Nomination of Jessica Rosenworcel

Floor Speech

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Mr. MARKEY. Madam President, I, as well as Senator Cantwell, rise in support of Jessica Rosenworcel, President Joe Biden's nominee to serve as the Chair of the Federal Communications Commission.

In her time on the Commission, Chair Rosenworcel has been a tireless advocate for consumers in today's fast-changing media and digital landscape.

She stands up for consumers. She stands up for competition. She stands up for children. That is what the job of Chair of the Federal Communications Commission is all about, is standing up for all of those core principles that our country believes in.

She has made it very clear that she does believe that title II of the Communications Act is something that can be and must be used in order to ensure that we give full protections to broadband users in our country.

Now, more than ever, we need strong leadership at the Federal Communications Commission, as Senator Cantwell was just speaking.

We have 12 to 17 million children in the United States who did not have the internet during the first year of the COVID crisis, and we were able to build in huge funding that has reduced dramatically the number of children who do not have the internet at home, but more work must be done.

The best way to do it is to add even more money into the Build Back Better bill. If we do that, we will see that we are dealing with the fact that especially Black and Brown and immigrant children in our country have access to the tools which they are going to need to be able to get an education.

The coronavirus is coming back. It is taking a U-turn, and its implications for the education of poor children in our country is dramatic. That is why Chair Rosenworcel is the right person at the right time in order to serve as the Chair of the Federal Communications Commission.

We have to ensure the competition is at the heart of our policy. That is Chair Rosenworcel. We have to make sure the consumers benefit from these innovations in technology. That is her agenda. And we have to make sure that children--every child in our country--gets access to the technologies that are going to be necessary for every one of them to maximize their God-given abilities. That is what Chair Rosenworcel is all about.

I recommend with the strongest possible voice that I have to have a very strong vote on the floor of the Senate to confirm her for the Federal Communications Commission.

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