D.C. Memo: Senate Commerce Dems Want Vote on Big Spectrum Bill. Chairman Cruz: Sorry, Not Happening
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Senate: Democrats on the Senate Commerce Committee want to be sure they get to vote on the spectrum-crammed reconciliation package unveiled by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) last week. “We, too, were elected by our constituents to represent the public interest, and we should be afforded the opportunity to properly serve them by considering this legislation before it is brought to the Senate floor,” said Commerce’s ranking member Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) in a letter yesterday to Cruz. She was joined by all Committee Democrats except Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.). Cruz’s sections of President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) bill would, in addition to restoring FCC spectrum auction authority, require the agency to auction 800 Megahertz with the goal of raising $88 billion. Cruz has no intention of honoring the Democrats’ request. “Where was this enthusiasm for markups from the Democrats as they labored over Build Back Broke, the gaslighting [of the] Inflation Reduction Act, or the COVID Exploitation Act in early 2021?” said Cruz Communications Director Macarena Martinez. Cantwell’s letter said Cruz’s bill was deeply flawed, “jeopardizing much needed broadband funding.” That was a reference to provisions that could cut off billions in BEAD money to states that regulate AI. She went on to say that “this reckless proposal jeopardizes our national security by auctioning off critical defense spectrum, threatening the Wi-Fi that millions of Americans rely on daily, and impacting the aviation safety systems that protect passengers during every flight and the systems on Department of Defense and other government operated aircraft as well.” Cruz defended his bill. “The Commerce Committee text makes historic investments in the Coast Guard, FAA, and NASA while turbocharging our economy through new spectrum auctions. If Democrats don’t want to help the Coast Guard secure the border or fix the air traffic control system, then they are voting against the very priorities the American people demanded,” Cruz said.
