00:00Mr. Secretary. Nice to see you. Nice to see you. You know, over the last few months, I am deeply concerned because we have seen mass firings at NOAA that are really seriously jeopardizing the weather forecasting that we all count on.
00:14Funds have been frozen. Grants and contracts have been abruptly canceled. And agencies that were created by Congress in a bipartisan way have been shuttered unilaterally, really ignoring the law and sweeping thoughtful tariffs that are crunching small businesses and raising costs for our families.
00:33And we have seen President Trump illegally block some emergency funding House Republicans included in their yearlong CR, which has cut off funding your department counts on for trade fairness, export controls, NOAA satellites and more.
00:48So, needless to say, I don't think any of this helps advance the department's mission to spur economic growth and strengthen America's competitiveness, and it does leave me very seriously concerned about whether the department is going to be able to carry out its job.
01:03Now, before I turn to my questions, I do want to quickly raise your decision to cancel $48 million in tech hub funding for the American Aerospace Materials Manufacturing Center in eastern Washington and Idaho, alongside several other hubs.
01:19We've had a chance to talk about this yesterday, but I want you to know I have a lot more questions than I think you answered.
01:26This hub is really a partnership of industry, academia, military, governments at all levels.
01:33Canceling that funding and further delaying progress at the tech hub really damages our defense industrial base and limits our ability to compete with China, as I told you yesterday.
01:44So, that is unacceptable, and I look forward to you resolving that as soon as possible.
01:49Okay, we have not canceled anything.
01:52And just to let you know, I do have, since we discussed it yesterday, I do have the $220 million.
01:59We did draw it down before the date it was due, and we have the funding for the tech hubs.
02:04We are going to fund the tech hubs.
02:07Okay, we look forward to you.
02:08I have the funding, the $220, right, and the additional $280 comes when there's a forward auction.
02:14But I have the money.
02:15We will fund them.
02:16I'm not canceling them.
02:17I just need to make sure they do the benefit of the bargain.
02:20I appreciate that, and as I said yesterday, we need an answer that everybody understands is critical.
02:26Now, I do want to ask you while you're here, one of the agencies that you oversee is NOAA.
02:31It is absolutely essential to supporting sustainable fisheries, protecting our natural resources, and making sure that we have accurate weather forecasts.
02:41Cutting away at NOAA, as you've been doing, and as your budget proposes to do further, is going to do serious harm.
02:48Among other cuts, your budget would completely eliminate the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund.
02:53That would be catastrophic failure.
02:56It would abandon our communities, our tribes, our industries who rely on salmon.
03:01And across the Pacific Northwest, salmon are not just fish.
03:05They are a way of life, and they are foundational to our economy and our culture.
03:10So I would like you to explain quickly why you proposed that cut.
03:15And I want to ask you, did you consult with our tribes or fishing communities who count on it before making that decision?
03:21The issues are that we do the same thing in multiple ways in NOAA.
03:28We have not cut any hydrologists, which are the people who study the water.
03:35But you eliminated the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund.
03:38That is what I'm precisely asking you about.
03:41Did you talk to our tribes or our fishermen before you did that?
03:44Of course.
03:45Well, I have spoken to the tribes.
03:47I've talked to the scientists.
03:48I've talked to the fishermen.
03:49No one, no one in the Pacific Northwest supports those cuts.
03:53And I want everyone to know I will not vote for an appropriations bill that eliminates that funding.
04:01Now, staying on NOAA, facilities like the Northwest Fisheries Science Center, which is in Seattle, are really in dire need of investment.
04:08For this reason, this CGS appropriations committee has long included language requiring the Secretary of Commerce to include the cost estimates
04:18for NOAA construction projects of more than $5 million in the congressional budget justification materials,
04:25as well as the five-year cost estimates for those projects.
04:29Are you aware of that requirement?
04:30My understanding is we filed our budget according to the CR with exact precision.
04:38Well, have you submitted the department's FY26 congressional budget justification?
04:46It did not include the list of projects.
04:49My understanding is the CR had certain obligations for us, and we followed them with precision.
04:54That's my understanding.
04:55Well, the fact is that you are required by law to submit the NOAA PAC construction list to Congress with the budget.
05:02That wasn't done.
05:03Can we get that list by Friday?
05:05I'll happily take a look at it, and if it's required, of course, I will send it in.
05:09Okay.
05:09It is required.
05:12Mr. Secretary, I wrote a law.
05:14It was called the Digital Equity Act to help close the digital divide, and it passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.
05:22Now, the administration has arbitrarily canceled billions of dollars for the Digital Equity Act, claiming it's unconstitutional.
05:30This is a program that every state, Democrat and Republican, has applied for, every single state in the country.
05:36It distributes laptops in Iowa.
05:39It helped people get back online after Hurricane Helene washed away computers and phones in western North Carolina.
05:46It's a program in rural Alabama where they taught seniors, including some who've never used a computer, how to use the Internet.
05:54I wanted to ask you, has the Supreme Court declared this bipartisan law unconstitutional?
05:59No, it'll go through the courts, and the courts will decide.
06:02No one has declared this unconstitutional.
06:05No one.
06:05Your job, Mr. Secretary, is to carry out the law that Congress has passed.
06:10You don't get to keep laptops from our kids, because the President doesn't care about kids in rural communities.
06:17My advice to you here, it is a law.
06:20It is not unconstitutional.
06:23And I would urge you to get those digital equity dollars out the door and save everyone the legal fees, because the law is very clear.
06:34I hear you.
06:35I just have a few seconds left, and before I finish, I do want to underscore my state.
06:42Washington State is one of the most trade-dependent states in the nation.
06:46Forty percent of our jobs are connected to international trade.
06:49And President Trump and your department continue to pursue this chaotic tariff policy that business in my state stand to lose billions of dollars.
06:59I have heard from businesses across my state, from manufacturers, from small retailers.
07:04They are struggling to absorb the cost increases on everything from napkins to car parts, and this uncertainty has really left them scrambling, which has delayed investments and caused serious supply chain disruptions, especially at our ports.
07:19These actions, in addition, have really harmed our relationships with our key allies like Canada.
07:26I heard Senator Collins here earlier talking about Maine being their neighbor.
07:31It is our neighbor in Washington State.
07:33They are one of our biggest trading partners.
07:35And let me be clear, this is causing chaos, disruption, anger, and we have got to get this resolved, because farmers, our people, and our small businesses, and our communities are really hurting.
07:48Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
07:50Thank you, Vice Chairman.
07:51Thank you, Vice Chairman.
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