STATEMENT OF 
JESSICA ROSENWORCEL
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
NOVEMBER 17, 2021

Good morning, Chair Cantwell, Ranking Member Wicker, and members of the Committee.  It is a tremendous honor to be nominated and designated as the first permanent Chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission.  This is historic and I would like to thank President Biden for the opportunity.  I also would like to thank my husband Mark and my children Caroline and Emmett—and while we’re at it, the newest member of my family, our pandemic rescue pup Bo.  

It has been a privilege to lead the FCC in an acting capacity during these past ten months.  So much about the last year has been new and complex as this strange virus has changed our lives.  But it has also demonstrated with total clarity that we need modern communications to reach us all.  That’s because more than ever before, Americans count on the FCC to support the connections they need for work, learning, healthcare, and access to the information we require to make decisions about our lives, our communities, and our country.

I know the FCC staff are up for this task.  They are an exceptional group of public servants and I think public service is a special calling.  

I also like to think it runs in my family.  My father served in the Air Force and later went on to a career as a nephrologist in Hartford, Connecticut.  For three decades he ran the city’s clinic for hypertension and kidney failure.  My mother spent over two decades helping run a soup kitchen.  And my grandfather before them served in the United States Customs Service right here in Washington.  My great grandfather before that served the public in a different way—he swept the streets of New York.

I think communications technologies today are the infrastructure of opportunity.  These are the connections—physical and digital—that can strengthen our mutual bonds.  They can grow our economy and create new jobs.  They help us work, learn, be informed, enlightened, and entertained.  And we also need these connections to break down barriers that for too long have held too many back. 

I think the FCC does all of this best when its work honors the essential values in our communications laws.  

That means public safety is paramount.  New technologies touch every aspect of our lives.  We need them to be secure and resilient.  That means universal service.  No matter who you are or where you live in this country—urban, rural, or anything in-between—you need access to modern communications to have a fair shot at digital age success.  That means competition.  Because it is the most effective way to foster innovation and make sure the public reaps its benefits.  And it means an absolutely fierce commitment to consumer protection.  

We have put these values into practice over the last ten months.  

With the support of my colleagues, we’ve worked on a bipartisan basis to set up the Nation’s largest-ever broadband affordability program—the Emergency Broadband Benefit—which now has 7.5 million households enrolled.  We worked together to launch the Emergency Connectivity Fund, the first nationwide effort to close the Homework Gap so no child is left offline.  We have made historic investments in telehealth technology across the country.  We kicked off a major auction of mid-band spectrum in the 3.45 GHz band which is vital for our leadership in 5G wireless service.  And to ensure that our networks now and in the future are secure, just a few weeks ago we successfully started the Nation’s first-ever Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement program so that network providers can remove and replace vulnerable equipment.   

This is a lot.  But there is more work to do.  We need to make sure 100 percent of us in this country have access to fast, affordable, and reliable broadband—every household, every business, every consumer, everyone, everywhere.  To do this, we need greater coordination across federal, state, local, and Tribal governments.  We need a renewed vigilance to make sure our communications networks are safe and secure.  We also need to foster innovation across the board to ensure that the technological leadership of the United States continues on a global stage.  

	If confirmed, it will be an honor to lead this charge.  If confirmed, I pledge to listen to this Committee, which not that long ago I had the great honor of serving as counsel.  So I know deep in my bones how important it is for you to have a good relationship with the agency.  And if confirmed, I pledge more broadly to listen to the Congress, those with business before the FCC and above all—the American people.  Thank you.