Frank Pallone

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Porter), who is a strong advocate for consumers.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Oregon for the question. The intent of this bill is to restore the FTC's authority to secure restitution not to pile penalties onto small businesses that make an honest mistake. We want to allow the FTC to ensure consumers who are harmed by a violation of the law are made whole. So let me be clear. This bill does not allow the FTC to impose civil penalties or punitive damages. It only allows for equitable remedies, putting everything back the way it was before the violation occurred. When the FTC is going after truly bad actors who intentionally preyed on consumers, it would need to use the authority under a different part of its statute to seek penalties and also meet the burden of proof required under that additional authority. And another important point is that this bill actually protects honest small businesses from having to compete against unscrupulous companies that break the law to give themselves an unfair advantage. So this bill gives the FTC back the tools it needs to ensure a level playing field in the marketplace. I thank the gentleman from Oregon for engaging on this bill and working with us on our shared goal of protecting American consumers.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Miss Rice).

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler), who is the chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, and I thank him, also, for working with us on this legislation.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Cicilline), who is the chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, to go back to this bill, I know my colleague from Illinois--who I like a lot--was talking about H.R. 1, but let's go back to this bill. I know that there have been a lot of statements on the other side of the aisle about, why this bill? They didn't like the process; they didn't like what we were doing. But, look, the bottom line is very simple here. For many years, the FTC was going after bad actors and those who were committing fraud and scamming consumers, and they were basically getting the money back that was stolen from the consumers and giving it back to those consumers in a form of restitution. The Supreme Court ruled they couldn't continue to do that, not because the Court thought it was a bad idea, but they just didn't think the statutory language allowed it. And since that time, the FTC--both under Democrat and Republican administrations--is asking us to restore that ability of the FTC to seek restitution and give money back to the consumers who were defrauded. There is nothing else here. That is exactly what we are doing. Nothing more. I don't really understand the opposition that is coming from the Republican side of the aisle because we are just making it possible for the FTC to do its job effectively, which they were doing for so many years when they recovered billions and billions of dollars for consumers. I would say look at the language, look at what we are actually doing here, and please support this bill because this is good for everybody in this country, regardless of whether they are Democrat or Republican, or their ideology. This is not ideological. This is a practical way to help the average person. Mr. Speaker, I urge support, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 1250.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1250, the Emergency Reporting Act. This is an important and timely piece of legislation as many of our Western States are currently experiencing devastating wildfires, and as we enter another Atlantic hurricane season, obviously, it is important in my area as well. We rely on our communication devices every day, but it is critical that we have a signal or a connection during an emergency. In our world today, connectivity isn't a luxury; it is essential to ensuring our collective safety. Often, it can be the difference between life and death. It is the responsibility of the Federal Communications Commission to ensure that Americans stay connected when it matters most and that communication providers are prepared for whatever disasters might come their way. So if we want to improve the reliability of the communication networks, we must begin with better data. The Disaster Information Reporting Systems, or DIRS, was launched by the FCC in 2007 so that the communication providers could report the status of communications systems during disasters. In some cases, DIRS is activated in advance of a potential storm as a precautionary measure. In more extreme cases, DIRS is activated in the lead-up to a disaster and stays active for days on end. That is because networks can go on- and offline even after a storm's end. Under this bill, the FCC would be required to conduct an analysis of any disaster or event for which DIRS is activated by the FCC and stays active for a minimum of 7 days. First, the FCC would be required to issue a preliminary report within 6 weeks after the date DIRS is deactivated, and this report would include detailed information about the number of outages, whether communications infrastructure was affected, and how many 911 centers were affected by service outages. The bill would then require the FCC to hold a field hearing not later than 8 months after the Commission deactivates DIRS. By making sure the FCC gets out of Washington and sees and hears real stories from the impacted areas, the FCC will get the opportunity to examine these events, the outages they cause, and how we can prevent them from happening in the future. I commend Representative Matsui, a senior leader of our committee, for her leadership on this bill and her passion for improving communications resiliency and reliability. I also thank my Republican colleagues for working with us to move this bill through the Energy and Commerce Committee and out of the full House last Congress. This is a good bill that will help us make our communication systems more resilient in the future. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the measure and look forward to its consideration by the Senate and the President, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 277) reaffirming the commitment to media diversity and pledging to work with media entities and diverse stakeholders to develop common ground solutions to eliminate barriers to media diversity.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1754) to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require the Federal Communications Commission to consider market entry barriers for socially disadvantaged individuals in the communications marketplace report under section 13 of such Act.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. 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. 1754.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 678, the Preserving Home and Office Numbers in Emergencies Act or the PHONE Act. The PHONE Act is a bill that Representative Mike Thompson was inspired to write because of stories he heard at home in his district in the aftermath of devastating wildfires in northern California. After being evacuated by the Atlas and Tubbs fires a few years ago, Representative Thompson's constituents returned to their homes determined to rebuild what was lost; however, when it came time to hook up their telephone service again, they were rightly outraged to discover that the phone company had rescinded their phone numbers and, in most cases, reassigned them to different subscribers. Nobody should have to worry about losing a phone number they have had for years because their home or their small business was left uninhabitable by a natural disaster like a wildfire or a hurricane. This legislation makes sure that that doesn't happen again. The PHONE Act prohibits providers from reassigning phone numbers of subscribers within an area subject to a major disaster declaration. Specifically, if the President has issued a major disaster declaration and a Governor has designated the area to the FCC, the phone numbers in that designated area cannot be reassigned for 1 year. And then, if a subscriber needs more time, this bill allows them to get a year-long extension. The legislation would also allow consumers whose homes are inaccessible or uninhabitable to cancel their service without a cancellation fee or resubscription fee when they get phone service somewhere else in the area during that covered period. What we are doing here, Mr. Speaker, ultimately is ensuring some stability for people who have lost their homes or businesses after a major disaster hits their community. This is one less thing that a resident or a small business will have to worry about as they work to pick up the pieces. In the age of robocalls, our phone numbers are how our friends and family know exactly who is trying to reach them when we call, and that is why this legislation is necessary. When disaster strikes, our constituents should know they won't lose their numbers; especially the seniors and the small businesses who rely on landline telephones more than others. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Representative Thompson for his tireless leadership on this issue, as well as my Republican colleagues, for working with us to improve the bill before it passed the House last Congress. This is a really good bill, the same bill we passed and sent to the Senate last fall. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense legislation. I hope our colleagues in the Senate will finally take up the PHONE Act, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Before we conclude this series of bills under the jurisdiction of the Energy and Commerce Committee, I want to say that this is a bittersweet day for me. After 25 years of outstanding service, Jeff Carroll, who is sitting behind me here, who has been my longtime chief of staff and is now the staff director of the committee, will be leaving the House at the beginning of August, in just another 10 days or so. It would be an understatement to say that Jeff has been my most trusted adviser for almost my entire time in Congress. He is known to Members and staff on both sides of the aisle for his candor, political savvy, and commitment to the little guy. He has never forgotten his roots back in New Jersey. That, again, would be an understatement. Many of you know that he is a diehard fan of Bruce Springsteen, but also the Mets, the Giants, and the vaunted pork roll. He is a Jersey guy through and through. I don't think anybody would argue with that. He joined my staff as an executive assistant in 1997 after graduating from George Washington University. I won't tell you how many people from GW he has hired in the office and on the committee. Before that, he briefly served as a staff assistant to New Jersey's then-Senator, Robert Torricelli. Shortly after joining my staff, Jeff took on the added responsibility of serving as my legislative aide on both labor and defense issues. It was here that he began his longtime work of protecting New Jersey military installations from closure. He was my defense staffer on 9/11 and during the debate on the Authorization for Use of Military Force against Iraq. I valued his counsel at the time, and my vote against that authorization and the invasion into Iraq remains one of my most proud moments as a Member of the House. But I have to tell you, without Jeff, it might not have turned out that way. Within 6 years, he became my chief of staff, serving with distinction the people of New Jersey's Sixth Congressional District for 12 years. Without a doubt, the largest crisis that we confronted during his time as my chief of staff was Superstorm Sandy in 2012. My congressional district is along the coast of north Jersey, and was one of the hardest hit districts in the country by Sandy. For more than a year, Jeff led my team in response and recovery, literally being out there. Both in New Jersey and here, they worked around the clock, helping families and small businesses pick up the pieces. Jeff also fought relentlessly, along with me and others in New Jersey and New York, to make sure we received the Federal assistance that our States needed and deserved. In 2015, when I was elected the ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee--and that was certainly in large part because of Jeff--he became the Democratic staff director. Then, 4 years later, when I became the chairman of the committee, Jeff became the committee staff director. As staff director of the committee, Jeff has led the committee staff in all the committee's accomplishments over the last 6 years. I am going to list some of them, but I have to tell you, it is an incredible list of accomplishments through Jeff's efforts, including, of course, the latest, the COVID-19 pandemic and the severe economic downturn. Jeff helped shepherd four bills through the House to help combat the coronavirus that became law. These laws ensured Congress provided the tools and resources needed to bring an end to this terrible pandemic while also providing relief to struggling American families. Besides responding to the pandemic, Jeff was instrumental in our efforts, and I want to list some of the very important bills: to end surprise medical bills; to reduce and block robocalls; to phase down the production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons and mandate the repair of methane leaks; to protect Americans from suspected foreign communications network equipment; to reauthorize the Safe Drinking Water Act for the first time in 20 years; to expand treatment for people fighting opioid use disorder; to invest in new medical treatments and cures for some of the most debilitating and life- threatening diseases; to modernize the Toxic Substances Control Act, which took about 14 years, to better protect public health and the environment; and to extend critical funding for programs that improve the health and welfare of millions of children, families, and seniors across the country. That is not an exaggeration, Jeff's role in all of that. He has been by my side through my greatest trials and achievements in office. My congressional office, the Energy and Commerce Committee, the Congress, and the Nation have benefited enormously from Jeff's commitment to achieving meaningful progress for the American people. It means time away from his family. There have been a lot of long nights, late-night phone calls, which I am known for, and weekends spent working to move forward. I don't know what to say other than to acknowledge the unwavering support that Jeff has received from his wife, Shannon; his daughter, Lizzie; and his son, Ryan. I thank them for sharing Jeff with all of us for all these years. I know I am going to be talking to Jeff and getting advice from Jeff, but when I say bittersweet, I really mean it. I don't know how we are going to do without him, but I guess we have to continue. That is the way it goes. Mr. Speaker, I want to conclude by saying that the American people have benefited from Jeff Carroll's 25 years of public service. I am going to miss him tremendously, and I wish him nothing but the best in his future pursuits.

Mr. PALLONE. I yield to the gentleman from Ohio.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3003) to direct the Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information to take certain actions to enhance the representation of the United States and promote United States leadership in communications standards-setting bodies, and for other purposes.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. 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. 3003.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3003, the Promoting United States Wireless Leadership Act of 2021. This legislation will help ensure the U.S. continues to lead the world in advanced communications technologies and deployments. It does that by directing the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, NTIA, to encourage participation by American stakeholders and standards- setting bodies, such as the Third Generation Partnership Project, better known as 3GPP, and the IEEE. The legislation also calls on the NTIA to offer technical assistance to U.S. stakeholders that do elect to participate in developing standards for 5G networks and future generations of communication networks. Other governments around the world are engaged in the standards- setting process for advanced telecommunications technologies, and discussions about 6G are already underway. This legislation will give our stakeholders the ability to better engage in policy choices that are being made today by the standards-setting bodies. These policy choices will have far-reaching implications for the development of 5G and other advanced communication technologies in the future. By ensuring that globally developed standards meet the needs of the U.S. and our partners, this bill will help the U.S. continue to innovate. It will also help us guard against nontrusted actors hijacking standards-setting processes, which is an important component of our continued engagement on future communications technologies. Mr. Speaker, I want to commend this bipartisan effort from Representatives Walberg, Dingell, Johnson, and Kuster. I also want to thank our colleagues on the Foreign Affairs Committee and Chairman Meeks, in particular, for working with us to bring this legislation to the floor. I hope we can come together on this important issue, and I urge all of my colleagues to support the bill. I reserve the balance of my time. House of Representatives, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Washington, DC, July 19, 2021. Hon. Frank Pallone, Chair, Committee on Energy and Commerce, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Dear Chair Pallone: I am writing to you concerning, H.R. 3003, the Promoting United States Wireless Leadership Act of 2021. This legislation contains provisions that fall within the Rule X jurisdiction of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. In an effort to work cooperatively and to expedite the consideration of the aforementioned bill, the Committee on Foreign Affairs will waive referral of H.R. 3003. This, however, is not a waiver of future jurisdictional claims by the Committee on Foreign Affairs over this or its subject matter. The House Foreign Affairs Committee has already passed through Committee its own legislation on 5G issues and will continue to legislate and provide oversight on diplomatic and foreign policy aspects of global telecommunications issues. Additionally, I ask that you support the appointment of Committee on Foreign Affairs conferees during any House-Senate conference convened for this legislation. Finally, thank you for agreeing to include a copy of our exchange of letters in the Congressional Record during floor consideration of H.R. 3003. Sincerely, Gregory W. Meeks, Chair.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I urge support for the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I rise today in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the Protein Data Bank (PDB) in the United States and its outsized impact on the scientific community. Established at Brookhaven National Laboratory in 1971, the PDB was created because researchers were unable to share the valuable information they collected due to the lack of advanced computer systems at that time. The PDB solved this problem by serving as a depository for three-dimensional structures of large, biological molecules--such as proteins, DNA, and RNA--and offered the data free of charge or restrictions on usage to individual researchers across the world. Since 1998, I am proud to say the PDB has been co-managed by Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Today, the PDB archive in America hosts more than 180,000 structures of molecules found in all living organisms on the planet and is part of a worldwide network with other data centers in Europe and Asia. The PDB's legacy as the first open-access digital data resource in biology and medicine has led to countless breakthroughs and has democratized access to data in a way that has tremendously benefited the public. Each year, millions of researchers, scientists, educators, students, medical professionals, patients, patient advocates as well as pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies around the world utilize the PDB for basic and applied research, STEM education, and the discovery of lifesaving medicines, particularly anti-viral and anti-cancer drugs. Examples of its profound impact include the more than two million structure data file downloads it generates per day; its contribution to over one million published research papers; and its enabling of research in many subject areas, ranging from Agriculture to Zoology. But this ambitious project would not have been possible without significant federal investment in scientific research. The National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, and the National Institutes of Health all contribute funding to the PDB, which generates a return on investment 1,500 times more than federal dollars it receives. This kind of investment clearly demonstrates the importance of the government-university research partnership and why it is critical that we maintain and strengthen that partnership to bolster American innovation and competitiveness for years to come. In conclusion, Madam Speaker, I offer my congratulations to the PDB in the United States as it celebrates its first 50 years as a leading global resource for experimental data central to scientific discovery, and I look forward to its contributions to science and our society over the next 50 years.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. McNerney), the Democratic sponsor.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. 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. 2931.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3119) to amend the Department of Energy Organization Act with respect to functions assigned to Assistant Secretaries, and for other purposes.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. 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. 3119.