National Telecommunications and Information Administration Reauthorization Act of 2025

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2482, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Reauthorization Act.

Over the 4 years of the Biden administration, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, or NTIA, did tremendous work to help connect all Americans to high-speed, reliable, and affordable broadband. The historic $65 billion in broadband investments that we included in the bipartisan infrastructure law are helping supercharge these efforts.

It is now time for the Trump administration's NTIA to unleash the rest of this funding so that States can connect as many Americans as possible to fast, reliable, and affordable internet.

Congress has also tasked NTIA with other meaningful responsibilities. The agency manages Federal spectrum and its users, as well as coordinates with the Federal Communications Commission to ensure that our airwaves are effectively managed in a safe and secure manner. It is also charged with advising the President on advanced technologies.

Mr. Speaker, a lot has changed since the NTIA was last reauthorized in 1992. We should ensure that it continues to have the authorities it needs to implement many of our Nation's broadband efforts and technological advancements in such areas as spectrum management and artificial intelligence.

H.R. 2482 helps achieve this goal. This bipartisan bill reauthorizes the NTIA and elevates its leadership by making its administrator an undersecretary within the Department of Commerce. Taking these important steps will better reflect NTIA's importance as the President's primary adviser on telecommunications and technology policy. This bill also includes important provisions to codify NTIA's current work and responsibilities.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Subcommittee on Communications and Technology Ranking Member Matsui and Representative Latta for their bipartisan work on this bill. With this legislation, we ensure that NTIA has the authorities it needs to continue connecting all Americans to high- speed, reliable, and affordable broadband and overseeing innovative technology development.

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Mrs. DINGELL. Matsui), the ranking member of the Communications and Technology Subcommittee and a leader in this field.

Mrs. McCLAIN DELANEY. Mr. Speaker, I, too, rise in strong support of H.R. 2482.

Today, I am so pleased to support this long-overdue reauthorization of NTIA, a small but mighty agency housed within the Department of Commerce.

This important agency is esteemed by both public and private stakeholders around the globe, and it is staffed by incredibly experienced engineers, technical experts, and tech policy professionals who understand the breadth and depth of telecom and AI impacting our country.

I say this because I had the privilege of recently serving as the Deputy Assistant Secretary and Deputy Administrator of NTIA, this amazing agency. I well understand how much the world and telecom policy have changed since NTIA was reauthorized by Congress over three decades ago. A lot has happened since then.

This legislation, as my colleague said, does make it better ``fit for purpose'' by codifying the important Office of Spectrum Management, the division which oversees the spectrum allocations for our country's agencies. During the past few years, I watched it work to finalize our national strategy on spectrum and represent our country at the ITU World Radio Conference and other technical conferences.

This is important because this technical work is key and underpins our U.S. competitiveness and national security and paves the way for new technologies to thrive through the reallocation of spectrum, spectrum like 6G, and its work on technical standards vis-a-vis China and other international players.

Moreover, this legislation codifies its international office to work on tech issues raised in international venues, such as the EU and ITU, public wireless supply chains, and national competitiveness issues. As my colleague said, it is very important for the resources for the broadband division in its work on finally rolling out the rest of the broadband grants for universal high-speed internet access and to finally close the digital divide.

Lastly, I can't help but say the public safety division is essential for NG911 services and FirstNet.

I commend the committee for this much-needed network, and I ask my colleagues to join me in support.

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Mrs. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge our colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support H.R. 2482, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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