Pallone Opening Remarks at Full Committee Markup of One Republican Resolution of Inquiry

Hearing

Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) delivered the following opening remarks as prepared for delivery today at a full Committee markup of a Republican resolution of inquiry:

Today, the full Committee is coming together for the first time since the loss of our dear friend and Committee colleague Congressman Donald McEachin. A tireless champion in the fight to tackle the climate crisis and courageous advocate on behalf of environmental justice communities, Congressman McEachin has left behind an incredible legacy of hard work. I know all our thoughts are with his family and staff during this difficult time, and we'll be keeping his legacy in mind as we continue that hard work.

Today's markup comes at the end of a tremendously productive Congressional session. Over the last two years, we've turned some of the biggest legislative solutions into the law of the land thanks to the hard work of Committee members and staff, and it has been the honor of a lifetime to serve as Chairman.

The Committee has reported out 76 bills, of which 23 have become law. We passed the most significant climate law in our nation's history, empowered Medicare to negotiate the cost of lifesaving prescription drugs for seniors, made historic investments to rebuild our nation's drinking water infrastructure and connect rural and underserved Americans with high-speed internet service and, responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by providing both the health and financial resources that Americans desperately needed during such an unprecedented crisis.

And we are not done yet. We continue to work on numerous bipartisan bills that came out of Committee. Our hope is to see those included in the final omnibus bill in the next week or so.

Which makes today's markup so disappointing. In stark contrast to all the accomplishments I just mentioned, we are marking up a frivolous and partisan Republican resolution of inquiry that will have no tangible effect on everyday Americans.

I sincerely hope we can put aside these out of touch, partisan issues and instead prioritize work that actually benefits the American people. I hope we are able to quickly report this resolution adversely to the House because it is not a serious resolution worthy of this Committee's discussion.

As we demonstrated back in July, this Committee can come together in strong, bipartisan fashion to hold Big Tech accountable. Committee Democrats remain committed to taking action on urgent issues in this space that are ripe for, and in some cases have already yielded, bipartisan collaboration like working to pass a national data privacy standard, creating a safer internet for our kids and teens, cracking down on rampant online scammers, tackling increasing levels of disinformation and misinformation, and ensuring all Americans can participate safely in our digital world.

I urge my colleagues to put people over politics and report this resolution adversely to the House.

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