Morning. Welcome to the subcommittee on communication and technologies. I am glad to welcome our witnesses back before the subcommittee. I know it has been seven months since we had you before us and i know we all missed the warm welcoming atmosphere of our hearing room. Despite that passage of time many issues that were of concern to us then still remain unresolved today. For example, i asked about the investigation into phone carrier selling the realtime location of nearly every american. Mr. Chairman, you told me even after more than one year had passed we still cannot tell whether this practice has stopped and could not say whether the impacted individuals have been notified and could not tell us that members of congress and lawenforcement had their locations sold or tracked and in june of this year you told senator blumenthal that you were wrapping up this investigation and with that recommendation shortly. That was six months ago. We still dont have them. Chairman sloan and i wro
The nation infrastructure from foreign interference. Lawmakers heard testimony from boating industry experts. Today, that the subcommittee will consider a number of legislative broke pulls that justss proposals that i challenges from management to securing our nations Telecommunications Infrastructure. The proposals before the subcommittee today are hr 4462, resourcesirway efficiency act, or the chirac, act, with the Ranking Member. Thisll be the strategy for federal energies using advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, automated frequency what are nation, and environmental sensing to facilitate more efficient sharing and used by the federal government. The goal would also require the fcc to report to congress on the feasibility of using existing sharing technologies on several important spectrum fans. As we look toward the future, it is necessary for every licensee to use spectrum more efficiently, the federal government being chief among them. Modernizend ways to the
Years. The u. S. Has been without a defense secretary all year since the departure of former defense chief jim mattis in december. This is live coverage on cspan 3. Our meeting will come to order consistent with our policy to start on time. We will be doing that. Good morning. Today were considering the nomination of dr. Mark espy to be secretary of defense. We thank you all for being here today. We anticipate during your opening remarks, dr. Espy, that you will introduce any members of your family who are here and other support groups. It is standard we do have the eight required questions you will have to respond to audibly so we can get that in the record. Have you adhered to ethical regarding conflicts of interest. Yes, sir. Have you taken any actions which would prepare to presume the outcome of the confirmation process . No, sir. Exercising legislative and oversight responsibility makes it important that this committee, its subcommittees and other appropriate committees of congre
January. Mr. Esper, currently Army Secretary, was asked about u. S. Policy toward iran, cybersecurity, and Nuclear Deterrence, among other topics. This is just over 2. 5 hours. Requirede the 8 questions you will have to respond to audibly so we can get that in the record. If you would hear to the regulations of interest . Yes sir. Have you taken any actions that would appear to presume the outcome of the confirmation process . No, sir. Exercising your responsibility makes it important that this committee, subcommittees, and other appropriate committees if congress received testimony briefings, reports, recordings, records, and other information from the executive branch on a timely basis. Do you agree, it is confirmed, to testify before this committee . Yes, sir. Do you agree to provide records, documents, Electronic Communications in a timely matter when requested by this committee, subcommittees, or other appropriate committees of congress, and to results with the request or basis of
Americans are still without a reliable broadband connection. Closing this divide is a bipartisan priority and significant federal resources have been dedicated to this effort. Unfortunately, a problem that requires an efficient response is overwhelming and scattered federal funding response as Ronald Reagan said, the government is not the solution to the problem but is the problem. In may of 2022, the Government Accountability office found there were over 130 broadband programs across 15 federal Government Agencies. These programs, the broadband equity access created an Infrastructure Investment and jobs and missed 42. 45 billion. One of the Top Priorities is making sure these programs administered effectively so that money dedicated to closing the Digital Divide achieves its goal. The main concern about whether that will happen. Some of these programs including outside trade of regular order, there is no discussion of 42 billion is the right number or debate on how the program should