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Floor Speech

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Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I rise today in support of President Biden's nomination of Anna Gomez to be a commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission.

Americans need an FCC fully equipped to deliver affordable high-speed connectivity, strengthen local broadcasting, foster spectrum innovation, and promote emerging technologies. Ms. Gomez will deliver on these priorities.

While she has dedicated much of her career to public service, working in various roles at the FCC, serving as Deputy Assistant Secretary at NTIA, and at the National Economic Council during the Clinton administration, she has also worked in the private sector.

For 3 years, she served as the vice president of State and Federal regulatory, government affairs for Sprint Nextel, and for 9 years, she worked at Wiley Rein, as part of the law firm's telecommunications practice.

Ms. Gomez will focus on ensuring affordable, reliable broadband across America's cities, suburbs, and rural communities. In recent years, it has become increasingly clear that for healthcare, education, labor, and so much more, broadband is a necessity.

For this purpose, Congress allocated $65 billion for broadband in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, including $42.5 billion allocated based on the FCC's broadband maps. Ms. Gomez has pledged to work to improve the accuracy of these maps and deliver broadband to all.

We also need to lower the cost of broadband deployment. By leveraging our existing electrical grid infrastructure, we can build out more middle mile capacity. This will spur competition and help lower the cost of broadband.

While Congress invested $1 billion to create a middle mile grant program at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the demand for this funding was more than seven times the amount available. We must do more.

Given her experience working at NTIA, Ms. Gomez has unique expertise in middle mile broadband deployment issues.

The FCC also plays an important role in sustaining local news. Local stations provide trusted on-the-ground reporting that informs the public and strengthens our democracy.

Ms. Gomez understands that we must protect local broadcast news and has pledged to delve into what the FCC can do to protect it.

She will also fight to ensure that the United States remains a leader in global spectrum policy. As countries like China compete for spectrum leadership, we must develop smart spectrum policies that promote national security and innovation.

We know the FCC has a crucial role in making sufficient spectrum available for wireless innovation and our federal agencies' critical missions.

Over the past year, Ms. Gomez has worked hard to prepare the United States for the 2023 World Radiocommunication Conference and develop a comprehensive U.S. global spectrum strategy. She has also built a strong team that is well-informed and well-equipped to represent U.S. interests in spectrum policy.

Some of my Republican colleagues have complained that they did not have an opportunity to meet with the nominee or that we should not confirm her until the World Radiocommunication Conference is over.

It has been 100 days since Ms. Gomez's nomination and 57 days since the committee's vote. Ms. Gomez has been available, willing, and eager to meet with all Senators to discuss her qualifications for the role.

The State Department also has extremely qualified experts who can step in for Ms. Gomez, just as she has planned for.

Anna Gomez has the knowledge, skills, and qualities to be an FCC Commissioner. I am proud to support Ms. Gomez's nomination, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

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