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Floor Speech
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Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, many Americans remember waking up on Saturday morning to watch their favorite cartoons, including shows like ``The Jetsons.'' As I look at the Senate pages who are here, I suspect none of them have any memory of ``The Jetsons.'' For those who are under 40 in the Chamber or who are watching at home, ``The Jetsons'' was a futuristic cartoon that was set in the year 2062, and it depicted a family from the future who had fun, imaginative technologies, like jet packs and holograms and video calls and robot vacuums and smartwatches and flying cars. While we are still waiting to see those flying cars in the air, we already have a lot of ``The Jetsons' '' technology available to us now--in many cases, even better than what was depicted in the cartoon show.
Today, internet-connected smart devices are commonly used in American households. Light bulbs, mirrors, air fryers, coffee makers, trash cans, kitchen faucets, refrigerators, and more are all becoming smart, and we are able to control them with our phones or voice commands. A lot of that is really cool. It is expected that, in a few years, nearly 70 percent of American households--more than 80 million households-- will own at least one smart home product. This is, by and large, a good thing, as smart devices can help us improve our quality of life and complete daily tasks more easily.
But, with any technological advancement, there can be tradeoffs, and for smart devices, one of the potential tradeoffs is our privacy. In Texas, we have become very aware of that cost. In the past few years, smart thermostats have allowed electric companies to control the temperature in your own home, from afar, in the name of conserving energy.
Furthermore, a lot of Americans don't realize or expect that the growing number of smart household devices and appliances have cameras on them and microphones that can surreptitiously record families and transmit data. In other words, when you are buying a new refrigerator, you don't expect your fridge to record you or listen to you or to spy on you without your knowledge. And, while some manufacturers have responsibly taken steps to more clearly label their products and to let consumers know they contain listening devices or cameras, others have not.
So I have introduced bipartisan legislation, which I authored alongside Senator Cantwell of Washington, a Democrat and the chairman of the Commerce Committee. I am the ranking member of the Commerce Committee. Our bipartisan legislation would simply ensure that this information is clearly communicated to consumers so that you are informed before you buy a product that is going to photograph you or film you or record you, so that it doesn't happen against your wishes and without your knowledge.
Now, I expect, in a minute, we are going to hear opposition to my bill--opposition focused on the proposition that any mandate put on a private company is somehow a burden. And it is a mandate to require your refrigerator manufacturer to tell you if your fridge is spying on you. Now, I am sympathetic to the problem that there are too many mandates from government and that many of the mandates are unnecessary and burdensome and costly, but requiring a manufacturer to tell you if they are spying on you does not fall into that category.
And I have to say, in assessing the minimal burden--the disclosure burden--against the harm, I fall down on the side of individual liberty. I fall down on the side of privacy. I don't think the American people want their air fryer spying on them, and, at a minimum, they have the right to know if their air fryer is spying on them.
Now, I would note that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle agree. The Presiding Officer today serves on the Commerce Committee. This legislation passed the Commerce Committee by voice vote, with bipartisan support from both sides of the aisle. This should be a simple, easy, pro-privacy step to protect consumers.
538 and that the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration; further, that the Cruz-Cantwell substitute amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.
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Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, I have listened to the objections of my friend from Kentucky, and I use that word as many do on this floor, although he is not listening to my response, but that is his choice.
The first time I ever spoke on the floor was in support of Senator Paul's filibuster in 2013. Senator Paul is fond of telling his constituents that he is a libertarian, that he defends privacy. I am not quite a libertarian. I am a conservative, but I have strong libertarian leanings. And I want to note the irony that Senator Paul, who has devoted his entire public career to defending liberty and defending privacy, just objected to protecting the privacy of over 300 million Americans. He just objected to Americans knowing whether they are being spied on at home. I have to admit it is truly flabbergasting.
I would like to invite my colleague Senator Paul to join me in front of a gathering of libertarians, and let's discuss with libertarians which side of the aisle you want to be on. Do you want to be on the side of Big Business' surreptitiously tape-recording, photographing, and videotaping you in your home or in your bedroom without your knowing about it or is a mild and nominal disclosure requirement simply saying, ``If you are going to tape-record someone or videotape them in their house, you have got to tell them,'' a justifiable burden?
I hope that, in time, reason will prevail, because we ought to be protecting privacy. This is a bill whereby, if we vote on it on the Senate floor, I am confident the vote would be 99 to 1. I am confident that every Senator except the Senator who just objected would support this bill. Protecting people's privacy is a good idea, and I hope the Senate can get there as a body.
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