Washington D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chair Bob Latta (R-OH) delivered the following opening remarks at today’s hearing titled “Oversight of President Biden’s Broadband Takeover.”

“Good morning, and welcome to today’s oversight hearing of the Federal Communications Commission. Commissioner Gomez, congratulations on your confirmation and welcome to your first oversight hearing before the Energy and Commerce Committee.  

“Commissioners Carr and Starks, congratulations on your reconfirmations.”  

PRESIDENT BIDEN’S BROADBAND TAKEOVER 

“Five months ago, the FCC came before this Committee and much has changed since then.  

“The Commission finally has a full slate of Commissioners and moved aggressively to advance partisan initiatives despite calls from this Committee to continue down a bipartisan path.  

“Since September, Chair Rosenworcel has pursued a federal government takeover of the internet.  

“First, the FCC plans to reclassify broadband as a common carrier under Title II of the Communications Act. This effort is unnecessary and simply defies logic.  

“The Obama administration’s FCC attempted to impose these same regulations and made false claims that without them, the internet would be ruined.  

“However, all those statements were unsubstantiated and broadband networks continued to thrive under the current light-touch regulatory framework.   

“In fact, our networks have performed remarkably well.  

“They withstood the increased usage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and, unlike Europe, our regulators did not have to ask sites to throttle or degrade their service.  

“Providers were able to respond quickly to the demand.  

“Turning away from this success and adding additional regulations will make deployment more difficult. This simply makes no sense.” 

OVERREACH AND BURDENSOME REGULATIONS   

“Second, the FCC approved final rules on digital discrimination.  

“Congress directed the FCC to adopt rules to ‘facilitate equal access to broadband internet service.’ However, the rules adopted by the FCC go far beyond Congress’ intent.  

“Among other provisions, the rules adopt a ‘disparate impact’ standard for determining violations rather than focusing on intentional discrimination.  

“The FCC’s new rules permit the FCC to micromanage the broadband industry and dictate to providers where to build, how much to charge, and what kind of services to offer.   

“Burdensome and expansive regulations like these will only discourage broadband buildout at a time when Americans need it most.” 

CLOSING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE 

“I urge the FCC to reconsider these rules and adopt more narrow rules that are consistent with Congressional intent.   

“The FCC is most successful when it pursues bipartisan priorities.  

“For example, the FCC recently voted to refresh the record on the 5G Fund, which will help support deployment of 5G in rural areas.  

“5G is critical for connectivity and use cases like precision agriculture; we need to make sure every American has access to broadband at home and on the go.  

“The broadband landscape has changed significantly since the FCC first adopted rules for the 5G Fund in 2020, so I appreciate that the FCC is revisiting these rules, in light of recent events. 

“And finally, I will end on a note of caution. The recent partisan actions taken by this Commission give me grave concern.  

“At a time when the government is preparing to provide over $42 billion for broadband deployment, imposing burdensome federal regulations risks this money going to waste. 

“We should strive every single day to be good stewards of American’s hard-earned tax dollars.”