During a Senate Commerce Committee Hearing to consider the confirmation of Arielle Roth for Assistant Commerce Secretary on Thursday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) asked Arielle Roth, nominee for Assistant Commerce Secretary, if it is possible to build an 'Iron Dome' in the United States.
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00:00Before you're excused, Senator Blunt, I will say the ranking member asked if you also wore a pink tie to be in complete harmony.
00:07It's sort of pink.
00:09It's almost coordinated with the group.
00:11I'm impressed by the coordination of the group myself.
00:18Well, thank you.
00:20All right, we'll start with questioning.
00:22As I noted in my opening statement,
00:24your extensive policy experience is impressive and makes you eminently qualified to lead NTIA.
00:30I appreciate your many years of public service, including your very hard work as a part of my team here on this committee.
00:38Why don't we start with this.
00:41Why do you want to be the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information?
00:46Thank you, Senator.
00:49Expanding access to communications and technology is extremely meaningful work.
00:55It's lifted people out of poverty.
00:57It's fostered innovation.
00:59It's expanded opportunities for speech and information.
01:04NTIA has an incredible opportunity to deliver on these goals through broadband, through spectrum,
01:14as well as through advising the President on Internet policy.
01:18I am driven to ensure that NTIA succeeds in these missions.
01:25As you noted, the NTIA is the lead agency for managing federal spectrum, including critical mid-band spectrum.
01:32Over the past several years, Majority Leader Thune, Senator Blackburn, and I have collaborated on a bill
01:37that would require NTIA to identify a clear pipeline of mid-band spectrum that can be used more efficiently
01:44and, following feasibility studies and established processes, allow for commercial use.
01:50To lead the world in 5G and 6G, to bolster our economy, and to ensure that it is America, and not China,
01:58that sets the technology standards of the future, we must expand commercial access to mid-band spectrum.
02:06Will you commit to working closely with me and with this committee to expand commercial sector access to spectrum,
02:13while at the same time protecting U.S. national security interests?
02:18Absolutely, Senator.
02:20National security needs to be paramount in any discussion over expanding access to spectrum.
02:27I'm optimistic that, by working together, we have the brightest minds in the country.
02:32We can find a path forward to advance our international technology leadership while protecting national security.
02:39As you know, President Trump has called for the United States to have its own Iron Dome missile defense system.
02:46The Defense Department says they need every ounce of spectrum that they currently occupy,
02:51and they cannot coexist with commercial users in their vast spectrum holdings,
02:55particularly if they need to build an Iron Dome system.
03:00What is your judgment?
03:01Can DoD build an Iron Dome and coexist with commercial spectrum users?
03:08Thank you, Senator.
03:09First, at the outset, I thank God for the Iron Dome system.
03:13I have family in Israel, and it's saved their lives.
03:17So I would never do anything to jeopardize our ability to develop such a system here at home.
03:23And I am optimistic that, by working together, we have some of the brightest minds in this country,
03:29working on spectrum, working on feasibility studies, that we can find a way forward
03:34and have such a system at home without endangering national security.
03:40As you know, NTIA administers the BEAD program, a $42 billion broadband deployment program
03:45authorized by Congress under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
03:50During the last administration, NTIA saddled BEAD with a variety of extraneous and burdensome requirements.
03:56As a result, after nearly four years, not a single American household has been connected to the Internet.
04:03In a departing screed to his colleagues,
04:08Biden's head of BEAD claimed that climate, labor, and other requirements,
04:13quote, were inserted by the prior administration for messaging political purposes
04:18and were never central to the mission of the program.
04:22I agree, they were never central to the mission.
04:25But it appears that the Biden mission was to avoid connecting even a single American household.
04:31To which I say, mission accomplished.
04:35That's over now.
04:37Will you commit to working closely with this committee
04:40to remove these extraneous requirements and refocus the BEAD program on its actual purpose,
04:46which is connecting Americans to broadband in a cost-effective and timely manner?
04:52Yes, Senator.
04:54At the outset, I want the BEAD program to be a success.
04:57I want to connect every remaining American who currently lacks access to high-speed Internet
05:04as expeditiously, efficiently, and effectively as possible.
05:08I believe that we can deliver on this goal, and I'm committed to it.
05:14Now, some in the media, and some perhaps even in this room,
05:19want to convince the American people that fixing BEAD is part of some dark and sinister plot
05:25to benefit Elon Musk by opening up the program to Starlink.
05:31And I would put the former head of BEAD in that camp as well.
05:36Yet right-sizing BEAD may involve removing the thumb on the scale
05:43that the Biden administration placed in favor of fiber.
05:48And doing so is simply following the law as Congress wrote it.
05:53BEAD was written to be tech-neutral.
05:56America is a big country.
05:58While fiber might make sense in some areas,
06:02hybrid fiber, fixed wireless, and yes, even satellite-based Internet
06:07might be a smarter choice in other areas.
06:10That's not grift. It's good government.
06:13It's basic common sense.
06:15Americans have waited long enough to get connected.
06:18It's time to do it, and we must use every tool in the kit to get broadband deployed
06:22as quickly and efficiently as possible.
06:25Will you commit to overseeing the BEAD program
06:28with an eye towards deploying broadband without favor to any particular technology,
06:34individual, or company?
06:38Absolutely, Senator.
06:39If I'm confirmed, my mission will be to deliver broadband to the American people,
06:47not to serve any individual or company.
06:52Ranking Member Cantwell.
06:55Senator Klobuchar.
06:56Thank you. Thank you very much.