National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017

Floor Speech

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Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Chairman, I claim time in opposition to the amendment.

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Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Chairman, the Nation's spectrum is one of our most valuable natural resources. Under the bipartisan oversight of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, one spectrum auction alone last year raised more than $40 billion. It is imperative that we continue our bipartisan management of this valuable national asset, but to do that we must follow regular order through the proper committee of jurisdiction. That is the only way that we can make sure that we continue proper congressional oversight.

This amendment that we are considering today was made public 1 day ago. This process runs counter to our successful bipartisan efforts to manage spectrum well. It does not allow the relevant agencies adequate time to weigh in, and it does not allow interested stakeholders to provide meaningful input.

I appreciate my colleague's efforts to improve this amendment, but these are extremely complicated issues of national importance. They cannot be put together overnight.

Earlier today when the rule for consideration of this bill was debated here on the floor, my Republican colleagues said that they chose to exclude some Democratic amendments because those amendments did not go through the committee process. Well, the same can be said of this amendment as well, Mr. Chairman.

If there are issues of national security underlying this amendment, the Democrats on the Committee on Energy and Commerce stand ready to work on them expeditiously, but we must stand by our commitment to regular order. The consequences of getting this wrong are simply too high.

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Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Smith), the ranking member of the Committee on Armed Services.

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Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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