highlights of the commissions work over the past year. Modernize the Erate Program to increase the presence of wifi in classrooms and bolster higher capacity Internet Connections to the anchor institutions across the country, schools and libraries. Raised a record 44. 9 billion, with a b, from the aws auction. Repeal the outdated and anticonsumer sports blackout rules which for four decades, 40 years, prevented fans from watching games on television when they were not sold out. I think there are a lot of people in the country that are really thrilled about that. Launched a new Consumer Help Center to streamline the complaint process and improve how consumers interact with the fcc. At this point, mr. Chairman, i would like unanimous consent to place in the record a terrific article from forbes entitled how the fcc saved me 1800. If you havent read it, everyone should. Without objection. Thank you. Freed up 150 megahertz of spectrum for mobile broadband. Established indoor location accuracy rules for wireless calls made to 911. That could be a life saving step right there. Adopted bright line rules that prevent broadband providers from engaging blocking, throttling and paid prioritization. Leveed fine against a Major Telecommunications provider for misleading consumers about their unlimited data plans. Preempted state laws in tennessee and North Carolina that prevented local communities from deploying broadband which they want to do across the country. All of this and more in just one year. And theres much more ahead as the fcc prepares to undertake the worlds first voluntary inventive auction in a Technology Transition to an allip world that preserves the core values of competition, Public Safety and Consumer Protection. So i thank both the chairman and the commissioner for your continuing commitment to a modern telecommunications marketplace. And i yield the remainder of my time to the gentleman from vermont, mr. Welch. Thank you very much. Welcome, chairman wheeler and commissioner pai. Really appreciate the work youre doing. Just a couple of points. Im very encouraged by the Tech Transitions progress that youve been making. That is going to be very helpful to many more businesses that need efficiencies. Its going to be helpful to consumers. I hope you dont stop there. One of my main concerns, i know concern of many of us is to have competition as much as possible in this area. We really do believe that that leads to innovation. And better prices for the consumers. So the special ak sesccess issues continue of top concern to me. And finally i would like to remind you of the Bipartisan Working Group that we have set up. Because theres so many of us, even if we represent urban areas that have rural districts that have special problems and oftentimes arent the big markets. We want to continue to work with the entire commission to try to make certain that the Rural Service is there and will be there and will be the highest quality. Thank you very much. And i yield back the balance of my time. Gentleman yields back. Chair recognizes gentle lady from tennessee, ms. Blackburn. Thank you, mr. Chairman. And i want to welcome you both. We appreciate that you are here. I will say i disagree with my colleague from california as she talked about tennessee. We saw that as stepping on states rights mr. Chairman. And you know that you and i disagree on that. I am pleased yall are here. Im sure youve read the oped in todays paper by each of your predecessors predecessors, getting spectrum to the marketplace is where we need to have our focus. And rather than getting off into all these tan issues, the focus should be the core of your mission, dealing with spectrum deployment and usage. And when you look at the expected increase in the wireless arena, it draws more attention to this. You know, i was thinking as i was prepareing for this hearing. When you go back and look at the industrial revolutions that we have had in this country, looking at the agricultural and the industrial mechanization revolutions, when you look at Technology Information we are almost at a point of being able to say there is this wireless revolution that is going on because business transactions, health care, so many things are going to depend on this spectrum. And we want to make certain that you are focused on this. So we welcome you. We know that we have to be diligent in this. We look at what south korea is already talking about doing. South korea and japan and the fiveg and recapturing the momentum that at one point they had. And we dont want them to be the world leader. We want to be the world leader. And weve got to have you work with us on this. At this time i yield the balance of my time to mr. Latta. Well thank you very much. I thank the gentle lady for yielding. And i want to thank chairman wheeler and commissioner pai for being with us again. Its great to see you both. I look forward to your statements and also to our questions today. The communications and Technology Industry is a very productive and dynamic sector of our economy. This is largely due to bright Innovative Minds and in part because this industry has been widely regulated with the ability to grow and evolve to the demands of the consumers. Therefore we cannot afford to overlook the significance of the regulatory policies and how the fccs decision impact the industrys success. This is why im concerned with many of the actions and propose emerging the fcc and general act of transparency of efficiency and accountability at the agency. I hope todays hearing will provide us with an opportunity to discuss in more detail the commissions policies decisions and processes. And i thank the gentle lady for yielding. I yield back. Yield back my time. Chair recognizes gentleman from new jersey, mr. Bloan, for five. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you to commissioner wheeler and commissioner pai for coming back here today. I know its been a busy few months since you last testified before this subcommittee. I appreciate your willingness to come and give us an update. Im grateful for this opportunity here from chairman wheeler about how hes addressing the democratic members of the subcommittee, many of which shared by our republican colleagues our members are champions from improving universal access to broadband and many underserved rural areas of our country and also tireless advocates for rights of residents of our vast tribal lands. And too often those living on tribal lands are unfairly left on the wrong side of the divisional divide. I hope the fcc can improve deployment to these areas with the economics alone are not enough. Our members have also been devoted to improving Public Safety communications. This is especially meaningful for those of us areas impacted by disasters like Hurricane Sandy who believe everyone should be able to call for help in an emergency. We hope to make our vision into a reality. Our members also share chairman wheelers commitment to competition. Thats why we led the charge to overhaul the fccs designated Entity Program under the new rules that the fcc recently adopted the Program Encourages robust participation from bona fide Small Businesses while allowing innovative Business Models more in line with todays dynamic wireless market. And weve also stood with our Ranking Member in her battle to free up more spectrum for unlicensed use. These air waves can lower barriers to entry and allow for more vigorous competition. And finally i hope to learn more about what the commission can do to support our work to protect consumers. For instance, i know several members of the subcommittee have been focused on the fccs recent actions to address robo calls. We all agree more needs to be done to crackdown on unwanted commercial calls and hope to hear what the commission can do to address the issues our members have raised. I like to yield one minute each of the time well, i guess a minute and a half to mr. Doyle and then a minute and a half to ms. Matsui. Thank you, mr. Chairman for holding this hearing and commissioner wheeler and commissioner pai thank you both for being here today. Mr. Chairman, id like to recognize the accomplishments of the commission and of this chairman. Since tom wheeler erer took over as chairman, the fcc has done much to advance our Telecommunications Agenda from establishing the fccs open Internet Order to keeping the incentive action on track, updating the Lifeline Program for the internet age and steep fines to Telecommunication Companies that abuse consumers. I also want to commend the chairman for advancing a procompetitive agenda both in wire line and wireless service. The commissions upcoming vote on Tech Transitions, action on special access and the establishment of the spectrum reserve in the incentive auction are all important steps towards preserving and promoting competition. Mr. Chairman, keep up the good work. Thank you. And ill yield to our colleague ms. Matsui. Thank you very much for yielding to me. Welcome back chairman wheeler and commissioner pai. Its great to see you again. I know you have a busy agenda and i want to briefly highlight two priorities i know were all interested in. The first is making more spectrum available. Spectrum is our nations invisible infrastructure of the 21st century. Its critical to keep our wireless economy growing. We need to talk about how to put more spectrum into the pipeline so we can continue to meet the demand. Congressman guthrie and i have a bipartisan bill to create new incentives for federal users. We need to continue to explore these solutions. The second is making Broadband Access more affordable. Millions of americans are still on the wrong side of the Digital Divide. The Lifeline Program can and should help these americans get and stay connected. I know the fcc has started work on these very important reforms, but we need to finish the job. I look forward to working with the whole commission as we talk about these matters. And hopefully make progress on this. And i yield back the balance of my time. Thank you. Gentle lady yields back. The gentleman yields back. And i think all time is now expired. So now we go to our two distinguished witnesses chairman of the federal communications commission, were really delighted because we have you a lolt and thats a good thing. We welcome you and commissioner pai. But mr. Wheeler why dont you go ahead and lead off. Its a modern technology thing. Im tempted to make a comment about the National Champion of appearances before, but we could arrange that. I wouldnt want to go down that route. But in the ten weeks in all serious