Chairman Rodgers’ Opening Remarks at the FCC Budget Hearing

Washington – House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) delivered the following remarks to open today’s hearing of the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology: hearing titled “Federal Communications Commission Budget for Fiscal Year 2025.”

FCC REGULATIONS WILL HARM DEPLOYMENT

“One of this Committee’s highest priorities is closing the digital divide, and the FCC has a statutory duty to assist us in that effort.

“Unfortunately, the FCC is failing in its mission.

“The Commission’s recent actions to reclassify broadband Internet access as a public service under Title II of the Communications Act, as well as the agency’s general digital discrimination rules, have undermined our efforts to ensure that every American has access to broadband Internet access.

“It couldn’t have happened at a worse time.

“We are one step away from bridging the digital divide.

“Congress has appropriated billions of dollars to accomplish this endeavor, including $42 billion for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program under the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

“These efforts are undermined when the Commission imposes heavy regulation and micromanages providers, making it harder to encourage participation in these programs, deploy and operate new networks, and connect more people.”

HISTORY HAS PROVEN THAT TITLE II IS UNNECESSARY

“As has been proven time and again, Title II is a solution looking for a problem.

“It’s a century-old construct designed to solve the problem of telephone monopolies, in a highly competitive broadband market today.

“These regulations will hit consumers the hardest, causing higher prices and slower internet speeds.

“The FCC has failed to learn from previous actions and sees no justification for these stringent rules.

“Claims that these rules protect consumers from harmful practices by ISPs have no basis in fact and have already been disproved by the incredible performance of our networks, especially in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The fact is that speeds are rising, broadband investment is rising and consumer prices are falling.

“The fast lanes, lockdowns and traffic restrictions that Democrats warned about never happened.

“Our soft regulations are working, and turning away from that success with unnecessary regulation is the wrong thing to do.”

ILLEGAL ACTIONS BY THIS FCC

“Reclassifying broadband Internet access under Title II is not only bad policy, it is also illegal.

“As Republicans have written both on this committee and in the Senate Commerce Committee, the FCC does not have the authority to reclassify broadband Internet access.

“That is Congress’s job, as the Supreme Court recently confirmed.

“The FCC can’t just claim something is necessary for America’s national security so it can do whatever it wants.

“That needs to be decided by Congress, as it has repeatedly done with our TikTok legislation, establishing a takedown and replacement program, and passing the Secure Hardware Act.

“The decision about how to regulate broadband Internet access could have significant economic and political consequences and requires the FCC to obtain explicit authorization from Congress to act.

“As far as Title II is concerned, we have not given the Commission any such powers.

“This is not the first time the FCC has exceeded its authority.

“Last December, the agency approved data breach notification regulations that mirror those rejected by Congress in 2017 under the procedures set forth in the Congressional Rules Review Act.

“CRA prohibits the FCC from enacting rules that are ‘substantially the same’ as those rejected by Congress.

“The FCC is currently circulating a regulation that would regulate the use of artificial intelligence in political ads — a task that is not within the commission’s purview and that has drawn condemnation from the Federal Election Commission, the independent agency that holds that authority.

“This pattern of the FCC abusing its authority and ignoring congressional guidance is yet another example of the Biden administration’s efforts to assert greater federal control over the lives of Americans.

“This must end. I look forward to the courts stepping in and taking action to overturn these unlawful seizures of power.

“This agency is pursuing a partisan agenda by ignoring Congress and failing to address real problems Americans face, like illegal robocalls, authorizing reforms to accelerate broadband deployment, or additional ways to secure our networks from threats from our adversaries.

“Today’s hearing is an opportunity to hold the FCC accountable for its actions.

“I look forward to our discussion today.”