C&T Subcommittee Hearing: Examining Solutions to Expedite Broadband Permitting
House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology
2025-09-18
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Source: Congress.gov
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Transcript
M
Ms. Staci Pies
The subcommittee will come to order. The chair recognizes himself for an opening statement. Closing the digital divide has long been a bipartisan priority for this committee. Under both Republican and Democrat majorities, we've discussed and found ways to ensure that every American has access to high-speed broadband. Today, we have the opportunity to achieve this goal with the $42 billion broadband equity access and deployment or BEAD program. I think members of both parties would agree that BEAD has not gone as we had hoped. After almost four years, not a single home has been connected. Some in my party wanted to completely scrap the BEAD program and start over because of how the previous administration ran the program. But that is not my view, and we wanna move forward, and we wanna move forward as quickly as possible. And my goal is to fix this program so it can be deployed, so the broadband can be deployed quickly. The name of my bill that I introduced to do this is called the Speed for Beat Act, and it reflects this priority. I'm pleased that many of my proposed reforms have been adopted by the Trump administration. and that they're working quickly to review and approve state proposals. Still, money alone will not close the digital divide. Burdensome, opaque, and expensive permitting reviews that exist at every level of government continue to prevent or delay deployment. I've heard this from broadband providers across the country. In my home state of North Carolina, one provider has waited over a year for the Department of the Interior to review its application to build on federal land. even though the agency is required to provide a response within 270 days. Another North Carolina provider, their project was delayed because it has to do historic preservation review, despite the fact it's on previously disturbed terrain that likely already had a review.
M
Ms. Staci Pies
And this is in addition to lengthy state and local application reviews that can include excessive costs unrelated to approving the permit. Unless we streamline the permitting process, all the money we've dedicated to deployment will be tied up in burdensome reviews, resulting in more unnecessary delays, forcing millions of Americans to continue to wait for connectivity. Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans are committed to reforming this process. For the past three Congresses, we have introduced a package of bills to address this problem. Each of these bills tackles an obstacle that has either prevented, delayed, or complicated with the goal of instilling certainty, predictability, and savings into this process. For example, my RAPID Act would exempt small cell wireless antennas from burdensome and expensive environmental and historic preservation reviews, as well as reform the tribal notification process to expedite wireless broadband deployment. I look forward to the discussion today to find the best path forward together, Republicans and Democrats. Some of these bills passed the House last Congress with bipartisan support. I hope we can pass those bills as well as the others into law this Congress. Enacting this package will make deploying broadband cheaper, more predictable, and less burdensome, ultimately connecting more Americans. That's the bottom line. I want to acknowledge our partners at the Federal Communications Commission for their work on this issue. Under then-Chairman Pai, the FCC used its authorities to remove state and local obstacles for deployment. They work to implement shot clocks and cap fees where they can. Their work is continuing under Chairman Brendan Carr, as they will seek comment later this month on additional proposals. We are grateful for this work, and through these bills, hope to codify and build on what they have done. I hope instead of playing the blame game today, we can focus on making sure every
M
Ms. Staci Pies
has access to the broadband service that is essential to life in the 21st century. We have an esteemed panel of witnesses with us today, all of whom have expertise with the challenges of deploying broadband. I look forward to hearing from them, and I look forward to this discussion. And now I recognize the ranking member, the gentlelady from California, for her opening statement.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Before we begin today's hearing, I want to start with something that should unite us. Every American deserves a right to speak freely and safely. Freedom of speech is a cornerstone of our democracy, and political violence has no place here. That's why I strongly condemn the assassination of Charlie Kirk. We must all stand against this violence and stand up for free speech.
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