Sanford Bishop Asks Brendan Carr Point Blank: Can You ‘Quantify’ The Funds And Staff Investigating DEI At The FCC?

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During a House Appropriations Committee hearing before the congressional recess, Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-GA) questioned FCC Chair Brendan Carr about DEI investigations.

Transcript

00:00Thank you, Mrs. Henson. The chair now recognizes a gentleman from Georgia, Mr. Bishop, for five minutes.

00:04Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

00:06Welcome, Chairman Carr, on your first appearance as chair.

00:11Let me just ask you, if approvals and enforcement actions have been conditioned on private companies' DEI practices,

00:20the public deserves to know how much of the agency's time and taxpayer funding has been spent

00:26on investigating and challenging these practices because this means deprioritizing other critical objectives

00:36like broadband affordability, travel broadband, and efficient use of the spectrum.

00:41So can you quantify the staff and legal resources of the funds that you've allocated

00:47towards investigating and engaging companies on their use of DEI policies?

00:53Can you quantify that?

00:55Yeah, thank you, Congressman, for the question.

00:57I can work with the team and see if we have any data available for you.

01:01What I can assure you, though, is over these first hundred days, there's been no trade-offs

01:05in terms of pursuing one issue set like this versus rural broadband or other issues.

01:10Would you provide us with that information?

01:13I'll work with the team and see what data we have available.

01:17Secondly, let me go back.

01:19Mike, you've been a consistent supporter of the Universal Service Fund throughout your time

01:24at FCC, and you know as well as anyone how important the USF is to keep America connected.

01:31When it comes to rural areas like the ones that I represent, USF is critical to help make the

01:38business case for rural broadband investment to sustain ongoing operations and to keep the rates

01:44for rural Americans more affordable.

01:46In your statement with the FCC's report on the future of the Universal Service Fund, you noted the

01:53importance of congressional guidance and even additional authority in certain cases with respect

01:58to the possible use of USF reform.

02:00We now have a Supreme Court case pending that could have significant implications for these

02:07programs, and leaders in Congress have been considering possible reforms through individual

02:12bills and a broader working group.

02:15Consistent with your prior assessment, do you plan to defer making any material changes to the

02:21administration of the USF until Congress provides you with direct guidance on reforms to both the

02:28contribution mechanism and the distribution programs, and until Congress also gives the FCC additional

02:34authority where needed?

02:36Thank you, Congressman, for the question.

02:38As you indicated, I've had the chance to travel all across the country, including to Georgia, to Alaska,

02:44to everywhere in between.

02:46I've seen the great work that American broadband providers do with the aid of the Universal Service

02:50Program.

02:51To your point, that program right now has a fundamental challenge to it that's before the Supreme Court.

02:56In the main, we are waiting to see how that Supreme Court case plays out, and if there's a potential

03:02after that that there may be a need for additional congressional legislation, then we'll come to

03:07Congress to address that issue.

03:09Okay.

03:10Thank you for that.

03:13The USF is increasingly under strain with the contribution factor nearing 37%, and the cost burden

03:22is mostly shouldered by elderly Americans.

03:26What steps is the FCC taking to ensure the long-term financial sustainability of the USF-supported

03:34programs like E-Rate and Lifeline, especially in light of increased demand and narrowing contribution

03:40base?

03:41If the FCC is not planning on taking action on this, how should we in Congress reform USF

03:48to achieve the imperative?

03:50This is a really important question that I think a lot of people don't understand, which

03:55is to say, we have all these Universal Service programs we run out of the FCC.

03:59It's roughly $9 billion a year.

04:01But the way that $9 billion is funded is by a line item that's added to the monthly traditional

04:08telephone bill.

04:09And as you indicated, that can skew different directions in terms of the constituents that

04:13bear the brunt of that.

04:14And that number has now spiked to in excess of 30%.

04:18And it's really stuck in a death spiral.

04:21So I do think we need to take some sort of fundamental action to address that spiking level of USF.

04:27One option is we're obviously increasingly getting more and more additional technologies that

04:32are filtering into the broadband ecosystem.

04:35And if we proceed in a technology-neutral way, now that doesn't mean that we don't have speed

04:39and latency thresholds that we set, but a technology-neutral way above and beyond that, that could in the long

04:45term help drive some savings, at least around the edges.

04:48Okay.

04:49Let me quickly, I just have a few seconds.

04:52When you used taxpayer dollars to travel to Virginia State University in April of 23 and Jackson

04:57stayed in February of 18, two prominent HBCUs, you gave speeches highlighting the need for

05:03workforce policies that would, quote, help ensure that all Americans have an opportunity to develop

05:08the skills needed to participate in the digital economy, end of quote.

05:11Would you consider that the use of taxpayer dollars to promote DEI efforts?

05:16And, of course, your term, your usage of the term DEI is intentionally vague, so it can be applied

05:21selectively based on what is personally or politically expedient.

05:26No, Congressman, I would not define those visits as constituting any form of sort of invidious

05:33DEI discrimination.

05:35I didn't say discrimination.

05:37I said efforts.

05:38Thanks.

05:40The chair now recognizes...

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