Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that with respect to the Whitaker nomination, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Madam President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Madam President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 53.

Madam President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate resume legislative session and be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I have seven requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority Leaders.

Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate:

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 153, which is at the desk.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m., Wednesday, April 2; that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, morning business be closed, and the Senate resume consideration of Calendar No. 46, Dean Sauer; and notwithstanding rule XXII, the Senate vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the Sauer nomination at 2:15 p.m.; further, that following the cloture vote on the Sauer nomination, the Senate vote on cloture on Executive Calendar No. 47, Harmeet Dhillon; finally, that if cloture is invoked on the Sauer and Dhillon nominations, at a time to be determined by the majority leader in consultation with the Democratic leader, during Wednesday's session of the Senate, the Senate vote

on confirmation of the nominations; finally, that if any nominations are confirmed during Wednesday's session, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Madam President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, broadband deployment has long been a priority of mine. It is something that is important to my home State of South Dakota where many rural communities still lack access to reliable internet connection. And it is something I have worked extensively here on in the Senate.

More than 3 years ago, Congress created the $42.5 billion BEAD Program to bring broadband services to unserviced parts of the country like those in my State.

It was the single largest Federal investment in broadband expansion ever made, but to date, it has not connected a single household to the internet. That is right, not $1 of this $42 billion program has gone to connect even one household to the internet.

Now, you might ask why. Well, because the Biden administration chose to add a host of conditions to the funding that made it unworkable for many providers like those serving rural areas in my home State of South Dakota.

They added union labor and climate requirements. And despite the law itself banning rate regulation, the Biden administration tried to add that too. The Biden administration took a program that promised to advance an important bipartisan priority and overburdened it with rules and mandates.

The administration added so many requirements that the program couldn't fulfill its core function, which is connecting households to the internet. So we are in a situation today where you have a $42 billion program that hasn't connected a single household to the internet after, I might add, 3-plus years since its enactment.

Think about that, $42 billion 3 years ago authorized, not a single dollar spent, not a single household connected. Why? Because the Biden administration weighted it down with so much of their liberal wish list agenda that the providers in this country are unable to even use it.

Well, now we have a new administration in the White House, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is committed to finally getting this program off the ground and beginning to connect unserved Americans to the internet. This morning, I am sending a letter to Secretary Lutnick with several of my colleagues in the Commerce Committee urging his Department to remove the Biden administration's extraneous requirements that are preventing this program from doing what it was designed to do.

We are asking Secretary Lutnick to look at the restrictive labor requirements in the program that disadvantage rural communities and States with few union workers, right-to-work States like mine in South Dakota.

We are urging the Commerce Department to remove provisions that favor government-owned networks over private investments and guidelines that prioritize certain technologies over others, which contradict, again, Congress's direction for the program to be technology-neutral.

And we are urging the elimination of climate change mandates and rate regulation that create unnecessary barriers that slow deployment and increase costs.

These regulations undermine the very purpose of the BEAD Program, and by reviewing and ultimately eliminating these unnecessary requirements, we can ensure that this funding is finally deployed to expand broadband access to unserved areas quickly and efficiently.

I appreciate that President Trump and Secretary Lutnick are both focused on ensuring that this program lives up to its goal, and I look forward to continuing to work with them to eliminate the redtape that has undermined its effectiveness and meant that not a single dollar spent or single household connected in 3-plus years since its enactment. That, frankly, is staggering.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration, or NTIA, which is responsible for administering the BEAD Program, will need to be a partner in that effort.

This afternoon, the Commerce Committee is holding a hearing with Arielle Roth, a staffer for the Commerce Committee and President Trump's nominee to lead the NTIA.

Ms. Roth is very familiar with the burdens that have weighed down the BEAD Program, and I am looking forward to working with them to remove these barriers to broadband deployment after she is confirmed.

Many parts of our country have waited a long time for broadband deployment, and the unnecessary and extraneous rules the Biden administration imposed on the BEAD Program have only prolonged that wait.

It is time--it is high time--to remove these barriers and start getting households connected to the internet.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to legislative session.