'Unacceptable': Tammy Baldwin Rips Howard Lutnick For Ending Minority Business Development Agency

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During a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Wednesday, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) spoke about Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and an executive order that shut down the Minority Business Development Agency.

Transcript

00:00Thank you Senator Baldwin. Thank you Mr. Chairman and Mr. Chairman if I may I

00:04wanted to start by taking a moment of personal privilege to say I heard your

00:10remarks about your visit to Camp Mystic and they were heartfelt closing with

00:18the Hunt Store which is now Hunt Strong. I just want to let you know that our

00:25prayers my prayers go out to all the folks impacted by the tragedy in Care

00:33County and throughout Central Texas. And Massa I should have led with that as

00:38well I heard your comments brilliant Dr. Jacobs Wisconsin feels the impact of

00:49increasingly severe weather events like flooding tornadoes and drought and NOAA

00:54weather and satellite services are more important now than ever. In particular

00:59farmers in Wisconsin depend upon the agency's data to decide when to plant

01:04and our shipping and fishing industries rely on it to plan safe routes and travel

01:13schedules. NOAA data is vital for the safety and economic security across the

01:19Midwest in the Great Lakes region. So if confirmed will you commit to reversing the

01:26gutting of NOAA's weather resources by restoring satellite surfaces and

01:31staffing in particular? If confirmed definitely making sure staffing is a top

01:39priority and also satellite data both the procurement of it access to it utilization

01:46of it is also essential top priority. Thank you and thank you for our meeting prior to this

01:53hearing today. I wanted to put on the record something we talked about so if

01:59confirmed will you ensure that high quality weather and climate data remains

02:04both freely and publicly accessible to everyone that relies on it? Thank you for the

02:09question. Yes if confirmed it it's my belief that this data should be readily

02:15accessible by the public. I want to take a moment to recognize the incredible

02:22network of Wisconsin organizations that partner with NOAA to protect the Great

02:28Lakes including the Wisconsin Sea Grant, the National Estuary and Research Reserve

02:34System, the Coastal Management Program, the Marine Sanctuary Program and many more.

02:41These programs operate on incredibly small tight budgets and while delivering enormous

02:47environmental and economic returns and I would like to thank the people who lead

02:52this work in my home state of Wisconsin. Dr. Jacobs the Great Lakes are a vital

02:57resource not just for industry but for the 40 million people who rely on them for

03:02their drinking water. NOAA plays a major role in protecting the lakes alongside its

03:08federal, state, tribal and local partners from invasive species, from flooding and

03:14harmful algal blooms. If confirmed will you work to on restoring and fully

03:20funding coastal programs that most impact our Great Lakes including the Sea Grant, the

03:27Coastal Zone Management Program, the Estuarine Research Program and Marine

03:33Sanctuaries that are doing this work right on the ground every day. Thank you for the

03:38question. If confirmed would love to work with you on this going forward. I actually

03:45went home last night and read up on lampreys after our conversation. And what did you learn?

03:51That's stuff I didn't really want to think about.

03:56Same here.

03:57Yeah, these are obviously very, very important to you and your state as well as to NOAA and

04:03I would look forward to working with you on this.

04:05Very good. Mr. Kumar, I am concerned that the President's fiscal year 26 budget proposal eliminates

04:15funding for the EDA, which among many other critical functions runs the Tech Hub program that was

04:24enacted through the bipartisan Chips and Science Act. As we discussed, Wisconsin has a Tech Hub

04:31focused on personalized medicine and bio health technology, key areas for improving patient care

04:38and competing with China. The future of the Tech Hub program is too important to leave and

04:44question. So, will you commit to keeping Congress updated on Commerce's plans for the Tech Hub program?

04:53And will you be responsive when we have questions?

04:56Thank you for the question, Senator. And I enjoyed our discussion yesterday on this topic.

05:03I know the Secretary sees this as a very important program. And yes, if confirmed, I'm committed to

05:09working with you and ensuring the EDA team works with you to ensure you and your office have all the

05:16necessary information on Tech Hubs. And just to reiterate, the EDA program is proposed to be closed,

05:22so it'll be hard to have them be the ones to be of contact. I need to know from you that you will keep

05:29Congress informed of where it's rehoused if that is a successful proposal on the part of the President.

05:36Absolutely. If confirmed, I will work with you in your office.

05:40Okay. And I'd like to close by reiterating my frustration with the lack of communication from

05:46the Commerce Department regarding dismantling of the Minority Business Development Agency. It's really

05:52unacceptable that the Secretary has been unresponsive to Congress as he takes away the resources for small

06:01businesses that we built up on a bipartisan basis. So if you're confirmed, I sincerely hope this will change.

06:12Thank you. Dr. Jacobs, President Trump has made it a national priority.

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