However, there is more work to be done to bring Communications Policy into the future and that includes following the worlds spectrum and managing the impact on local broadcasters and building on wireless success with the next generation of mobile service known as 5g. Thats going to require new and help bring the benefits of modern communications to everyone everywhere across the country. If confirmed, i look forward to working with individuals on the table and all others at the commission and if reconfirmed i will be guided by the fundamental values and the law that i discussed can you here today and if reconfirmed, i will continue to respect the priorities of this committee. In closing, thank you chairman thune, Ranking Member nelson and i look forward to answers any questions you might have. Thank you, ms. Rosenworcel. Im humbled by president trumps decision to nominate to receiver as commissioner at the fcc and im honored to have this committee to consider the nomination. I want to start by thanking you and your staff for the courtesies youve shown me and the chance to meet with you has given me the unt to learn more about the telecom and Communications Issues that are important to you and your states. These meetings have only underscored the Important Role the fcc plays in the live of millions of americans, broadband deployment, protecting consumers or advancing public safety. With the committees indulgence i would like to take a moment to introduce my family, my wife michaela and twins and emma. I want to introduce my parents, his first job in washington, d. C. Was to work as mail sorter so hes really glad to get the chance to come back. [laughter] i also want to congratulate chairman pai and rosen weapon worcel. I rosenworcel. I currently have the privilege of serving as the General Council of the fcc. Its not the first job ive had at the agency, however, ive joined the commission as staffer during the obama administration. I worked in the office of general counsel. I then had the chance to work on some of the same issues with commissioner pai my passion for technology started well before i joined the agency. In fact, i went to law school 15 years ago now specifically for the purpose of studying Telecommunications Law and policy. After graduating i worked in a law firm and accepted a clerkship with a judge which helped spark my interest in Public Service. Now, looking back i learned a lot in the past dozen years working in communications. Ive come to know and admire the fcc staff. They are passionate about delivering for the Public Interest. Ive come to understand the importance of bipartisan consensus and working towards Common Ground and if confirmed, i will certainly work in that spirit as a commissioner. I want to talk briefly about the focus i bring to the commission if confirmed. First, we have a tremendous opportunity in Telecom Space to create jobs, to spur investment and to grow the economy for the benefit of all americans. I believe the fccs policies should do just that. Broadband is certainly going to play a key role whether its high speed connections, infrastructure and the businesses that use those connections to reach customers around the world. Broadband can harness the talents of all americans, it can create goodpaying jobs and help drive our nations economic growth. Second, we must maintain the United States leadership in wireless as 5g and other advance and Competitive Networks come online. Spectrum and infrastructure are going to be two key pieces of that, whether thats in connecting every american or the expanding internet of things. And finally, the fcc must always know public safety. This includes speeding transition of next generation 911 ensuring that our First Responders have the Communications Technologies they need to do their jobs. So in closing, i want to thank the committee again for taking the time to consider my nomination. I look forward to answering your questions. Thank you, mr. Carr. Im going to start off because we are going to have a vote coming here quickly and republicans are all invited to the white house for a noon meeting, so we are going to try to wrap this up. If everybody can be respectful of everybodys time, whether he try to move this along. I know each of you appreciates the importance of fcc and congress. A. No, sir nevertheless that gives us opportunity and if confirmed, solid, and thorough responses. Yes. Yes. Yes. To the panel in every broadband report the Commission State that had broadband is not being deployed to all americans in a reasonable and timely fashion while also noting disparity of broadband between urban and rural areas, nonetheless many providers in parts of america have seen funding for their project cut repeatedly and fcc to ensure broadband is made available to rural areas but by own accounts fcc has failed to do so. To each of you i would ask, will you commit to conducting thorough Economic Analysis of the impact of these cuts on broadband deployment in rural areas before allowing any further reduction in the percentage of recovery for highcost areas . Yes. Yes. Yes. Thank you. Chairman, pai, you have proposed an fcc inquiry to evaluate new uses, how can congress support the fccs efforts to bring spectrum forward for commercial use in timely fashion and what issues fcc thinks will need to be addressed to make this happen . Thanks for the question, chairman, you highlighted one of the key areas that have been dormant in fcc. Pursuant to your letter, we took a look and we thought this is right for notice of inquiry, recently i propose today my colleagues, we will be voting on soon notice of inquiry that would tee up a variety of broadbands and if particular the 3 dot band and we are hopeful that the bands in particular will generate substantial Public Comment and we would be able to maintain u. S. Leadership in spectrum policy by figuring out which areas are possible for licensing innovation Going Forward. In terms of committees efforts, we would like to keep you informed. We would certainly welcome that input. Thank you, commissioner rosenworcel, we looked at a number of states, some states and municipalities have streamlined while others have not, to help address existing barriers, we are also exploring potential legislative solutions, so the question is apart from direct investment, what do you think can be done at the federal level to Speed Broadband infrastructure and deployment . Thank you, senator for the question. I think there are a variety of things that can be done some of which have been discussed before this committee including dig ones policies and ensuring that all federal actors use same contracts to facilitate deployment on federal property. Furthermore, i think it would be useful for the fcc Going Forward to contact other federal actors in this country like the department of transportation, the department of the interior, the bureau of Indian Affairs that have facilities all across the country and see if through a memorandum of understanding we cant reach a commitment that any efforts to deploy on those facilities could be accomplished in a short period of time. With onethird of the nations lands being federal lands, i think we can set a good example and hopefully export that example to municipalities across the country. Thank you. Chairman pai, the National PolicyCenter Reports 1. 3 million comments were filed in the Net Neutrality proceeding are from, i should says. 3 filed are from international filers with more than 300,000 coming from the same address in russia in support of the 2015 title two rules and there have been many other stories of fake or abusive comments being filed. The question is how do you weigh these kinds of suspicious comments with those comments that are more substantive and made on policy arguments . I thank you for your question, chairman. This is a key issue. Obviously the fcc undertaking the notice of rule making wants to establish an open process where anyone who had interest in the issue could voice or heard views. At the end of the day, once the period closes and the fcc staff takes fact of the record we are guided by the circumstantial evidence test, essentially the question s has the agency collected evidence that a reasonable person would agree would be adequate to support whatever conclusions were ultimately made. Thats been our star on this and any other issue that we contemplate, thats what we apply. Thank you. Senator nelson. Mr. Chairman, isnt it interesting that we have to be concerned about comments being filed from russia . Its a new day. Mr. Carr, i want to follow up a policy question that its hard to recall a similar situation where someone was nominated to receiver at the fcc along side rather than what has been typical to follow their current boss and, of course, it raises the question of independence and necessary that this committee raise the question of independence, how independent can you be of chairman pai, can you name for the committee a time at which you substantively disagreed with chairman pai on an fcc matter or proceeding . Senator, thank you very much for the question. I think its a good one. Independence is critically important for the agency and for the decisionmakers at the agency. Ive been at the commission for over five years in a variety of roles. Ive had various in the jobs and when i had the chance to work for the commissioner, i gave it my best candidate advice, sometimes he took it, sometimes he didnt take it, what i can commit to you Going Forward i will make my own decisions, i will call it the way i see it based on the facts, the record and what i think serves as Public Interest independent of where other people come out, at the same time i would hope that if confirmed all five commissioners can find Common Ground far more often than not. Okay, but thats not the question. The question is can you name an instance substantive disagreement as we evaluate your independence . Senator, thank you, i gave him my best advice i could on a variety of issues. He didnt always agree with me on those, but given the importance of having sort of a candid and Free Exchange with staff and, i think, you know, i want to leave it at that for now that i can commit to you Going Forward that i will be independent in my decisionmaking. Well, we appreciate that commitment but weve got to evaluate your independence so you simply will not name an incidents for the committees valuation where you might have disagreed with him . Having been sort of a lawyer at the time for then commissioner pai, i think i will want to leave the discussions. Well, let me ask you this, do you see any incidents in the future that you would disagree with him on . I certainly have no interest on agreeing with him when i dont believe that thats the right outcome. As ive noted, my hope is the agency works best when we work in a bipartisan basis. I think the vast majority of what we do should be consensusbase. Iwould love to work with all commissioners but no individual once i made my mind up will change position. My record shows that im confidence in making these decisions. Mr. Carr, thats not confidence building of those of us who are wondering about your future independence from the boss that you have so ably served in the last number of years. Well, let me ask you about the Erate Program. Its a Great Success story of the 96 telecon act, as you know, students have access that they never had before. Just in my state alone, libraries have received over 160 million in erate funds in 2015 and this program its making a real difference in the lives of citizens in our state. The nation students and the teachers and the libraries are going to hold us accountable for any changes if we roll back the Erate Program, bipartisan program, i might say, that has been bringing Internet Connectivity and broadband to schools and libraries. So i ask the chairman on previous occasions and i will ask you now, will you commit to wait and i will remind you the fcc previously said it would wait until at least next year before attempting to make changes to this critical program. We need to see how the fccs previous erate modernization efforts are working in order to guaranty that the nation and in particular our students can realize the benefits from the can you make that commitment . Thank you for the question, i agree with you this is Important Program thats serving important needs. What i commit to you that i approach the issue with an open mind and timing as outcome and i dont have a preordain view. So you cannot commit to waiting before we get those reports on evaluating the Erate Program . Senator, i think its important that before making any changes to a program we know that if its working or if its not working, if it needs tweak or, in fact, it does not need a tweak. I didnt understand the question, can you commit the wait to go see the evaluation before you start making changes to the Erate Program . Senator, im not familiar with the specifics of what that evaluation would be or what time frame it would be but i can commit to you that i would not be making or casting a vote to change a program until we have information about whether it was working or not working. Thank you, senator nelson. Next up is senator lee. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman, thanks all of you for being here. This hearing gives us a Good Opportunity to talk about how the American People can best take advantage of emerging technologies, it gives people access to more information. We are currently fazing a lot of problems in this area, challenges, i guess one could say, some of the challenges are physical and logistical and other challenges are product of government interference, legal and regulatory problems that the federal government has created. The federal Communications Commission 2015 openInternet Order is the perfect example of intrusive, heavyhanded government regulation causing delay in industry, causing uncertainty in the industry and, in effect, in the long run, i believe limiting access by the American People to this technology that has the ability to benefit so many people. A recent New York Times article claims that total investment by publiclytraded Broadband Companies increased from by 5. 3 between the as compared to the twoyear period immediately before the issuance of the 2015 order, that is during the twoyear period encompassing 2013 and 2014 to the end of the twoyear period immediately following it, 2015 and 2016. But this highlights a couple of major problems that result from overregulation and i will address each of them in turn. First, it fails to discloses that that actual investment, what the actual investment in infrastructure is, 5. 3 figure that i cited from the New York Times study refers to total top Line Investment not to Capital Investment in the United States, not to expenditure in this type of infrastructure here at home. More accurately, domestic investment in broadband actually plummeted. It fell after the 2015 order with some analysts fights reductions and they are saying, in fact, that the relevant number actually went down, went down to a greater degree than the New York Times article suggesting it went up. So first dealing with this issue, mr. Pai, while it may not be possible to prove causation here definitively would you agree that the openended order has discouraged companies from investing in broadband infrastructure specially in rural areas and among smaller isps in the United States . Senator, thats one of the concerns that we have raised and part of the reasons that we are testing the proposition in the context of rulemaking. Now, i want to follow up on that with my second point, the second concern i have with the point raised by the New York Times article. The second one is a little more abstract. The Internet Service providers are not investing in broadband infrastructure, where is their money going . They might conserve cash or pay dividends but in many cases, Internet Service providers choose simply to invest elsewhere, either overseas or other industries. For example, at t announced shortly after order was issued that it would spend over 3 billion in mexico to expand access to 100 million potential subscribers by 2018. Just in countless other industries. Overwhelming regulation of the internet in the United States promotes consolidation instead of competition and helps incumbents instead of disruptors, competitors and one thing we know about competition is when we have more of it, prices go down and quality goes up and the opposite happens when we have less of it. Mr. Pai, if our goal is to ensure domestic investment by and promote competition between Internet Service providers in the United States, sh