Frank Pallone

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 3919.

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3919, the Secure Equipment Act of 2021. Two years ago, we came together on a bipartisan basis to enact the Secure and Trusted Communications Act, legislation that I proudly authored. That bill was an important first step toward securing commercial communications networks in the United States from untrusted foreign adversaries. Among other things, it prohibits certain funds provided by the Federal Communications Commission from being used to purchase or obtain network equipment and services from certain untrusted vendors. While that legislation established an important foundation and has made great strides in helping secure our communications networks, we have the opportunity today to take the next step by applying those same principles to the FCC's equipment authorization process. We know our adversaries will use any and all potential avenues to weaken our networks, and therefore, we must remain vigilant and prevent it before they can do so. H.R. 3919 simply requires the FCC to update its equipment authorization rules so that, going forward, the agency will no longer review or approve any application for equipment from vendors that have been determined to be a threat to our national security. Importantly, while this bill focuses only on the applications that the agency is in the process of reviewing or will receive in the future, it does not prevent the FCC from later studying whether it should review equipment previously authorized but which is now known to pose a threat. Over the past several years, the Energy and Commerce Committee has worked, on a bipartisan basis, on important security issues, and I commend Representatives Eshoo and Scalise for continuing in that tradition through their leadership and bipartisan work on this legislation. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the Secure Equipment Act of 2021, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, does the whip have any additional speakers?

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I would urge, again, bipartisan support. This is an important next step in our effort to try to secure our equipment and prevent foreign actors, such as the Chinese, from interfering with our national security, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 4032.

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4032, the Open RAN Outreach Act. Open RAN, or Open Radio Access Network, technology is an emerging wireless network architecture that has the potential to drive 5G innovation forward. But like any new technology, we still have much to learn about the possibilities, complexities, and challenges of Open RAN. This is especially true for smaller communications providers. This bill steps up to the challenge by providing small communications providers with the support they need to determine whether Open RAN is an appropriate network solution for them. Under the bill, the Assistant Secretary of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, or NTIA, will be required to engage in outreach and provide technical assistance to small communications providers concerning the uses, benefits, and challenges of Open RAN and other open network architectures. NTIA will also inquire about the providers' participation in the Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Grant Program, which was established in the fiscal year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act. Madam Speaker, I commend Representatives Allred, O'Halleran, Guthrie, and Hudson for their bipartisan work on this bill. This is a good bill, as it ensures that our country's small communications providers have the necessary help to make informed decisions about the need for new technology in their wireless networks. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill in a bipartisan manner, and I look forward to its consideration in the Senate. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Allred).

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I have no additional speakers.

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, in closing, I would ask that Members support this bill that helps our small communications providers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I ask the gentleman from Ohio if he has any additional speakers.

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, again, I ask Members to support this bill as another step in helping us with our communications security as well as reliability. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4028) to require the Secretary of Commerce to report on and develop a whole-of-Government strategy with respect to the economic competitiveness of the information and communication technology supply chain, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4028, the Information and Communication Technology Strategy Act. This bill would help ensure the United States remains a global economic power by providing Congress with valuable insights on the information and communication technology supply chain and a strategic roadmap for the entire Federal Government to strengthen the competitiveness of trusted information and communication technology vendors. The bill accomplishes these important objectives by requiring the Secretary of Commerce to report to Congress on the technology most critical to ensuring the continued economic success of the United States. It is also supposed to examine the ability and capacity of American manufacturers and other trusted vendors to produce this technology. The report will be completed through the Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration. It will also identify how many of our country's communications providers depend upon untrusted vendors of this technology, and then it will outline actions the Federal Government can take to increase the support of trusted vendors and eliminate the support of untrusted vendors. Finally, the legislation calls for the Secretary of Commerce to develop a whole-of-government strategy, along with recommendations based on the report. The strategy is meant to enhance the economic growth of trusted information and communication technology vendors, both in the United States and abroad. Madam Speaker, the bill requires that the Secretary of Commerce consult with a wide variety of trusted information and communication technology vendors. It also requires the Secretary to consult with the heads of several government agencies, including the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Attorney General, the Director of National Intelligence, and the Chair of the FCC. By enhancing the global supply chain for trusted information and communication technology vendors, this bill would help strengthen the American economy and protect our country from nontrusted parties seeking to disrupt America's competitiveness in the information and communication technology industry. Madam Speaker, I want to commend Representatives Spanberger, McNerney, Long, and Carter for their bipartisan efforts on this legislation. I hope we can come together to move the bill forward. I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I ask if the gentleman is prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, let me initially associate myself with the comments made by Chairman DeFazio. There is no question that the bill that he put together, the INVEST Act that passed the House, addresses the Nation's infrastructure needs in a much more significant way and addresses climate action in a much more significant way than the bill that is before us today. I do want to say that this bill, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, while it is an important step forward and it is a critical step, it won't get us there on its own. It has to be paired with the Build Back Better Act. Together, these two bills will produce major progress for the American people. But without the Build Back Better Act, we will not see the progress that is necessary to create jobs and create good-paying jobs to advance our recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, I want to talk a little bit about the legislation before us and the issues that are within the jurisdiction of the Energy and Commerce Committee. The bill before us provides funding to improve and repair our Nation's electric grid, which is in urgent need of modernization. It invests in hardening the electric grid against extreme weather events and gives the government new authority to spur the development of transmission projects and grid-enhancing technologies that are necessary to meet our climate goals. Our climate goals are immediate. Worsening wildfires, droughts, and extreme weather all prove the climate crisis is here and becoming more destructive each year. It is critical we invest in a more advanced and resilient economy. This bill begins to make those investments, and the Energy and Commerce Committee made the other necessary investments in its portion of the Build Back Better Act during its markup earlier this year. Let me just explain. Clean, safe drinking water is obviously a basic human right. Yet, 10 million American households cannot trust the water coming out of their taps. This legislation includes $55 billion in clean water funding both for safe drinking water and for sewage treatment plants, but we need a lot more. That is what we do in the Build Back Better Act. I am pleased this legislation includes dedicated funding to replace lead service lines and remove toxic PFAS forever chemicals from local water systems. It also includes funding for electric vehicle supply infrastructure. Right now, the U.S. market share of plug-in and EV sales is only one- third the size of China's. We must do a better job at keeping pace with our economic competitors, and the Build Back Better Act would do a lot more with regard to electric vehicles. With broadband, the bill invests $65 million and marks the beginning of a renewed fight to close the digital divide and ensure that every community, regardless of ZIP Code, has access to reliable high-speed internet. This bill also invests in a permanent affordability program, which represents real progress on behalf of all families struggling to access and afford a basic internet connection. Mr. Speaker, since this bill represents bipartisan compromise, neither Democrats nor Republicans got everything they wanted. I remain concerned that it undermines some of our most core environmental statutes, like the National Environmental Policy Act. As Mr. DeFazio said, this bill is the best we are going to get from the Senate. That, coupled with the Build Back Better Act, will help us revitalize and modernize our economy, provide additional relief to struggling families, and combat the worsening climate crisis. I do want to explain, once again, that I do think we need to couple this with the reconciliation bill that has come out of the Budget Committee, the Build Back Better Act. Otherwise, we will not achieve the goals that we want.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 667, I call up the bill (H.R. 3755) to protect a person's ability to determine whether to continue or end a pregnancy, and to protect a health care provider's ability to provide abortion services, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 3755.

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 3755, the Women's Health Protection Act of 2021. The need to pass this legislation grows more urgent every day as anti-abortion extremists continue to pass harmful State laws that are intended to restrict access to reproductive healthcare and turn back the clock on the constitutionally protected right to abortion. While the courts seem willing to chip away at decades of clear precedent guaranteeing the right for women to make their own healthcare decisions, it is vital we act to protect this right and enshrine it in Federal law. This legislation simply ensures that no matter where they live, patients can access abortion services, and healthcare providers can provide this care without medically unnecessary and burdensome restrictions. And now is the time to pass this legislation and ensure women's healthcare rights are enshrined in Federal law. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation today, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Eshoo), the chairwoman of our Health Subcommittee.