Washington, D.C. – Congressman Jim Banks (R-IN) and Congresswoman Susan Brooks (R-IN) released the following statements after the introduction of the bipartisan E-FRONTIER Act, of which they are original cosponsors. Rep. Banks is the lead Republican cosponsor of the legislation. This bill would prevent the U.S. government from managing the construction of a nationwide 5G network and would instead rely on the expertise of the private sector to lead the U.S. mobile broadband expansion. Reps. Tony Cárdenas (D-CA) and Filemon Vela (D-TX) are the Democrat cosponsors. U.S. Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) introduced the Senate companion bill last week which passed out of the Senate Commerce Committee today.
Said Rep. Banks, “Cyber threats are a leading cause for national security concerns. China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia have invested billions of dollars to influence and infiltrate our broadband technology. Each day, U.S. wireless carriers experience billions of cybersecurity incidents and have developed innovative methods to prevent many more. This institutional knowledge can only come from experience and has equipped the American telecommunications industry with the prerequisite expertise to build a robust and secure 5G wireless system.
“America won the race to 4G by relying on the economic value of free enterprise, not the central planning and economic control of nations like China. 5G technology holds the tremendous potential of unleashing a new technological revolution by providing incredible speeds and use applications. Nationalizing a project of this magnitude would be a massive overreach by the federal government into a marketplace in which it does not have any business. It also would greatly increase the probability of corruption and mismanagement; two problems we cannot afford to have when dealing with major cybersecurity threats. For the sake of the free market and sound national security operations, the federal government should stay out of constructing the 5G broadband network.”
Said Rep. Brooks, “As the co-founder and co-chair of the 5G Caucus, I understand how important it is for our laws to support this kind of innovation, but the federal government should not infringe upon the deployment of 5G communications networks in the process. The United States led the way in 3G and 4G, and it is critical that we win the race to 5G as it will create jobs for Americans across the country, boost our economy and provide a new generation of connectivity that will support our increasingly connected world. Government’s role in the race to 5G is to cut regulatory barriers and help establish a spectrum pipeline, but beyond that, the government should stay out of the way. The government must continue to let the expertise and knowledge of industry leaders take the lead in shaping the internet’s capabilities, development, and deployment so we can continue to allow the internet to transform the way we live.”
