[House Hearing, 116 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR
2021
_______________________________________________________________________
HEARINGS
BEFORE A
SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE
COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
_______________
SUBCOMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE,
AND RELATED AGENCIES
JOSE E. SERRANO, New York, Chairman
MATT CARTWRIGHT, Pennsylvania ROBERT B. ADERHOLT, Alabama
GRACE MENG, New York MARTHA ROBY, Alabama
BRENDA L. LAWRENCE, Michigan STEVEN M. PALAZZO, Mississippi
CHARLIE CRIST, Florida TOM GRAVES, Georgia
ED CASE, Hawaii
MARCY KAPTUR, Ohio
NOTE: Under committee rules, Mrs. Lowey, as chairwoman of the full
committee, and Ms. Granger, as ranking minority member of the full
committee, are authorized to sit as members of all subcommittees.
Bob Bonner, Jeff Ashford, BG Wright, TJ Lowdermilk,
Shannon McCully, Faye Cobb, and Trisha Castaneda
Subcommittee Staff
_______
PART 5
Page
Members' Day..........................
1
Public Testimony for the Record.......
57
Department of Commerce Fiscal Year
2021 Budget Request.....................
271
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
______
Printed for the use of the Committee on Appropriations
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
44-514 WASHINGTON: 2021
COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
NITA M. LOWEY, New York, Chairwoman
MARCY KAPTUR, Ohio KAY GRANGER, Texas
PETER J. VISCLOSKY, Indiana HAROLD ROGERS, Kentucky
JOSE E. SERRANO, New York ROBERT B. ADERHOLT, Alabama
ROSA L. DeLAURO, Connecticut MICHAEL K. SIMPSON, Idaho
DAVID E. PRICE, North Carolina JOHN R. CARTER, Texas
LUCILLE ROYBAL-ALLARD, California KEN CALVERT, California
SANFORD D. BISHOP, Jr., Georgia TOM COLE, Oklahoma
BARBARA LEE, California MARIO DIAZ-BALART, Florida
BETTY McCOLLUM, Minnesota TOM GRAVES, Georgia
TIM RYAN, Ohio STEVE WOMACK, Arkansas
C. A. DUTCH RUPPERSBERGER, Maryland JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska
DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Florida CHUCK FLEISCHMANN, Tennessee
HENRY CUELLAR, Texas JAIME HERRERA BEUTLER, Washington
CHELLIE PINGREE, Maine DAVID P. JOYCE, Ohio
MIKE QUIGLEY, Illinois ANDY HARRIS, Maryland
DEREK KILMER, Washington MARTHA ROBY, Alabama
MATT CARTWRIGHT, Pennsylvania MARK E. AMODEI, Nevada
GRACE MENG, New York CHRIS STEWART, Utah
MARK POCAN, Wisconsin STEVEN M. PALAZZO, Mississippi
KATHERINE M. CLARK, Massachusetts DAN NEWHOUSE, Washington
PETE AGUILAR, California JOHN R. MOOLENAAR, Michigan
LOIS FRANKEL, Florida JOHN H. RUTHERFORD, Florida
CHERI BUSTOS, Illinois WILL HURD, Texas
BONNIE WATSON COLEMAN, New Jersey
BRENDA L. LAWRENCE, Michigan
NORMA J. TORRES, California
CHARLIE CRIST, Florida
ANN KIRKPATRICK, Arizona
ED CASE, Hawaii
Shalanda Young, Clerk and Staff Director
C O N T E N T S
----------
MEMBERS' DAY
Page
Davis, Hon. Danny K., a Representative in Congress from the State
of Illinois.................................................... 9
Gonzalez, Hon. Anthony, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Ohio.................................................. 34
Gonzalez-Colon, Hon. Jenniffer, a Representative in Congress from
the Territory of Puerto Rico................................... 24
Hill, Hon. J. French, a Representative in Congress from the State
of Arkansas.................................................... 12
Kennedy, Hon. Joseph P. III, a Representative in Congress from
the State of Massachusetts..................................... 30
Perlmutter, Hon. Ed, a Representative in Congress from the State
of Colorado.................................................... 18
Schneider, Hon. Bradley Scott, a Representative in Congress from
the State of Illinois.......................................... 40
Visclosky, Hon. Peter J., a Representative in Congress from the
State of Indiana............................................... 2
Yoho, Hon. Ted, a Representative in Congress from the State of
Florida........................................................ 6
Submitted Testimony
Jackson Lee, Hon. Sheila, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Texas................................................. 44
Posey, Hon. Bill, a Representative in Congress from the State of
Florida........................................................ 50
Rogers, Hon. Hal, a Representative in Congress from the State of
Kentucky....................................................... 54
Public witness testimony submitted for the record................ 57
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FISCAL YEAR 2021
BUDGET REQUEST
Ross, Hon. Wilbur, Secretary, U.S. Department of Commerce........ 273
COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR
2021
----------
Wednesday, March 4, 2020
MEMBERS' DAY
Mr. Serrano. Good afternoon, everyone. We welcome you to
our first hearing for fiscal year 2021. It is fitting that
today's hearing will be with our colleagues here in the House
to hear about the programs and agencies that they feel strongly
about.
Given the expected budget constraints that all
subcommittees will face this fiscal year, it is important that
we hear from our colleagues about the programs making a
difference to their communities. This year, we will hear from a
bipartisan group of Members, all of whom will be asking for
further investments by this subcommittee.
I think it is instructive that on a day like this we are
never asked to cut funding for programs or agencies, only to
increase them. It shows the important role that the Federal
Government plays in driving technological innovation, economic
development, scientific research, a fair justice system, and
public safety. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses
today.
And, with that, let me turn to my colleague and friend Mr.
Aderholt.
Mr. Aderholt. Thank you for yielding, Mr. Chairman, and I
am pleased to be here today as we commence the fiscal year 2021
approps process.
This subcommittee is very uniquely situated to really take
care of a lot of funding for a lot of important priorities.
Space exploration, including the transformative Moon to Mars
Initiative, is included under our jurisdiction; combating
crime, including child exploitation, human trafficking, and
incidents of mass violence; fostering fair trade; promoting
innovation; improving weather forecasting; and investing in
basic research.
So I want to thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding the
hearing today and allowing each Member of the House to come
before the subcommittee to convey not only their
recommendations, but to educate us on matters that we need to
be brought up to speed on and how we can be helpful. And it is
important that Members have an opportunity to express their
priorities and their concerns, as we will hear today.
And as members of the Appropriations Committee, I know it
is a desire for each of us who serve on this committee and of
course this subcommittee to strive to work to make sure that
the programs that we fund are doing what they can to impact
constituencies across the United States.
So, again, thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your leadership in
this and to accommodate these priorities, and I know we will
work the best we can as we move forward in the process. I thank
my colleagues for taking time to be here today and we look
forward to your testimony.
And, with that, I yield back.
Mr. Serrano. Thank you, Mr. Aderholt. And I do also join
you in thanking our colleagues for being here today.
Our first witness will be another member of the departing
class of appropriators, which keeps growing by the day, Mr.
Visclosky, Chairman Visclosky.
STATEMENT OF HON. PETER J. VISCLOSKY, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF INDIANA
Mr. Visclosky. Chairman, I appreciate the opportunity, Mr.
Aderholt and Mr. Cartwright, for appearing before you today.
Really, just three quick points.
One, I am here to testify on behalf of appropriate funding
for the ITC and I want to thank the committee for your very
strong support and good work and help in the 2021 bill. You
provided $99.4 million for the ITC, that was $4.4 million of
critically needed funds more than fiscal year 2020. I would
point out, this year my request is for $105 million for the
ITC. I think it is eminently justifiable, despite the fact that
the Office of Management and Budget has only requested 99.6. My
statement is in the record, we have a number of items and
justification for the request.
I would simply point out that, for example, between fiscal
year 2011 and 2015, there were an average of eight to ten
filings annually for antidumping and countervailing duty cases,
those have now increased to 16 or 18. The Harmonized Tariff
Schedule has been revised 14 to 13 times in fiscal years 2018
and 2019, in a typical year that might be three or four.
So, again, I appreciate you holding the hearing and
allowing me to testify, and look forward to working with you
and your staff.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Visclosky follows:]
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Mr. Serrano. Well, thank you. Your statement is well noted
and will be included, of course, in our records, and we thank
you for your ask. The answer is no. [Laughter.]
Mr. Visclosky. You know I am not coming back. [Laughter.]
Mr. Serrano. Neither am I. [Laughter.]
Mr. Serrano. Mr. Aderholt?
Mr. Aderholt. Thank you for your testimony here, and I
understand the ITC and its important role. So certainly please
know that we will do what we can to work on this issue to try
to move forward, and so thank you for your commitment to it.
Thank you.
Mr. Serrano. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Visclosky.
Mr. Visclosky. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Serrano. Mr. Yoho, Representative Yoho is our next
speaker, witness.
STATEMENT OF HON. TED S. YOHO, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS
FROM THE STATE OF FLORIDA
Mr. Yoho. Thank you. Chairman Serrano, Ranking Member
Aderholt, and committee members, thank you for allowing me to
testify on my funding priority for fiscal year 2021 CJS
appropriations.
America has led in space exploration and our Nation, as the
first to put humans on the Moon, we have set the standards for
innovation. Now a new era is upon us. It is time to prepare for
this next phase of space exploration and that is literally to
go where no man or woman has ever gone before, which is why I
am interested in NASA science funding to explore the effects of
zero gravity and deep space radiation on mammalian eukaryotic
or embryological development.
I am a supporter of the Moon to Mars initiative and I am a
firm believer that one day we will live in space or on
different planets. However, before our species can live on or
travel to Mars or distant planets, important questions on
procreation outside of Earth's gravitational effects must be
answered. We must know if human pregnancy and embryological
development can be achieved in these environments.
Basic questions like can a pregnancy, number one, occur and
develop all the way through parturition in environmental space?
Can fertilization occur? Does migration of an embryo go down
the Fallopian tubes? Will uterine/embryo implantation take
place? If not, why?
How do the different biological systems develop, the
physiological systems? Are long bones long, for instance? Are
kidneys kidney-shaped, hearts heart-shaped? These are all
things that we have never looked at. What is the nervous system
and how does that develop, or the hematopoietic system? Are
genes turned on or turned off, expressed differently in zero
gravity or the effect of radiation to adapt to the
corresponding zero gravity environment? Does the physiology of
the organ systems function and behave the same as they are
developing in zero gravity as they do on Earth?
In order to prepare for future interplanetary travels,
these questions must be answered. Going to Mars today is a one-
way trip and that is something that we should really look at
and, you know, America has been such an innovator and leader in
this. In order to prepare for future interplanetary travels,
these questions regarding embryological development need to be
answered. Studying this now on the ISS, while we have the
benefit of time, will ensure we are prepared for the future of
space travel.
It is important to note that this type of research can and
will lead to discoveries that benefit people on Earth as well.
As scientists dive into zero gravity development, they may
discover that genes express themselves differently. This
variation of expression could be applicable to curing diseases
hear on Earth now and we won't know this until this research is
done.
NASA has the ability to do this research on the ISS, but
they need the funding to do so. We have proposed a rodent model
because of their short gestational period, approximately 21
days, and NASA's familiarity with the rodent model on the ISS.
It is imperative that we as a nation invest in this type of
cutting-edge research. Nobody else is doing this, which is why
I am asking you to include the funding for nonhuman mammalian
embryological experiments under the NASA science account in
fiscal year 2021 in the CJS appropriations bill.
Again, this kind of cutting-edge research will, pardon the
pun, jettison the United States leadership light years ahead of
any other country and the research that will come out of this
will-- I truly believe when the researchers and the people in
the science community says this is stuff that we need to know,
you know, the things that we haven't discovered is what is
going to lead medicine and research down the road, and I ask
you to consider the appropriations for that.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Yoho follows:]
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Mr. Serrano. Thank you. I thank you for your testimony. Let
me tell you that this committee, both under Republican and
Democratic leadership, has always been very friendly to NASA.
In fact, my staff will probably get upset that I bring it up,
but the only issue we have pending is do we go to the Moon in
2028, as previously scheduled, or do we go in 2024, and there
is a difference of opinion on that.
But all that you speak about does two things, it makes us
think and make us go to the dictionary and see what all those
words you said mean, because they are very tough.
Mr. Yoho. I'm sorry about that, it was just background.
Mr. Serrano. No, it is quite all right. Thank you so much.
Mr. Yoho. Thank you, I appreciate it.
Mr. Serrano. Thank you. By the way, a clarification for my
colleagues, CJS stands for Commerce, Justice, Science, not
Congressman Jose Serrano. [Laughter.]
Mr. Serrano. I don't have a committee named after me.
Our next witness is Mr. Davis.
STATEMENT OF HON. DANNY K. DAVIS, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS
FROM THE STATE OF ILLINOIS
Mr. Davis. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman Serrano,
Ranking Member Aderholt, Mr. Cartwright, and other members of
the CJS Appropriations Committee for hosting this opportunity
for Members to advocate for critical programs.
Today, I will talk briefly about the Second Chance Act or
SCA, which I authored in the 110th Congress, after countless
meetings with task force groups, community stakeholders,
representatives from faith groups, clergy, and law enforcement.
After several years of drafting, changes, advocacy, coalition
building, and sweat equity, the SCA was signed into law on
April 9, 2008. The SCA authorizes Federal grants for vitally
important programs and systems aimed at improving the reentry
process.
The United States remains the most incarcerated nation on
the face of the earth. Its prison population contains roughly
2.2 million individuals housed in state prisons, Federal
prisons, jails, and other correctional facilities. However,
since passage of the SCA, more than 900 grants in 49 states,
DC, and U.S. territories have been awarded. These grants have
served more than 164,000 participants since 2009, with roughly
80 percent of all adults served receiving mental illness,
substance use disorder treatment and referrals, and 60 percent
receiving cognitive-based services.
The SCA has been a lifeline for former offenders. Grant
dollars and other investments have allowed local and state
governments opportunities to provide job training and
wraparound services, thereby significantly reducing recidivism
and developing new taxpaying citizens. Organizations like the
Safer Foundation in Chicago have provided job training, job
placement, and pathways to career opportunities for hundreds of
men and women returning to severely low-income communities. As
I travel across the country, I hear from small business owners,
elected officials, and even some Fortune 500 executives
boasting about their reentry programs and how the programs have
been uplifting to their employee morale.
Finally, the SCA is a true bipartisan success story and
recently, because of successful programs like the SCA, Congress
passed the First Step Act and are continuing to look at ways to
reduce mass incarceration and sentencing reforms. Local
governments, hospital systems, and private employers are now
making investments in reentry. Success stories are being made
every single day.
So, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member, I am hopeful we can
maintain the fiscal year 2021 funding level of $90 million for
the Second Chance Act, and I would be pleased to respond to any
inquiries.
Thank you very much and it is a pleasure.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Davis follows:]
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Mr. Serrano. No, we thank you for your testimony. We are
very much interested in this program. As you know, we funded it
at $90 million last year, so it is a priority to continue to do
well by it, and we thank you for your advocacy for it.
Mr. Aderholt?
Mr. Aderholt. Thank you, Congressman Davis. And certainly I
think these are important programs and, you know, we will
certainly as we move forward. Your testimony has been very
helpful, thank you for your testimony on it. And we will
certainly work together to see what we can do to try to make
the funding successful, so we look forward to working with you.
Mr. Serrano. Thank you, Mr. Aderholt. And thank you, sir.
Mr. Davis. Thank you both very much and it is a pleasure.
Mr. Serrano. Our next witness is Mr. Hill, Representative
Hill. You were moving there already, how did you know that?
Mr. Hill. You have an excellent staff, Mr. Chairman.
STATEMENT OF HON. J. FRENCH HILL, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS
FROM THE STATE OF ARKANSAS
Mr. Hill. Well, thank you for the opportunity, Mr.
Chairman, Ranking Member, for the opportunity for Members to
participate today. I want to start my remarks today to echo my
friend from Illinois, Mr. Davis, and talk about recidivism
issues and some of the topics that he addressed. Mr. Davis is
from Arkansas, so we are kindred spirits. He grew up in
Parkdale, Arkansas, deep in the Mississippi Delta, and he is
right on point in talking about strategies to reduce
recidivism.
The FBI and the Bureau of Prisons states that we spend an
average of $36,000 a year per inmate on a prison population
that dwarfs the rest of the world. Each year more than 600,000
people leave our prisons, but three quarters of those
recidivate within five years. This is a huge frustration to our
state and local governments, and of course to the Federal
Government.
The costs to society of not acting on this issue are not
limited to what taxpayers get. Higher recidivism rates lead to
higher prison budgets, more beds to build, more dangerous
streets, and fewer badly needed workers for our very worker-
needy labor force. The cost of un-rehabilitated offenders to
communities, neighborhoods, families. More unemployed and
unemployable fathers, families continue to struggle in the grip
of addiction, children stuck in a despairing cycle of
generational poverty, and consequences of a return to crime.
All those costs are too high.
How do we hold offenders accountable for their actions
without denying them a return as contributing members of
society?
In Arkansas, Arkansas Baptist College and Shorter College
have partnered with the Arkansas Department of Community
Corrections to provide an entrepreneurship program for prison
inmates during the last six months of their sentence. The
program serves as a transition phase for inmates to gain
academic and spiritual development, and encourages them to
continue in their education at their schools after their
release.
Last year, I introduced legislation that would establish a
pilot program at the U.S. Department of Justice to provide
grants to Historically Black Colleges and Universities, HBCUs,
to implement educational programs for eligible offenders and
help them successfully transition back into their communities.
This language is based on the outstanding work of the four
HBCUs in and around my district.
The average cost of attending an Historically Black College
and University is around $16,000 per year. We spend upwards of
$80 billion every year warehousing inmates. We could be saving
valuable taxpayer funds.
I believe we must look at this not only as a matter of the
financial cost, but one of the human cost that I have noted.
That is why I urge your committee to include the following
language in its bill report to support the efforts of HBCUs to
address this critical need.
The language proposed would be, ``The Committee supports
the U.S. Department of Justice coordination and collaboration
with Historically Black Colleges and Universities to provide
educational programs for recently released and soon to be
released criminal offenders to assist them in obtaining skills
that will let them successfully transition back into their
communities and reduce recidivism rates.''
I want to thank you for your consideration of this
language.
The second topic I want to touch on today relates to
behavioral health. I would like to discuss mental health and
support for the Mentally Ill Offender Act.
Today in America, a behavioral health epidemic has
manifested itself through increased drug usage, rising suicide
rates, and a nationwide life expectancy that fell for two years
in a row before a slight increase was reported in 2018. Too
many times Americans suffering from mental illness turn to
self-medication, using alcohol, prescription painkillers, and
illegal substances. On average, opioid use kills 130 Americans
per day.
A slight increase in life expectancy indicates that we may
be on the right track, but there is more that needs to be done
to address this epidemic through comprehensive strategies and
work to ensure that our state and local governments are
equipped to care for non-violent offenders with mental health
and other substance abuse disorders. I hope that you will give
full and fair consideration to funding the Mentally Ill
Offender Act, which provides grants for these overburdened
state and local governments to support mental health courts,
training the staff, and mental health and substance abuse
treatment services, with the purpose of better addressing the
needs for our non-violent offenders.
By supporting these entities and addressing the substance
abuse and mental health issues and challenges around non-
violent offenders, we can lower the impact of the opioid
epidemic and decrease recidivism throughout our country.
I appreciate your consideration of these requests and the
opportunity to be before you today, and I yield back the
balance of my time. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Hill follows:]
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Mr. Serrano. Thank you so much for your testimony and we
truly appreciate it, your information and your concerns.
Mr. Aderholt.
Mr. Aderholt. Let me just echo the chairman's comments. I
have had a chance to work since I have been in Congress with
Historically Black Colleges and Universities, I understand the
importance and the impact and the historical aspect of those.
Certainly the Department of Justice, especially when it comes
to trying to make sure that mentally-- the mentally impaired is
something that we do not take lightly, it is something I also
think is very important.
So, thanks for your testimony on both of these things, your
interest and your work on them, and we look forward to working
with you on this committee and how we can try to be a piece of
the puzzle in trying to make this work for everyone. So, thanks
very much.
Mr. Hill. Thank you very much. I yield back.
Mr. Serrano. Thank you so much.
Representative Perlmutter.
STATEMENT OF HON. ED PERLMUTTER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS
FROM THE STATE OF COLORADO
Mr. Perlmutter. Mr. Chairman, Mr. Aderholt, Mr. Cartwright,
thank you for having this hearing this afternoon, so that we
can all make presentations to you about subjects and issues
that are very important to our district. So, for me, I
appreciate the opportunity to testify this afternoon about
funding for NASA and working together to get our astronauts to
Mars by 2033.
Supporting NASA and our aerospace industry is one of my top
priorities and Colorado has some of the best minds, companies,
and capabilities in the aerospace industry. So not only is it a
personal passion, obviously, it is something very important to
my state. And, after all, Colorado, as Mr. Aderholt knows, Mr.
Cartwright and Mr. Serrano, we are a mile above sea level, so
the first mile to get our astronauts to Mars is free.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Perlmutter. We have one of the country's largest space
economies, because we have just about everything in our state
from a strong scientific research community to small, medium,
and large commercial space companies, which work across the
civil and defense communities.
That is why I have been such a strong supporter for NASA,
as have you, as I sit on the Science, Space and Technology
Committee. And, importantly, it is about getting our astronauts
to Mars by 2033. This is when the orbits of Earth and Mars are
closest for years and it saves space travel and reduces the
risk for radiation, as Mr. Yoho was talking about, for our
astronauts. I believe we need this lead time for all of us to
prepare for the undertaking, which is a complicated mission,
obviously, which is going to require a lead by NASA, a public-
private partnership and international partnership.
Exploration is in our DNA as Americans and as humans. We
don't necessarily know where our exploration will take us, but
the benefits we have seen right back here on Earth from our
investment in exploration since the Mercury Program 60 years
ago has been tremendous. We have a skilled and driven workforce
we are investing in, and the inspiration for the next
generation will open new doors for new technologies and
answering new questions we can't even imagine today, like those
that Representative Yoho was bringing up about birth.
And while there are many things I disagree with with this
administration, I do think aerospace is an area of bipartisan
agreement here in Congress, in the White House, and at NASA. I
support the goals for accelerating human missions to land on
the Moon again-- that is now called the Artemis Program, as you
know-- as long as that program continues to focus on reducing
risk for our human missions to Mars.
Space exploration is hard and it will require sustained
investment from this subcommittee, and continued ingenuity by
the smart people at NASA and in the commercial sector. I am
asking for your help this year and for the next 13 to provide
NASA with the resources for the Mars 2033 mission and the
technologies needed for it like nuclear thermal propulsion;
entry, descent, and landing systems for Mars; a Mars transport
vehicle to get our astronauts around the planet; and many other
long lead investments that are needed.
I look forward to working with the subcommittee and the
entire Congress so we can achieve this goal, which is a very
difficult one and will be expensive, that is why we need to get
going now.
I am going to leave you with and I have left you with, and
I will give anybody who wants one of those bumper stickers, I
have plenty. [Laughter.]
Mr. Perlmutter. So here is my story. And, no, it is not
when I am leaving the Congress. So this is the story. So my
bumper sticker at home, I have my political bumper sticker,
``Perlmutter, Our Neighbor, Our Voice.'' OK? And then I have
that bumper sticker, ``2033.'' My next-door neighbor, a rock-
red Republican, came up to me, he says, ``OK, I get the
Perlmutter, Our Neighbor, Our Voice, are you running for
President in 2033?'' [Laughter.]
I said, no, it is not even a presidential year, that is
when we are going to get our astronauts to Mars. And this
committee is key to that mission, there is no ifs, ands, or
buts about it. The lead time is substantial, so that we can get
as many things answered as possible before those orbits align
at a time for getting our astronauts to the planet.
And with that, I yield to any questions. But obviously we
have talked a lot about this in our committee, Science, Space
and Technology, and NASA has been there to testify a number of
times, as has the administrator.
[The prepared statement Mr. Perlmutter follows:]
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Mr. Serrano. Well, we thank you for your presentation, it
was a very thorough one, and this is a very seriously ongoing
conversation in this committee and in other places throughout
the Congress. Thank you so much.
Mr. Perlmutter. Thank you for your time.
Mr. Serrano. Mr. Aderholt?
Mr. Aderholt. I just want to echo again the chairman's
comments. And space exploration, as he knows, is important to
this committee and important to me and we have worked very
closely. So, thank you for your work on this and we continue to
look forward to working with you, and so we can do space
exploration for this country.
So, thanks so much.
Mr. Cartwright. Other than being relieved that you are not
running for President, did your neighbor have any reaction to
this bumper sticker?
Mr. Perlmutter. Yes. He said, ``Can you guys really think
that far out? Can you come up with programs that really take
that long a time to put together?'' And I said absolutely we
can. You know, you see a lot of the clashes from day to day,
but when the Congress sets its mind on something and there is
this desire to do something bigger than any one of us or all of
us put together, we can do it. And he actually was pretty
impressed. Now, you know what, now the responsibility is on
your committee to keep him impressed. I think it is something
that ties all Americans together, and young and old. The
aspirational/inspirational element to something like this, it
is so much bigger than one administration or another.
So, Mr. Cartwright, yes, he was--he actually was excited
about it.
Mr. Cartwright. It does bring us together, doesn't it?
Mr. Perlmutter. I think it does and I think it will. So I
thank you all for your time.
Mr. Serrano. The subcommittee will note that Mr. Perlmutter
did not tell us if he was impressed with his reelection bumper
sticker. [Laughter.]
Mr. Perlmutter. I don't think so. Anyway, thank you.
Mr. Serrano. Thank you.
Representative Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon.
STATEMENT OF HON. JENNIFFER GONZALEZ-COLON, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM THE TERRITORY OF PUERTO RICO
Miss Gonzalez-Colon. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ranking
Member. And I will just take that note on the 2033, just to
remind the committee that this subcommittee got jurisdiction
under the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. So I ask the
subcommittee to provide robust funding to the National Science
Foundation, as well as NASA programs to support its operation,
and include language requiring the sustained Federal support
for the facility as well, and that may also help as the
greatest telescope in America.
First of all, thank you again to the committee for having
me here and providing me the opportunity to bring the issues
that for Puerto Rico are important in this fiscal year. In that
sense, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands--our Nation's
Caribbean border--continue to face high levels of violent
crime. In that sense, I respectfully urge the subcommittee to
include language, just like you did last year, directing the
U.S. Department of Justice to prioritize law enforcement
personnel and resources in the U.S. Caribbean, in particular a
focus on initiatives to reduce drug-related crime.
In order to ensure these efforts in making them successful,
I am requesting robust funding for the DOJ components that have
been on the front lines, fighting crime in Puerto Rico. I also
ask this subcommittee to provide the highest possible level of
funding for state and local law enforcement assistance
programs. In particular, the Byrne Program, the COPS Hiring
Program, the Project Safe Neighborhood Program, the Body Worn
Camera and Bulletproof Vest Partnership Programs, and the
Violence Against Women Act Programs.
This committee's also support is important and crucial to
ensure U.S. Department of Commerce treats Puerto Rico equally
under its statistical programs in fiscal year 2021. The island
is excluded from several Federal surveys, which hampers efforts
to evaluate our economy and our population needs. In that
sense, I request that you appropriate the Bureau of Economic
Analysis' budget request of $111 million, which includes
funding to support the agency's ongoing efforts to produce
annual GDP statistics for Puerto Rico.
I note that the Joint Explanatory Statement accompanying
the Consolidated Appropriations Act in 2020 required the U.S.
Census Bureau to submit a report containing an overall cost
estimate and implementation plan for Puerto Rico's inclusion in
additional surveys for which we are currently excluded. Please
evaluate this document and provide the necessary funding for
fiscal year 2021 to ensure the Census can begin working on
including the island under these data products.
I also ask this committee to maintain the language
requiring the Census Bureau data sources for the Electronic
Export Information requirement. Right now, they are working
with the government of Puerto Rico to make that happen, as you
suggested in the last report. So I strongly believe this
requirement is a burden on interstate commerce and thus hampers
efforts to grow our Island's economy. Moreover, it gives the
wrong impression that Puerto Rico is a foreign jurisdiction,
hampering our imports from the States, especially when EEI
filings are not required for shipments between several states
in the Nation.
I also request funding for NOAA programs particularly
important for Puerto Rico. The Coral Reef Conservation Program;
Integrated Ocean Observing System, which supports the Caribbean
Regional Association for Coastal Ocean Observing; the National
Sea Grant College Program; the National Estuarine Research
Reserve System, which supports the Jobos Bay National Estuarine
Reserve on the southern coast of the Island; and the Coastal
Zone Management Grants.
This request also for NOAA and their Tsunami Warning
Program is important during hurricane season as well. Its
National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program, which provides
funding for the Puerto Rico Seismic Network, to improve
community preparedness and education of tsunami threats across
the Island.
And, having said that, I just want to conclude saying thank
you, Chairman Serrano, for your leadership in the committee and
the support of Puerto Rico all the time you have been here in
this committee and in Congress, including your longstanding
advocacy for the Island's decolonization efforts to bring
equality to 3.2 million American citizens on the Island.
I thank you, all of you, for your consideration for this
request and of course for the opportunity to testify.
[The prepared statement of Miss Gonzalez-Colon follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Serrano. Thank you so much. Thank you for your
comprehensive statement and thank you for being with us today.
Mr. Aderholt?
Mr. Aderholt. Let me just again say thank you for being
here and for your comments. And, as I have said before, this is
helpful to us to sort of know what issues that we need to pay
attention to. So these issues that you brought up regarding the
region that you represent and Puerto Rico, inclusion in these
Federal funds, thanks for bringing it to our attention. So we
look forward to working with you.
Ms. Gonzalez-Colon. Thank you.
Mr. Serrano. Thank you.
Mr. Kennedy?
STATEMENT OF HON. JOSEPH P. KENNEDY III, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS
Mr. Kennedy. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I want to thank
the ranking member, Mr. Aderholt, for convening this hearing,
for listening to Members, and for all of the work you and your
staff are doing to dedicate funding to so many critical
programs. Mr. Cartwright, thank you very much for being here as
well.
It wasn't all that long ago that I found myself standing
next to clients as a legal aid volunteer in Boston's housing
courts, helping people desperate to keep a roof over their
family's head, navigate a complex web of laws and codes that I,
too, struggled to comprehend.
Through their eyes, I saw our systems failing. A justice
system that wasn't providing anything close to equal justice. A
housing system that promised tenants and homeowners certain
rights, but only if they had access and resources to pursue
those remedies. And an economic system tilted towards those who
are already powerful.
From housing to health care to domestic violence and to
sexual assault, to employment, to recovering from a natural
disaster, lack of legal representation can trigger a cascade of
consequences that leaves our neighbors vulnerable to
bankruptcy, unemployment, homelessness, incarceration, and even
the loss of life.
Nationwide, 90 percent of landlords in eviction lawsuits
have legal representation, only about 10 percent of their
tenants do. Eighty six percent of low-income people involved in
civil legal proceedings receive insufficient help or none at
all. Nearly three quarters of low-income households encountered
at least one civil legal problem in the past year.
Low-income Americans will ask for help from local legal aid
organizations nearly 2 million times over the course of a given
year and, because of a lack of funding, they will only received
limited or no help more than half that time. But when we make
good on our promise of equal justice, the results are
undeniable.
Every year, organizations receiving funding from the Legal
Services Corporation support nearly 100,000 veterans and their
families. In 2019, LSC released an extensive report showing how
critical legal aid is in our efforts to combat an opioid
epidemic. Studies in Manhattan have shown that legal counsel
for tenants led to a 77 percent decrease in warrants issued for
evictions.
In rural areas, in urban settings, in the wake of natural
disasters, in domestic violence proceedings, in veterans'
affairs, in health care disputes, and in housing courts, every
single day underpaid lawyers and volunteers are working for
underfunded organizations and are desperately trying to make
good on this Nation's promise of equal justice because of what
we have failed to do.
We are here today to ask that Congress provide robust
funding for LSC, because we can't afford not to. But we should
also make clear that our work isn't finished with one
appropriations bill. We have a long way to go and I look
forward to working with everyone in this room to help us get
there.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Kennedy follows:]
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Mr. Serrano. Thank you. This committee gave quite robust
funding last year, this current year, to Legal Services
Corporation. Again, we are not making any commitments. It is an
account that has-- a program that has a lot of support in the
Congress and on both sides of the aisle. So we thank you for
your testimony.
Mr. Kennedy. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Aderholt. Thank you, Congressman Kennedy, for your
comments here. This has been an issue that I have followed and
I have a lot of folks from my constituency in the State of
Alabama to come up to also talk about the importance of the
issues here regarding the Legal Services Corporation. So, no
doubt, it serves a role. I think your examples here are a good
example of that.
So we look forward to working with you and seeing how we
can make the funding as robust as possible, and thanks for your
testimony.
Mr. Kennedy. Thank you very much, Mr. Ranking Member. I am
grateful for it. And Mr. Cartwright, I know was a member of the
bar as well, I know it is an issue close to your heart. So
thank you for your support.
Mr. Cartwright. I wish to associate myself with each and
every one of your remarks, Mr. Kennedy.
Mr. Kennedy. Thank you. Thank you all, I'm grateful.
Mr. Serrano. Thank you, Mr. Kennedy.
Mr. Kennedy. Thank you.
Mr. Serrano. All right. Representative Gonzalez.
STATEMENT OF HON. ANTHONY GONZALEZ, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF OHIO
Mr. Gonzalez. Chairman Serrano, Ranking Member Aderholt,
and members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity
to speak today about several issues that are of vital
importance to my community in Northeast Ohio.
The first issue I would like to discuss is encouraging the
committee to fully fund initiatives that combat child
exploitation. Last year, the New York Times published an
investigative report detailing the explosion of child sexual
abuse material that is online. In 2019, technology companies
reported over 69 million images and videos depicting abuse.
While law enforcement agencies have expressed concerns
about being understaffed and underfunded, evolving technologies
have provided new tools to shield predators such as encryption
techniques and anonymous platforms like the dark web. Law
enforcement must have access to updated technology and adequate
staffing resources to address this increasing criminal
activity.
I want to thank the committee for its leadership the last
several years to increase funding in this area. It is clear,
though, that this crisis is at a breaking point. I request the
committee reaffirm Congress' commitment to combating child
exploitation as a law enforcement priority by increasing
funding for Missing and Exploited Children programs to $105
million in fiscal year 2021.
One of the programs that would benefit from this funding is
the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, or ICAC. ICACs
are located throughout the country and tasked with responding
to reports of child exploitation within their jurisdictions.
Congress has continuously underfunded the ICAC program,
appropriating around half of the amount authorized. These law
enforcement officers are facing mentally exhausting conditions
and limited resources, and they need congressional support.
The second program that needs this funding is the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children, or NCMEC. NCMEC is
the clearinghouse that intakes reports from tech companies
about child exploitation on their platforms and directs the
reports to the appropriate law enforcement jurisdiction. It is
the unfortunate truth that the volume of reports coming into
NCMEC is so big that they do not have the resources to address
them all-- not even close, actually. Increasing funding for the
Missing and Exploited Children programs will help to adequately
resource ICAC and NCMEC to effectively combat the spread of
online child exploitation.
The second initiative I would like to advocate for today is
the STOP School Violence Grant Program that is essential to the
safety of America's students. Every year, there are thousands
of instances of suicides, assaults, bullying, and homicides
that affect schools across the country. Research shows that
students often display warning signs before taking any action,
including telling someone of their plans. STOP School Violence
Grants are used to implement evidence-based prevention program
training to give our students, teachers, and staff the tools to
recognize these warning signs and take proactive steps towards
improving the physical and mental well-being of our students.
I appreciate the opportunity to make a statement today and
look forward to working with the committee to fund efforts that
will keep our communities safe. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Gonzalez follows:]
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Mr. Serrano. We thank you for your testimony on these very
important issues and for your support, advocacy, and we will
certainly take everything into consideration as we go along.
Mr. Aderholt?
Mr. Aderholt. Yes, I concur, Mr. Chairman. Again, thank
you, Congressman, for your comments on this and your commitment
to these issues that I think we would be very much in
agreement. We certainly look forward to working with you to see
how we can appropriately fund all these programs and thanks for
your testimony.
Mr. Gonzalez. Thank you.
Mr. Serrano. Thank you. I'm sorry, go ahead.
Mr. Cartwright. Congressman Gonzalez, welcome to CJS, and
thank you for your advocacy for funding for Missing and
Exploited Children's programs. I can't think of many more
important things that we have to do here on this subcommittee.
I do look forward to working with my colleague from Ohio,
although I must say I begrudge you every single yard you gained
against Penn State.
Mr. Gonzalez. I'm sorry. [Laughter.]
Mr. Cartwright. Apology accepted.
Sticking up for missing and exploited children is something
that doesn't require any nudging for Democrats and Republicans
to see eye-to-eye on and work together to fight against. I
introduced the Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Victim
Assistance Act in 2014 for that very reason. We got solid
bipartisan support for it and it passed into law in 2018. And
it cured really a defect in the law that was preventing
remedies, civil remedies for victims of child pornography.
Look, we owe it to our children to provide the resources
necessary to fight these forces of evil, is what they are,
protect them against these threats. And we owe it to our law
enforcement professionals to give them the resources they need
to combat this wickedness.
So I am here to say, thank you for appearing before us, and
I do have some questions, Congressman. Have you been hearing
from law enforcement officers about the scale of this crisis
and, if so, have they discussed how the lack of resources
hampers them?
Mr. Gonzalez. Yes. Thank you for your question.
So I visited with the FBI Regional Field Office in
Cleveland, and then have also been in contact with the Ohio
ICACs. And so the answer to your question is, yes. The lack of
funding, it has two effects. One, it means that they simply
cannot get to the prosecutions for a whole host of exploitive
images, and so what they have to do is they prioritize based on
the age of the child. So as young as infants are being abused
and being pursued online, which is disgusting. And, as a
result, there is sort of a segment of the population once you
get over a certain age where, because the resources are so
slim, they can't even get to it because they are prioritizing
the youngest children.
Mr. Cartwright. Well, how about suggestions? Do you have
any suggestions about the greatest need and where we can best
give our law enforcement officers more resources in their
efforts?
Mr. Gonzalez. Absolutely. So we are advocating for overall
funding of all the programs to $105 million, and I see kind of
two areas. One is staffing, they are absolutely understaffed.
If you talk to the ICACs or NCMEC, you will find out that there
is just a staffing issue, we don't have enough people, but also
the technology. A lot of the images are trafficked through the
dark web using non-traceable weapons, essentially. And so the
technology needs to be upgraded as well, because if we have
better technology, then we can go pursue the bad actors where
they are, quote-unquote, ``living,'' which is on the dark web.
Mr. Cartwright. Thank you. And, finally, any other issues
that you would like to highlight regarding funding or the lack
thereof for the Missing and Exploited Children's programs?
Mr. Gonzalez. You know, what I really want to do is I want
to highlight the great work that NCMEC and the ICACs are doing.
These are wonderful people who have a very, very difficult,
arguably impossible job. It is them who are on the front lines
who have to look at these images and process them, and then put
the investigations in place and go pursue the criminals. They
are coordinating as best as humanly possible, but my general
perspective is, given the lack of funding, we are asking them
to do an impossible job. And as you said and as you fought for
for years on this issue, it is something we have to do, it is
an imperative of this Congress. So, thank you.
Mr. Cartwright. Well said, well said. Thank you.
And I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Serrano. Thank you, sir.
Mr. Gonzalez. Thank you, sir.
Mr. Serrano. Mr. Schneider, Representative Brad Schneider,
patiently waiting.
STATEMENT OF HON. BRADLEY SCOTT SCHNEIDER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF ILLINOIS
Mr. Schneider. Well, thank you, Chairman Serrano, and to
everyone here. I appreciate the opportunity to be before you to
testify.
Zion, Illinois in my district is one of the many
communities around the country shouldering the burden of
decommissioned nuclear power plants. Only a few hundred yards
from the shores of Lake Michigan sits more than 2 million
pounds of spent nuclear fuel that serves as physical testament
to the legacy of nuclear power in our community.
Storing this spent nuclear waste without compensation is
just one component of the legacy Zion must bear from the
nuclear power plant that once sat on its border. The more
pervasive impact is the ongoing stunting of the local economy.
Zion lost its biggest source of tax revenue when the power
plant closed and now has some of the highest, if not the
highest property taxes in the entire country. As a result, home
ownership is limited and companies are wary of moving into a
community with such a significant tax burden. That is why I am
working to pass the STRANDED Act, which would help communities
like Zion.
But in the meantime, this committee made a significant
contribution towards helping nuclear closure communities last
fiscal year. For the first time, in fiscal year 2020, funding
for the Economic Development Administration included $15
million to boost economic development in nuclear closure
communities.
I know that Zion is working to put forward a competitive
application, but we also know this funding pales in the
comparison to the need these communities actually face, and we
know that more communities will face decommissioning in the
coming decade. It is our duty to help communities like Zion,
who for too long have shouldered the legacy of nuclear power on
their own.
The EDA funding you have included last fiscal year
represents a vital resource for these communities to plan the
next chapter of economic growth, that is why I am strongly
urging this subcommittee to once again fund this critical
program. I hope you include $15 million, the same level as
fiscal year 2020, to help the nuclear closure communities
throughout our country.
With that, I thank you and yield back.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Schneider follows:]
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Mr. Serrano. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony, I
really appreciate it.
Mr. Aderholt?
Mr. Aderholt. Thanks for your testimony and look forward to
working with you.
Mr. Schneider. Great. Thanks so much.
Mr. Serrano. Well, we thank everyone who has been with us
today, those who are here and those who are gone.
Thank you, Mr. Aderholt. And the subcommittee is adjourned.
[Material submitted for inclusion in the record follows:]
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PUBLIC TESTIMONY SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD
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Tuesday, March 10, 2020
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FISCAL YEAR 2021 BUDGET REQUEST
WITNESS
HON. WILBUR ROSS, SECRETARY
Mr. Serrano. The subcommittee will come to order.
Today we welcome back the Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross,
before the subcommittee to testify about the Commerce
Department's fiscal year 2021 budget.
As we all remember, the Secretary decided not to come and
visit with us last year. So I am glad that there has been a
change of heart. Despite your absence, we submitted questions
for the record, which you returned to us just 4 days ago. This
disregard for the role of Congress not only offends this
committee but diminishes our ability to do our job.
I am glad you are here today, and I hope that your presence
here is an indication that the Department is turning a new
page.
The Department, through the Census Bureau, is in the midst
of administering the 2020 Census with most people receiving
their first outreach this week. I am sure all of us here want a
fair and accurate count and will likely have numerous questions
about how things are going.
The impact of the coronavirus outbreak on your plans and
the ongoing efforts--effects of the fight over the citizenship
question. We will also want to hear more about the
administrative data collection process, your commitment to the
privacy, and the Bureau's plans for this information.
I would be remiss if I did not mention the inadequacy of
the Department's budget request in a number of important areas
that have bipartisan support. I think that many of the proposed
cuts in the Commerce Department's request show a disregard for
the tens of millions of Americans and Americans' businesses who
are helped by these programs. Your request once again seeks to
eliminate major economic development programs, like the
Economic Development Administration and the Minority Business
Development Agency. These agencies promote economic development
in underserved areas and communities, including in many areas
that voted for the President 4 years ago.
The President's budget proposal also undermines Americans'
manufacturing by once again proposing to eliminate the
Manufacturing Extension Partnership program. In NOAA, the
administration has proposed eliminating at least 24 programs
and includes significant budgets cuts for programs focused on
climate change, research, frontline response to environmental
issues at the State or local levels and educating the next
generation of STEM students.
These proposals undermine the future of our Nation's
scientific leadership and our ability to respond
comprehensively to global climate change, and that is
unacceptable.
In many cases, the proposed cuts are ones that Congress has
rejected in the past. We expect to have a tight budget
environment for domestic nondefense discretionary bills this
year, and given the holes that this subcommittee will need to
fill, it will be hard for us to talk of major budget
investments requested by the Department.
I look forward to talking with you more about these issues
today. I look forward to your testimony. I am glad that you are
here.
With that, let me turn to Ranking Member Aderholt for his
opening statement.
Mr. Aderholt. I thank you for yielding, Mr. Chairman, and
thanks for organizing this important hearing today, and it is
good to have the Secretary with us to learn more about the
resources that are needed at the Department of Commerce.
So, welcome, Secretary Ross. We are honored to have you
here today, and I wholeheartedly support the Department's
efforts to promote job creation and economic competitiveness
and to protect our Nation's innovators and manufacturers from
unfair trade practices in particular.
This administration has stood up more for manufacturing
jobs in Alabama and across the country than any other. So I
thank you, Secretary Ross, for your work on that. I thank
President Trump for his commitment to that for making American
industry a very top priority.
Beyond fostering jobs and opportunities for the people of
north Alabama, the area that I represent, and across literally
across the Nation, the Department of Commerce also oversees a
variety of critical programs that are so important to this
Nation.
For example, the Commerce Department administers a vital
system of export controls that restrict the export of items
that could have a detrimental impact on the national security
of the United States. In addition, the Department's National
Institute of Standards and Technology works to advance
measurement science standards and technology in ways that
enhance economic security and improve our quality of life.
Further, as this committee is well aware, the Department of
Commerce leads efforts to improve the quality and the
efficiency of this Decennial Census and other important
surveys. We are actually watching with great anticipation right
now as the 2020 Census gets kicked off later this month.
The fiscal year 2021 budget shifts our focus on the Census
Bureau's post-enumeration operations, including the release of
data for apportionment and for redistricting purposes. I will
note that many in Alabama and other States are concerned about
whether the surge in illegal immigration after the last Census,
combined with the policies of sanctuary cities, will cause some
of the States that actually help enforce our country's
immigration laws to actually lose a congressional seat, as well
as electoral vote in the presidential election process.
It should be noted that this budget also supports critical
activities for NOAA, including the provision of daily weather
forecasts, severe storm warnings, climate monitoring, along
with efforts to support fisheries and foster marine commerce.
And I would remiss if I didn't mention that more Americans
perish from tornadoes in the Southeast than anywhere else in
the country. So much the time we think of other parts,
especially the Midwest, but there is more Americans have
actually died from tornadoes in the Southeast.
As we debate the budget priorities for fiscal year 2021, we
remember that there was at least 24, if not more, Americans'
lives that were lost over the past few days in tornadoes that
occurred in Tennessee, and then we also remember the 23
Americans that lost their lives just a year ago in Alabama from
tornadoes. NOAA's VORTEX Southeast program is central to
understanding and forecasting tornadoes in the Southeast and
how residents respond to these warnings.
I look forward to discussing many important matters with
you, Mr. Secretary. I will have some questions about trade
enforcement, weather forecasting, cybersecurity, and the
quantum computing environment and space commerce among many
other things that will be brought up.
So, again, I thank you, Mr. Chairman, for yielding.
And I thank you, Mr. Secretary, for being here this
morning.
And I yield back.
Mr. Serrano. I thank you, Mr. Aderholt.
Mr. Secretary, you are now recognized to give your opening
statement. Please try to limit your remarks to 5 minutes, and
we will ensure that your full statement appears in the record.
STATEMENT OF HON. WILBUR ROSS, SECRETARY, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF
COMMERCE
Secretary Ross. I thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Serrano, Ranking Member Aderholt, and members of
the House Appropriations Subcommittee, I thank you for this
opportunity to discuss President Trump's fiscal year 2021
budget request for the U.S. Department of Commerce. It is a
privilege to appear before you today.
We are committed to working with you to grow the U.S.
economy, defend our industries from unfair foreign competition,
and protect our national security.
The 2021 budget for the Commerce Department achieves these
goals by providing the resources needed for the successful
completion of the 2020 Decennial Census by ensuring American
leadership in space, by bolstering trade promotion, trade
enforcement, and export controls, by providing for satellite
acquisition and vessel recapitalization for the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, by generating the
timely economic data needed by businesses to analyze markets,
invest in communities, and hire American workers, and by
supporting research, development, invention, and standards in
leading-edge industries and technologies.
In the short time allotted to my opening statement, I will
discuss three priorities for next year: first, the Census
Bureau; then space; and then trade.
The request of Census Bureau for fiscal year 2021 is $1.6
billion. I am pleased to report that, with your support, we are
on budget, on schedule, and on track to accomplish the 2020
Decennial Census. Next year's budget supports the important
post-enumeration operations for determining apportionment and
the allocation of Federal funding.
The Commerce Department's Office of Space Commerce is the
second priority initiative that urgently needs funding. Our
request of $15 million advances U.S. leadership in space as we
shift responsibility for tracking tens of thousands, in fact,
hundreds of thousands, of pieces of space debris from the
Department of Defense to the Department of Commerce. The
exponential growth of commercial satellites is increasing
geometrically the risk of catastrophic collisions that could
generate additional debris and threaten critical space assets.
The task of tracking this debris and providing adequate
warnings to space operators was set forth in Space Policy
Directive No. 3.
Finally, the budget request $474.4 million for the
International Trade Administration, the ITA, enabling U.S.
companies and their domestic employees to compete on a level
international playing field. We seek an additional $5 million
for ITA's Enforcement and Compliance division to keep up with
the increasing number of anti-dumping and countervailing duty
cases. Funding also would enable us to conduct additional
reviews of foreign acquisitions of U.S. companies as required
by the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act,
FIRRMA.
In my time with you today, we can discuss the Commerce
Department's budget request for all of the bureaus, including
NOAA, NIST, the Bureau of Industry and Security, U.S. Patent
and Trademark Office, and other agencies between--within the
Department.
On a personal note, Chairman Serrano, congratulations on
your honorable service here in Congress and all you have done
for your constituents and for the American people. I truly wish
you well in your retirement from this Chamber.
Now, on behalf of the Department, I will try my best to
answer your questions.
[The prepared statement of Secretary Ross follows:]
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Mr. Serrano. I thank you for your comments, and I will miss
this place, but it has been a long time: 30 years here and 16
in the New York State Assembly; 46 years is a long time, and
maybe it is time to go watch a few Yankee games. It is down the
block from where I live, you know. But thank you for your
comments. I appreciate them.
Mr. Secretary, as more cases of the virus make the
headlines, I am concerned about how the Census is planning to
address the potential impact this will have not only on
response but also on the number of partners and enumerators who
are willing to ensure an accurate count. What can you tell us
about the Census Bureau's plans to deal with the coronavirus,
and do you anticipate that you will spend any real contingency
funds for this purpose?
Secretary Ross. Yes, sir.
Well, first of all, because we added internet responses as
an alternative this year--and we, in fact, expect a very large
proportion of the responses to be by internet--so fortunately
that doesn't involve any physical contact with people and,
therefore, is in and of itself an advantage. Second, people can
also respond by phone. Again, it doesn't involve physical
contact. And they still have the original ability to respond by
mail or in paper, and, as far as I know, the postal system has
not posed any moratorium on postal service.
In terms of the Department itself, we have a fusion center
set up at Census headquarters here, and that involves a group
of people that are on 24/7 to alert senior management to any
contingencies that develop, such as an outbreak of coronavirus
in a particular location, such as a change in health warning
from the Federal Government.
So we are very well-equipped to--we have a quick response
team. We have already organized the response team, and,
therefore, I believe we have done as much as we can to be ready
for whatever contingencies come up, whether coronavirus,
whether weather, whether whatever.
Mr. Serrano. In the information and the comments that I am
sure the Department gets from the people on the field who are
going to conduct the Census, people that have been placed there
already to do the work, are they showing any concern about how
the virus might affect?
Secretary Ross. Well, we have only begun the mailing a
couple of days ago. I am happy to say we already have gotten
some internet responses. So that is the only direct thing that
we are able to comment on there.
Everybody is obviously concerned with all the media
coverage. I don't think there is anybody who lacks concern
about the potential for it. So we will just have to play it by
ear. We are ready to make responses, and we will deal with the
situation as it evolves.
Mr. Serrano. I thank you, Mr. Secretary.
Your budget for NOAA proposes to consolidate the National
Centers for Environmental Prediction, Climate Prediction, and
Weather Prediction in your congressional justification. You
know that it will limit some of NOAA's products and services,
which have supported national security planning and execution
for a number of things, including pandemic health planning.
Do you stand by this proposed decrease in operational
capacity in light of the coronavirus?
Secretary Ross. Well, in terms of the Census, we have a $2
billion contingency fund available to us. As of the moment, we
don't think there is any particular necessity to use it. What
we are doing to try to keep the workplace safe is encouraging
employees to do four things: one, practice good hygiene, stop
handshaking, clean hands at the door, create habits and
reminders to avoid touching faces, disinfect surfaces like
doorknobs, increase ventilation, be careful with meetings and
travel, limit food sharing, strengthen health screening, and
stay home if they feel sick or if they have a sick member in
their home. So those are the very specific actions that we have
already taken within the Census.
Mr. Serrano. I appreciate that.
But within NOAA, I had asked you just to comment on what
your cuts would do for the budget NOAA, which proposes to
consolidate the centers. Can you tell us anything about that?
Secretary Ross. I am sorry. I have a little trouble hearing
you, sir.
I believe you were asking about the regional coastal
resilience program.
Mr. Serrano. The consolidation of Climate Prediction
Centers, Weather Prediction Center functions at NOAA, as well
as pandemic health planning.
Secretary Ross. Yes. Those were moves initiated by the
career staff, and their purpose is to increase the efficiency
of the operation. They don't believe that there will be any
material adverse consequence from doing so.
Mr. Serrano. I thank you. We will revisit that, I am sure,
during the year.
I am concerned with news reports that the Department of
Homeland Security is deploying elite tactical teams to cities,
including New York, with little to no justification that would
potentially suppress response rates. The Commerce Department
has a responsibility to ensure that the Census Bureau meets its
constitutional mandate to enumerate all persons.
Did you communicate concerns to the DHS Acting Secretary
about the potential impact to the Census operation and, if not,
can you commit today that you will ask for a delay in this
specific operation until the conclusion of the 2020 Census? Now
you know that, in one way or another, we have been very public
about the fact that anything that may give people the feeling
that they are being chased or looked after or information is
being used for other purposes will only hurt the Census count.
And so these tactical teams, these elite teams being sent into
the cities is concerning a lot of people.
Secretary Ross. Well, the Census is not an enforcement
agency. We do not give the schedule of our enumerators to
Homeland Security, to ICE, or to anyone else. So there is no
danger that enforcement officials will be following the Census
taker into a home. Second, all Census employees take a lifetime
oath not to disclose any individual personal information to
anybody. It is not permitted to be used for any purpose other
than enumeration, and if anyone were to violate, it is
punishable by a jail sentence and a very large fine. We also
have done the best can we can with cybersecurity. The data are
encrypted from the moment it comes into our possession, while
it is being transmitted, and when it is at rest in the
computers.
Mr. Serrano. Let me finish this up by asking you do you
have any idea as to why these teams are being deployed,
especially at this particular time? You see, I can't emphasize
enough the need to have the Census count be one that is free of
any outside interference. And when you send people in to look
for certain things in neighborhoods, it just has a chilling
effect on people's ability to allow themselves to be counted.
Secretary Ross. The Census employees are very clearly
identified as such. They have a badge. They have a physical ID.
So there should not be any confusion in the part of the public
as to whether it is a Census employee or an ICE person on the
scene.
Second, I mentioned to you the precautions that we already
do take.
And, third, we are running much more in the way of
advertising, explaining why the Census is safe, why the data
are protected, and why we do--we are not asking the citizenship
question and are only asking basically nine very
straightforward easy-to-answer questions. So we have spent a
lot more on advertising than ever before. We have a lot more
partnerships with community institutions and national
institutions than ever before. We are doing a lot more ethnic
advertising to those segments of the population that might be
particularly concerned about enforcement activities. So we are
doing the best we can with that.
We also have established on our website a rumors section
where we will try to deal with anything we have found that
comes out that is a fraudulent rumor that might give people
cause for alarm.
And, finally, we have engaged very constructively with
Facebook, Twitter, and all the other social media organizations
to have them be very scrupulous about taking down misleading
ads or blogs that might come in.
Mr. Serrano. I thank you.
Let me just close by saying that I wish the Commerce
Department would at some time ask the Justice Department just
why they are coming in at this particular time.
Mr. Aderholt.
Mr. Aderholt. I thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Secretary, I commend the Department for creating a new
section 232 exclusion portal that handles the vast amount of
232 exclusion requests, and I know you have received quite a
bit of good feedback on that effort there.
However, some users of this new portal are reporting that
it is more difficult for users to download a request objection
or rebuttal submission. And even with the new portal, we are
hearing reports that it is still very difficult to track and to
analyze aggregated requests by product, volume, country of
origin, alloy, and other relevant factors. Furthermore, users
report being unable to assess within the portal whether granted
exclusion requests have been utilized and to what extent.
My question that I would ask to you is: Does the Department
intend to feature such data, including as a filtering option,
and does Commerce have a timeline for improving the elements of
the portal that users are finding frustrating or that are
lacking in some ways?
Secretary Ross. Well, we have been simplifying things, and
we have been accelerating the response time. We have achieved a
79-percent decrease in initial posting times and 63-percent
decrease in decision times under the portal regime.
On average, the Department now posts requests within 3 days
of submission and renders decisions on those cases that have no
objections within 59 days of submission. That is about the
fastest that we can do, sir, because there is statutory periods
for notifications.
Mr. Aderholt. But regarding these areas that people are
finding that are objectionable, the frustrating, and the
lacking, is there--are you-all looking into that to how you-all
can improve that?
Secretary Ross. We are, and we have phone number for people
to call and internet place for them to notify if they have
questions about terms that they don't understand or other
guidance that they may need. And all ex parte communiques are
posted on the website. There are no concealed ex parte
communications.
Mr. Aderholt. Let me ask you about working to mitigate
enforcement circumvention, that is, product modification,
transshipment. Given the significant costs the Department
incurs, investigating these trade remedy cases, how are you
working with the enforcement of those things?
Secretary Ross. Well, we recently--at our suggestion, the
President posted another executive order that deals with what
we call derivative products. Those are ones that are largely
just the raw material with a little tiny modification that have
increased in quantity and, therefore, represent a form of
circumvention of the original 232. So that has dealt with quite
a few of those items. And we keep screening the monthly data,
both in steel and aluminum, in search of any more.
Plus, very recently the aluminum industry filed with us a
petition covering another 22 items that they feel may be
circumventing. We are studying that very carefully, and if
warranted, we will self-initiate again on that.
Mr. Aderholt. What criteria does the Department use when it
is determining whether a case is ripe for self-initiation, as
it did in 2017 with the common alloy aluminum sheet from China?
Secretary Ross. Well, we are data-driven. We are fact-
driven. So, to the degree that we can gather together on our
own or with help from industry sufficient facts to warrant
self-initiation, we do it. We also try especially to consider
doing it in cases where the industry is worried about
retaliation from a foreign country, where they may have some
complaints, but also have some operating facilities. So we are
very interested in self-initiation because it speeds up the
process, it lowers the cost to the American industry for
conducting the process, and we think in general it is a very
worthwhile activity.
Mr. Aderholt. And can you talk a little bit about how the
Department is seeking to make trade remedies accessible to
petitioners who are actually small businesses?
Secretary Ross. We hold seminars around the country. We
have offices in many tens of American cities that try to help
people understand both how they can export better and how they
can protect themselves from illicit imports. That is probably
the best mechanism we have for dealing with the small business
community.
Mr. Aderholt. I thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Serrano. I thank you.
We now welcome the chairwoman of the full committee, Mrs.
Lowey.
The Chairwoman. I thank you.
And welcome. Nice to see you again. I am sorry, but I was
dealing with the coronavirus next door. There are many----
Secretary Ross. Oh, my goodness.
The Chairwoman. hearings at the same time.
Secretary Ross. Well, I hope haven't been exposed,
Congresswoman.
The Chairwoman [continuing]. No, I hope not, but we do have
multiple hearings and I am glad to see you today.
Mr. Secretary, the Republican National Committee recently
sent mailers soliciting campaign donations that were designed
to look like the Census form. With existing concerns around
disinformation campaigns on social media, these kinds of
mailers are dangerous, predatory, and exacerbate concerns with
undercounting.
If you could, share with me what the Census Bureau is doing
to swiftly, directly, and effectively counter these efforts to
ensure a complete count.
Secretary Ross. I thank you for that question. It is a very
relevant one.
As you are probably aware, something like a fifth of all
the internet users around the world are indicated to be bots.
So it is a real problem to have extraneous material come in. So
we have put up a rumors page on our website that counteracts
whatever rumors we are aware of. Further, we have made
relatively formal arrangements with the major social media
entities--Facebook, Twitter, and the others--so that they are
very vigilant about taking down bad material that comes up. And
Facebook, as you probably are aware, has taken down that
Republican National Committee message.
The Chairwoman. Was there any, frankly, research done to
suggest that the Republican National Committee did not do it or
are you acknowledging they did do it?
Secretary Ross. Well, I don't know----
The Chairwoman. And then I would be interested no know what
the administration is doing about that.
Secretary Ross. Well, I have no idea whether it was a
legitimate thing by the RNC or not. What I do know is that we
have made a point of emphasizing in our ads and in our
communications that we don't ask for money. We don't ask for
people's Social Security number. We don't ask for anything like
that, and Facebook has already taken that ad down.
The Chairwoman. Do you have the--does the Census Bureau or
the Department have any authority to penalize those who falsely
present documents as a Census form?
Secretary Ross. Last--well, present documents. If you are
talking about social media communiques or advertisements, I
don't think we have any legal authority to deal with them. We
are not----
The Chairwoman. I just want to make it clear. These were
mailers from the Republican National Committee going directly
to people's home.
Secretary Ross. Right. No, I understand what the situation
appears to be. I don't believe we have any authority over it.
If you are aware of any statutory authority, I would love to
hear about it.
The Chairwoman. Well, I would like to suggest that this is
outrageous. No one, to my knowledge, refuted the fact that the
Republican National Committee sent these forms in. It was
deceptive, and I would like to know what the Government of the
United States that interfaces with the Republican National
Committee is going to do about it because it is outrageous.
Secretary Ross. I hear your observation.
The Chairwoman. OK. Let me on to the next one. I am really
concerned about the data-sharing agreements the Census Bureau
has with multiple Federal agencies, including the Department of
Homeland Security and the State Department. Many of these
agreements were signed months ago. My staff has been asking for
copies of these since at least October. My staff were only
recently notified these agreements were posted at the end of
February.
Secretary Ross. Most of those agreements were not even
entered into until February. We had to negotiate agreements
with the various agencies, and that took quite a while to do.
To my knowledge, we posted them as soon as we had definitive
agreement.
As to the nature of the sharing arrangement, it is a one-
way sharing. We get access to their data. We have no obligation
to provide any data to them, and, indeed, we are prohibited
from doing so. So it is a one-way arrangement that we have with
them.
The Chairwoman. Well, I would like more information on
that, Mr. Secretary, because you know there would be real
concern among those who were asked for information for the
Census if, in fact, that information was transferred to the
Department of Homeland Security. And I am very concerned that
your department has delayed to get this information to my staff
and only after it was publicly available because I personally
was very concerned about that.
Look, we all want to get an accurate Census, but we know
there are concerns.
Secretary Ross. Well, I am not aware that anyone within our
department did anything deliberately to delay posting on the
website the information. If they didn't respond to a direct
request, I apologize for that. They should have. But in any
event, as soon as we had definitive agreements, it is my
understanding we put them on the website.
The Chairwoman. If I can just take one more--can I ask one
more question?
Mr. Serrano. Sure.
The Chairwoman. OK. Now just to pursue this issue, I
understand the Census Bureau is producing citizenship data at
the block level. Now this data is supposed to be anonymized to
ensure privacy, but the data you plan to release will
effectively show where pockets of citizens and noncitizens
reside. Is that correct?
Secretary Ross. That is the request that was made in the
executive order by the President, yes, ma'am.
The Chairwoman. Well, I thank you for that information.
I think it is entirely inappropriate, and we will follow
up, and I would like to have some explanations about who
directed it. And if the President himself did, I would like a
response. I don't expect him to come here before this committee
at any time, but I thank you for your honesty and your
straightforward response, and we will certainly pursue it.
Again, the data you plan to release will show where pockets
of citizens and noncitizens reside, and it is the President who
has requested that data?
Secretary Ross. Well, what we have--what we are doing is
the following: We have not received all of the raw data from
the Federal agencies. The passport data from the State
Department has not yet been forthcoming. It will be within the
next few days. The data we have received, the career personnel
at Census are analyzing, trying to figure out what steps they
can take with it. So we don't have a final decision yet.
What we do feel very strongly about is we will mask the
data that we put out, the so-called differential privacy
activity, which essentially consists of introducing static into
the material so that individual data would be exceedingly
difficult, if not impossible, to track from comparing the
Census data to other public data.
The Chairwoman. You have been very generous, Mr. Chairman,
with your time.
And I would suggest that this is such a critical issue
because the amount of money we have in New York is dependent
on--and in other States--accurate Census data. So, if there is
monkey business around here and if this Census data is being
used by the Department of Homeland Security or other
departments, this is a big problem for me and for all of us in
the Congress. So I look forward to pursuing this and getting
additional information.
I thank you for your generosity.
Secretary Ross. It will also be a big problem for anyone
who leaks it because it is a criminal offense. It is punishable
by multiple years in prison and by a large fine. And as I
mentioned to Chairman Serrano before, every Census taker and me
and everybody relative to it takes a lifetime oath not to
divulge to anybody other than in the context of the Census
enumeration.
The Chairwoman. Wait a minute. Not to divulge but what to
divulge? So it is illegal to divulge to another agency?
Secretary Ross. We cannot divulge----
The Chairwoman. That is what is happening.
Secretary Ross. I said we cannot divulge individual
personal data to anybody.
The Chairwoman. Look, let me repeat this again, and then
you have been very generous. I understand that this data is
supposed to be anonymized to ensure privacy.
Secretary Ross. Right.
The Chairwoman. But the data you plan to release will
effectively show where pockets of citizens and noncitizens
reside. We can follow up when we have more time, unless you
want to give the generosity of the chair, but that is
information that should not be released with the data
collection.
Secretary Ross. I would be happy to have the Census
professionals doing the work on differential privacy to explain
in great detail what they are doing to try to shield individual
data.
The Chairwoman. I thank you very much.
I thank you for your generosity.
Mr. Serrano. I thank you.
Mrs. Roby.
Mrs. Roby. I thank you, Chairman Serrano and Ranking Member
Aderholt.
Mr. Secretary, I appreciate your willingness to come before
our committee today.
Every day emergency managers work to keep our communities
alerted to and safe from potential threats, including severe
weather. Many Department of Commerce programs, including
National Weather Service websites and NWSChat are utilized by
local and state emergency managers and television
meteorologists to collect and distribute real-time lifesaving
information.
Just last week, I had the opportunity to meet and discuss
ongoing issues with emergency managers from Alabama, and one of
their concerns is that these programs have failed to perform
when they are needed most because of outdated and overloaded
information technology systems.
And so I understand in my meeting with them that there is a
plan for a National Weather Service integrated dissemination
program that outlines these necessary updates that is currently
under review by the Department of Commerce.
So I know this is a very nuanced question, and if you don't
have an answer for me here today, that is fine, but I wanted to
present it here publicly to ask you if you could share more
information with us about the Department's plan for
improvements and if Congress can expect to see a report on this
issue.
Secretary Ross. Well, we are trying to deal with the
problem of outdated and overloaded technology throughout the
Department and, in fact, I believe throughout the Federal
Government. The Federal Government has not been as quick as
private sector to update technology. We have, within Commerce,
something like 70 different systems of different vintages. So
you can appreciate the problem of having them interact with
each other. If there are more specific concerns you have
relating to Census or NOAA or the others, be glad to schedule a
briefing for you.
Mrs. Roby. That would be great. I appreciate it.
Online shopping has become an everyday occurrence for
millions of Americans, myself included. No matter what type of
product you are buying, the safety and reliability of that
product is important. As online shopping has become more
prominent in today's culture, the sale of counterfeit goods has
become a growing issue around the world, and I am grateful to
serve as the cochair of the Congressional Trademark Caucus. I
have dedicated my efforts during my time in Congress to propose
solutions to this pressing issue. As you know, I am an
appropriator. I am here today. But I also wear a hat on
Judiciary as well, and I recently joined my colleagues in
introducing a bipartisan piece of legislation called the
Stopping Harmful Offers on Platforms by Screening Against Fakes
in E-Commerce Act, or the SHOP SAFE Act. The SHOP SAFE Act
protects consumers and brands for the sale of counterfeit goods
online and incentivizes e-commerce platforms to adopt best
practices in order to decrease the sale of these goods.
So my question for you, sir, is, what is the Department of
Commerce doing to protect our communities from the sale of
counterfeit goods online and to maintain consumers' confidence
in e-commerce?
Secretary Ross. Well, first of all, the USPTO, the Patent
and Trademark Office, engages with the officials here and
abroad to improve our domestic and foreign IP laws and
regulation. And, in fact, we recently participated in a very
large campaign to make sure that the new head of the WIPO, the
global organization that deals with intellectual property, is
someone who is appropriately sensitive to it.
Second, the USPTO works with both domestic partners and
countries around the world building their capacity in
regulating intellectual property, dealing with counterfeit
goods.
Third, we have public outreach and education. For example,
we actually had a video contest on the topic of consumers
combat counterfeits with six winners ranging from age groups
across the country. In addition, last June, we had a public
forum with the McCarthy Institute to discuss challenges that
brands, owners, and how public and private organizations can
help in the fight.
PTO has a team dedicated to China issues, which is where a
lot of this comes from. That includes IP attaches stationed in
three cities in China at the U.S. Embassies and at two
consulates there. So that is another very effective activity.
In terms of more specific things overall, in January, the
White House released a memo on combating trafficking and
counterfeited and pirated goods. That memo contained a number
of recommendations for action to educate the public and combat
the sale and proliferation of counterfeit and pirated goods.
With respect to Commerce, we are taking action to implement
the recommendations of this memo, and those include the USPTO
has entered into an agreement with the National Crime
Prevention Council to partner in a multiyear public awareness
campaign aimed at educating the public about the dangers of
counterfeit goods. The focus of the campaign is on educating
teenagers, tweens, and their parents about the dangers of
buying fake products. And on March 19th, USPTO plans to conduct
an event launching this initiative where it will release
another anti-counterfeiting video to join in this effort.
Finally, we will play a leading role in examining the state
of current law with regard to secondary liability for online
platforms for trademark infringement. The goal is to assess the
state of current laws through secondary trademark liability and
to hear from stakeholders regarding the potential need to
enhance the laws in this area.
Mrs. Roby. I thank you, Mr. Secretary.
I thank you, Mr. Secretary.
Mr. Serrano. Mr. Cartwright.
Mr. Cartwright. I thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And I thank you, Mr. Secretary, for deciding to come this
year.
Look, protecting the safety and the health of the American
public I see as one of our highest duties. Don't you?
Secretary Ross. Yes, sir.
Mr. Cartwright. In your testimony, you spoke of the need to
support the National Weather Service and its forecasting
capabilities and of the vital importance of accurate forecasts
of hurricanes and other extreme weather events, and I agree
with that. It is vital to protect human American lives and also
to safeguard our economy by accurate forecasting.
But today you are here proposing nearly three quarters of a
billion dollar cut to NOAA's overall budget. That is the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Is that
approximately correct, about three quarters of a billion dollar
cut to NOAA?
Secretary Ross. Well, we are terminating certain parts and
shrinking certain parts, but the regional climate services are
critical to providing climate services tailored to the specific
needs of the region that they serve.
Mr. Cartwright. But overall it is about a three quarters of
a billion dollar cut to NOAA's overall budget, correct?
Secretary Ross. I believe a good part of that, sir, is due
to difference in acquisition of hardware, but that sort of a
number seems about right to me.
Mr. Cartwright. OK. And Chairman Serrano was correct,
wasn't he, when he said 24 programs are eliminated from NOAA
under your proposed budget?
Secretary Ross. The 24 programs have been merged into were
superseded by other programs. It is not that none of those
functions will be provided any longer.
Mr. Cartwright. Is the answer ``yes,'' sir?
Secretary Ross. Well, that is my answer, sir.
Mr. Cartwright. The budget also proposes a 40 percent cut
to oceanic and atmospheric research and a $15 million cut to
the National Weather Service workforce.
Mr. Secretary, it is important not only for the Government
to have the resources accurately to forecast the weather but
also for Americans to be able to trust the Government's
forecast and warnings during a disaster. Last fall, this
administration created unnecessary fear by grossly exaggerating
the probability that Hurricane Dorian was going go into
Alabama, despite scientific evidence telling us otherwise.
Rather than helping stop public panic, your office directed
NOAA to refute its own scientists and issue a statement pushing
this false narrative. NOAA's chief scientist called this
response, quote, political, unquote and a, quote, danger to
public health and safety. NOAA's chief scientist said that, and
your department's inspector general opened an investigation
into the politicization of the forecast.
Government employees are now fearful that their careers are
at risk if they support sound science and if they tell the
truth. Our government has to inspire confidence and trust in
times of crisis. It is not a game. This goes beyond politics.
Real lives are at stake.
And here is what I am afraid of. I am afraid that your
actions, which sowed distrust in our government, are going to
have ramifications as we go forward battling this coronavirus.
And I fear the administration in which you serve has not
learned a lesson about the importance of truth in science and
transparency. Your administration said that anybody that wants
to test for a virus can get one, and scientists say: We don't
have enough tests to do that.
Your administration said the virus has already peaked.
Scientists disagree.
Your administration has made it clear that it wants to
suppress the number of reported cases. Scientists want to
understand the scope of the problem and take action to contain
the virus.
Americans need to be able to trust the government and
especially in these life-threatening situations. Whether they
be extreme weather events or pandemic outbreaks, when the
health and safety of American families is at stake, we have to
stick to facts and support the science, even if scientific
evidence lead to conclusions that are not politically
advantageous.
Mr. Ross, I hope you understand the role you have played in
sowing distrust in our Federal Government. Will you pledge
today before all of us to do everything in your power to help
restore trust in our government and only disseminate
information that is accurate?
Secretary Ross. Well, first of all, sir, I dispute many of
the characterizations that you put forward. I did not order
anyone to change a scientific opinion. As I said in my original
confirmation hearings and have said repeatedly since, I am not
a technologist. I believe scientists should be the ones who
issue scientific judgments. I have never directed any scientist
at NOAA to change one word of--or anywhere else--change one
word of any research report nor have I ever threatened anyone
with loss of job if they fail to do so. So those are inaccurate
characterizations.
I think there are probably other inaccuracies, but it was
so many statements you made, I, frankly, don't remember all of
the content, but I would be happy to address individual ones if
you wish.
Mr. Cartwright. I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Serrano. Mr. Case.
Mr. Case. I thank you, Mr. Secretary.
First of all, I want to associate myself fully with the
remarks of Chair Serrano and Mr. Cartwright as to the
Department's slashing of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration's budget proposed slashing, a quarter of a
billion dollars, 14 percent. This is the second year at least
that, as I have been on this committee, subcommittee, where you
have done that.
And I don't understand what appears to be an institutional
antipathy toward research and development on our oceans and
atmosphere. It doesn't make any sense to me. These are critical
parts of our natural world that influence us and impact us in
some ways, whether they be scientific, economic, right across
the board, and I am going to leave it at that. I don't support
them. I hope that this Congress again restores and increases
that funding. That is critical, and I don't get the policy
judgments that are going into that.
Let me move to another subject.
Secretary Ross. Is there a question, sir?
Mr. Case. No, it is just a statement.
Secretary Ross. OK.
Mr. Case. I would like to discuss our country's U.S. travel
and tourism industry with you, which is critical, of course, to
our country. This is an industry that is a multitrillion dollar
industry for our country. Estimates it is somewhere in the
range of 3 percent plus of GDP, millions of jobs, critical
export industry, 10 percent of all exports, I think 30, 40
percent, as I recall, of service exports in an industry that is
obviously on the ropes because of the coronavirus crisis.
And the impact is especially severe in States such as my
Hawaii, where it is the No. 1 industry, accounting for one
quarter-plus of our economy directly and indirectly a lot more,
many, many jobs, and that is true of many, many other States.
You are the chair of the Tourism Policy Council, which is
our premier Federal organization that is intended to coordinate
U.S. travel and tourism policy across nine departments, as well
as the leaders of the travel and tourism industry. So you are
at the epicenter of what the response is from our government to
address the disproportionate impact of coronavirus on the
travel and tourism industry.
And I have got two questions for you. First of all, what
can you tell us that you are doing about the travel and tourism
industry at this dire time for the industry, number one? Number
two, I did note that the Department of Commerce's budget
request proposed a substantial reduction of the International
Trade Administration, which is where the National Travel and
Tourism Office is housed. And my question is: Would you
reconsider that budget reduction as to the ITA in the context
of the coronavirus, especially as it impacts the travel and
tourism?
And I am going to add a third question, which is relevant.
Sorry about that. What specific appropriations do you believe
you need to address this crisis from the perspective of the
travel and tourism industry? What is not in your budget that,
now that we know where we are and where we appear to be going
on travel and tourism in this country, do you need to help this
major industry?
Secretary Ross. Well, you are certainly correct that we are
very involved with the travel and tourism industry and are very
active with helping to promote it. We meet quite regularly with
the advisory council, which has among its members most of the
major and many of the minor people in that industry.
As to the coronavirus itself, the first obligation of the
administration is to protect the American public. Once that has
been done, then we can deal with the differential impact on
individual industries. The President gave at least some
indications, I think it was last night, about some measures he
was considering to try to mitigate the effects. Let's see what
he comes up with. But we are very, very concerned to try to
protect the economy as much as we can within the confines of
not wanting to spread the disease.
Mr. Case. I agree very much with you, Mr. Secretary, that
all of our first and foremost obligation is to protect our
citizens and others, and I understand that that protection is
going to inherently impact the travel and tourism industry.
However, I would also say to you, sir, that I don't believe
that this should be a sequential process because the travel and
tourism industry is being impacted right now as a result of the
responses that we need to be taking. So I would suggest to you
that the council should focus with a laser sharp attention to
what can be done to address the needs of this industry from an
economic dislocation perspective now rather than down the road.
Secretary Ross. Surely. Well, the best thing for travel and
tourism, in fact, the best thing for the whole country, will be
as quickly as possible finding a vaccine, as quickly as
possible testing everybody, and as quickly as possible getting
rid of this problem. I think the actions the President took
already have helped prevent this from becoming an Italy type
situation where, for all practical purposes, the whole country
has been quarantined. So I don't think it is quite correct,
sir, to say that it is been sequential. I think the
administration has tried very hard to be on top of the problem.
As you know, they give daily briefings, and they try to put
into perspective the magnitude of the problem relative to the
hysteria that has been generated around it. So we are trying
our best to be responsible, give people accurate information,
but not unduly alarm them so that they take remedies that are
not necessary and are not warranted.
Mr. Case. Thank you.
Mr. Serrano. Ms. Meng.
Ms. Meng. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And thank you, Secretary Ross, for being here today.
I wanted to follow up on Chairwoman Lowey's questions and
comments about the false ads, whether it is from Facebook or
the RNC, that had been mailed out. In regards to the Facebook
ads that were removed that claimed to be part of the Census,
did the Bureau take any further steps to dispel this
information?
Secretary Ross. Well, the Bureau has not been able to find
any statutory authority to take any kind of enforcement action
against anybody who has done misleading ads. We just don't have
the authority to do anything.
Ms. Meng. Did the Bureau post anything on its own rumors
page that could help dispel the rumors?
Secretary Ross. I know that it has posted information, such
as the Census never asks for money. If I am not mistaken, that
ad asks for money. They also--we posted that we never ask for
Social Security number. So we tried to correct things and make
clear what we do do and what we don't do.
Ms. Meng. So, if an ad didn't request money or Social
Security numbers or personal----
Secretary Ross. I am sorry?
Ms. Meng. So, if there was a similar ad, but it didn't
request Social Security or private information, nor did it
request money, would that be OK?
Secretary Ross. No, I didn't suggest that. But you are
asking what did we do in response to that specific ad. And
those were specific features, as I recall it, in that ad.
Ms. Meng. Was any information released, a statement perhaps
by you or the Census Bureau, dispelling it?
Secretary Ross. If we put out a statement every time that
there was something that was erroneous, we would be putting out
probably hundreds of statements a day. So it is really not
practical for us to do that.
Ms. Meng. And in terms of the mailers by the RNC, has that
been posted on the web rumors web page or any public statements
made about that?
Secretary Ross. Well, the ad is down. The ad has been
pulled down.
Ms. Meng. Oh, I was talking about the mailers that
Chairwoman Lowey was referring to, the RNC mailers.
Secretary Ross. Yeah, I don't know the exact status of
those. I would be glad to get back to you.
Ms. Meng. Thank you. I appreciate that.
Have you spoken with the President or anyone on his team on
the government's side or the political side to request that
they stop these look-alike mailers?
Secretary Ross. I don't have any influence or control over
the RNC and whatever ads they run. I had no idea that they were
running that. They just did it.
Ms. Meng. Will you work with any other agencies, maybe even
the Justice Department, to make sure that the look-alike
mailers are not being sent out by mail or by social media
outlets, via social media?
Secretary Ross. As I said, we have been researching but
have yet to find where we have the statutory authority to take
action to block them.
Ms. Meng. I understand, and I appreciate that. I don't
know, if you could get back to us with any further actions that
your bureau or you might take, I think it would be really
helpful and really influential if you or the Bureau could make
any public statements dispelling this type of information that
is being sent out.
I wanted to ask another question, similar topic, about the
Census. And as you know and as you have mentioned, it is
imperative that everyone, regardless of citizenship,
participates. We are trying to think of creative and cost-
effective ways for people to participate and to increase
involvement. As you may know, in many States, including my home
State of New York, when people participate in elections, when
they go vote, they get a cute voting sticker that says ``I
voted,'' and they pass it out to voters at polling stations,
and people of all parties, you know, wear this as a point of
pride and wear it all day and all week even. And this hopefully
motivates others to vote as well.
I was wondering if there was a similar idea that could be
applied, such as a sticker, for example, for the purposes of
the 2020 Census for people who are filling out the Census to
encourage others.
Secretary Ross. Well, we have done--one of the most
undercounted and hard to count groups, are infants that are
born during the calendar year prior to the Census date. So we
have started a program of little hats to go to the babies about
the Census. So that has been one way we have been trying to
deal quite specifically with a severely undercounted part of
the population.
Ms. Meng. Thank you. I would love to work with you on
potential ideas after that as well.
Secretary Ross. Thank you.
Ms. Meng. Thank you.
I yield back.
Mr. Serrano. Mrs. Lawrence.
Mrs. Lawrence. Yes. Secretary, I just want to continue on
that line of questioning about the flier that was circulated,
and the last time I talked about some, they talked about
rumors. I have a copy of it, and I just want to read what is
said. It says, ``2020 Congressional District Census,'' and it
says: ``Your participation is urgently needed as a key facet of
our overall strategy to ensure President Trump and Republican
candidates are re-elected. The Republican Party is conducting a
Census of key members and supporters in congressional districts
across the countries. The opinions registered in this document
will be used to build and expand our national grassroots
operation that will show that President Trump has the support
of the American people to continue to move forward and act on
critical issues facing our country.''
I find it very challenging that, in your position as the
Secretary that you have no communication or authority to have a
conversation, I do believe you have staff meetings, to say that
the party that you are affiliated with allegedly--it asks
things like: How do you identify yourself? Do you think that
President Trump is leading our country?
And it says: You have been selected to represent voters and
respond by a certain date, and please answer these questions to
the best of your ability.
This to me is horrible when we are all nonpartisan
committed to an accurate count. And I campaign as well as
anyone else, but this is unacceptable. And for you to say as
the Secretary of Commerce that you really don't have any
influence and you haven't taken steps to stop this is very
troubling.
I have a question for you. The development of 5G
technology, U.S. leadership in 5G is very important. And I am
concerned that the Chinese are playing a big role in global
standard setting process for these new technologies. However, I
have also been told that U.S. companies are actually scaling
back their participation at global meetings, apparently due to
the Commerce Department export control rules that say that our
companies cannot participate in technology meetings if Huawei
is attending. It seems to be defeating the purpose of
maintaining our leadership.
Can you please address that? And is that true?
Secretary Ross. Yes. We issued quite a while ago a
directive, a policy directive, clarifying that people can
participate in international standard organization conferences.
We are putting out a further one very shortly because some
people apparently did not quite understand the original
directive.
Mrs. Lawrence. OK.
Secretary Ross. But we are actually encouraging people to
participate, but as to Huawei, I think my views on Huawei are
pretty well known. So I am certainly not a co-conspirator of
Huawei.
Mrs. Lawrence. I understand that but we have to have a seat
at the table, and I hope that you clarify that.
My last question for you, sir, is last year I introduced
H.R. 153. That is the resolution supporting the guidelines for
ethical development of artificial intelligence. While I commend
the administration's request of a total of $1.1 billion in
nondefense AI research, that number is far lower than what
needs to be done. For context, the Chinese government has spent
over $8 billion in 2018. We need to ensure that the President's
focus on AI does not come at the deterrent of other research.
This technology is going to be transformational in how we do
business. How can we expect the United States to remain
competitive with countries like China when we don't take a
holistic approach to investment and R&D?
Secretary Ross. Well, I think the administration is very
keenly interested in promoting artificial intelligence as a
research activity and NIST, the National Institute of Standards
and Technology, which is part of commerce, has long been--had
AI as a very big strategic priority. Our purpose is to develop
the foundation for confidence and trust in AI that results in
expanded commercial marketplace and new research outcomes. The
President's budget provides an increase of $25 million for
measurement tools and test beds to accelerate the development
and adoption of interoperable secure and reliable AI----
Mrs. Lawrence. Is that enough to make us competitive with
China, who is spending $8 billion?
Secretary Ross. Well, we are doing what we can do. There
also are initiatives at the White House Office of Science and
Technology. There are other administration-wide initiatives.
But at the end of the day, the vast bulk of this work is, in
fact, being done by the private sector.
Mrs. Lawrence. Thank you.
I yield back.
Mr. Serrano. Thank you.
Mr. Secretary, later this week individuals across the U.S.
will start receiving invitations to respond to the Census,
using its first ever online option, on My2020census.gov. We
will obviously be watching this closely in the upcoming months,
especially in the light of the recent change from an external
to internal system to ensure it can handle a very large number
of online responses at any one time. While I am hopeful that
everything goes smoothly, I want to make sure I understand the
plans for if things don't. Can you explain what the contingency
plan is if both online systems fail? Will we need to rush and
hire more enumerators, increase the number of mailings? What is
the plan?
Secretary Ross. Well, first of all, Chairman, we have two
online systems. So they both would have to fail, and they both
have redundancy built in because they are cloud-based systems.
So the probability of all of that collapsing and staying down
for an extended period is hopefully very, very low.
Second, as I believe I mentioned earlier, we have a fusion
center and a crisis management committee. The fusion center
operates 24/7, monitors weather events, monitors all sorts of
news events at every single location in the country that we
have any relevance to, and it makes recommendations at least
daily to the crisis management team. So we have a structural
situation that seems as well equipped as we can to deal with
it.
In terms of fallback position, we deliberately overprinted
the questionnaires, the Census questionnaires, by quite a lot
of millions of units so that if we were in some particular
region or elsewhere and need for more forms to go out, that at
least we have the forms. So we have been trying to be, within
the normal bounds, equipped to deal with crises. It is not
practical to reprint the whole--all of the Census forms. As you
can appreciate, that is hundreds of millions of documents. It
is the world's largest printing job. So we do not have 100
percent coverage, but we have very substantial coverage.
Mr. Serrano. So you are confident that there are fallback
positions and that, as you said, it would have to have two
systems to fail, but we have seen where hacking and other
things or just malfunctions can create havoc. So it is very
important for this committee to know, at the minimum, that you
feel confident that it is not going to happen or if it happens
it can be taken care of.
Secretary Ross. I do, and the reason I could do is that we
have worked with all of the relevant cyber security agencies
within Federal Government, and we have also used outside
contractors to try to penetrate the system, and whatever flaws
they found, we have corrected. So we are doing the best we can.
In today's world, nobody can give a 100 percent assurance that
we won't be hacked, but I believe we have at least as effective
a protective system as anyone. The data are coded from the
moment we get it, while it is in transit, and while it is at
risk. There are multiple layers that people need to get through
to access the data, and the access of individuals is extremely
limited and those individuals who do have any access are part
of the group that has taken a lifetime oath not to let anything
be revealed on individual data.
So we have done everything that we can think of to deal
with that problem and, to the degree that there are incursions
that are successful, we will deal with those on the spot, and
we are prepared to deal with them 24/7.
Mr. Serrano. Thank you.
Mr. Secretary, I would like to ask about the Office of
Space Commerce. My understanding is that this office is
currently reporting directly to your office. Is that correct?
Secretary Ross. Yes, that is correct, sir.
Mr. Serrano. Mr. Secretary, your request to make this
operational realignment last year was blocked by language which
was carried in both the House and Senate appropriations
reports. So can you explain to me why you have contravened
explicit congressional direction? I mean, it was clear that
that is not what we wanted.
Secretary Ross. We have complied with the congressional
direction. The specific direction was that we retain NAPA, an
outside agency, to conduct a survey as to where the Office of
Space Commerce should be located. The Congress appropriated
$1.1 million for that purpose. I am happy to report we were
able to negotiate the contract down to about $880,000. The
contract has been signed, and NAPA is at work.
Mr. Serrano. My understanding is that you are correct in
what you say, except we have put language in saying: Do not
move. Do not make these moves until the report is in.
Secretary Ross. We have not moved it yet, sir. That has not
been moved.
Mr. Serrano. They should be reporting to the NOAA
administrator.
Secretary Ross. I am sorry?
Mr. Serrano. They should be reporting to the NOAA
administrator. You are saying they are reporting to you.
Secretary Ross. I think we have reported, have we not?
Yeah.
Mr. Serrano. Well, that is not what we are hearing from
NOAA. So maybe you can talk to NOAA and find out why we are
getting conflicting information because----
Secretary Ross. What is the information you are getting
from NOAA, sir?
Mr. Serrano. That they are reporting directly to you.
Secretary Ross. No. I interact with them, but we have not
moved them, nor have we raised the budget, and we look forward
to continuing to work with the authorizers and appropriations
in hope that we will achieve our goal of moving the office and
elevating it to the secretarial level.
Mr. Serrano. Well, then, in that case, I would hope that
you can reach out to them and find out why we are getting this
contradictory information.
Secretary Ross. We will talk again with NOAA today, but
whoever has told you that it has been moved is incorrect.
Mr. Serrano. All right. Thank you.
Mr. Aderholt.
Mr. Aderholt. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Secretary, in my opening statement, I mentioned the
devastating affect that tornadoes have had on the Southeast,
and in truth I mentioned Alabama and Tennessee. This budget
proposes a $3.2 million increase to establish a tornado warning
improvement and extension program to improve the accuracy and
timelines of tornado forecasts, predictions, and warnings.
However, I am concerned that this increase is more than offset
by a $5 million termination of the Vortex Southeast Program and
the $1 million reduction of the tornado severe storm research
line.
My question to you is, has Vortex Southeast Program
accomplished what it set out to do, or is there more still to
be done?
Secretary Ross. Well, the Vortex Southeast Program has been
a success. We are very happy with it. The physical science work
of former past Vortex SE field campaigns will feed into NOAA's
new tornado program, which is called Tornado Warning
Improvement and Extension Program, TWIEP, and that is codified
in the bipartisan Weather Act. TWIEP and Vortex Southeast are
distinct but complementary programs. TWIEP evaluates model
improvements, probabilistic guidance products, and the changes
in the warning process and in the technologies to get the
information out to the public. Vortex SE studies the
characteristics of tornadoes that typically occur in the
southeastern United States and the public response issues that
they encounter with the significant rural and vulnerable
population.
Mr. Aderholt. If Congress were to restore the Vortex
Southeast Program for fiscal year 2021, would it still, as you
mentioned, complement this new Tornado Warning Improvement and
Extension Program, or are the two programs in conflict and we
would have to choose one or the other?
Secretary Ross. I think we have learned the lessons that we
need to learn from the vortex program, but at the end of the
day, it is you fellows who decide where we spend the monies. So
we would obviously follow your guidance.
Mr. Aderholt. NEXRAD is a primary tool that is used by
NOAA's meteorologists for issuing warnings for flash floods,
for tornadoes, and for severe thunderstorms. Though the system
is nearing the end of its life. According to NOAA's budget
request, the Federal Government is still 20 years away from
full deployment of the next generation of weather radar design,
and yet this budget proposes to reduce maintenance by $1
million and the Service Life Extension Program by $550,000,
which will reduce NEXRAD's operational building from 96 percent
down to 81 percent by 2025.
What is the rationale for cutting back on this critical
radar network when we are still 20 years away from fully
deploying its replacement.
Secretary Ross. Yes, sir. The $550,000 decrease for the
Service Life Extension program, SLEP, is a plan decrease that
reflects the award of major contracts on the pedestal and
shelter refurbishments and the generator replacement projects
that are now in deployment. NEXRAD SLEP is a multiyear effort
that began in 2015 and will be completed in 2024. The SLEP will
extend the useful life of the NEXRAD array by approximately 15
years.
At the same time, NOAA continues to pursue research into
its next-generation weather radar systems, including the phased
array Radar Program. The million dollar maintenance decrease
will result in deferring some routine maintenance and repair of
certain components of NOAA's NEXRAD radars; namely, the radome
and tower maintenance service. But in 2021, the operational
ability will remain at 93 percent. So it is at a pretty high
level of effectiveness.
Mr. Aderholt. Yeah. And what we are concerned, I guess,
with is if you look toward 2025, that there would be a decrease
down to 81 percent.
Let me go, continue on. We have come certainly a long way
with weather forecasting, but we all know there is significant
room for improvement. Currently, the United States is not the
world leader in weather forecasting, but I understand that,
with recent procurement of additional super computers and with
the EPIC, which is the Earth Prediction Innovation Center, that
with the EPIC initiative, we are positioned to significantly
increase our capabilities in the coming years.
Can you talk to us about where the U.S. is headed with its
weather forecasting capabilities and how this fiscal 2021
budget is critical to helping us get there?
Secretary Ross. Surely, sir. The bipartisan Weather Act
provides NOAA with the path forward on how to reclaim
international leadership in weather forecasting. I thank you
for supporting that legislation because implementing the
Weather Act is a top priority for NOAA. The fiscal 2021 budget
provides funding for a number of Weather Act mandates,
including the Earth Prediction Innovation Center at $15
million. That is the EPIC to which you referred. And that will
transform how NOAA collaborates with the weather enterprise on
forecast improvements. The fiscal 2021 budget request also
supports a new Tornado Warning Improvement and Extension
Program, TWIEP, which will advance NOAA's tornado observing
systems, thunderstorm scale computer models, and risk
communication approaches.
Finally, the fiscal year 2021 budget expands NOAA's
Commercial Weather Data Pilot Project and Commercial Data
Purchase Program. These programs will allow NOAA to test
cutting-edge technologies from the private sector and, if
suitable, purchase them to further improve our weather forecast
accuracy.
Mr. Aderholt. Thank you.
My time has run out. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Secretary Ross. Mr. Chairman, we have been going now for an
hour and a half. May we take a short break?
Mr. Serrano. Yes.
Secretary Ross. Unless it is a just a little bit more to
go.
Mr. Cartwright. I only have a few minutes.
Secretary Ross. Let's just go.
Mr. Serrano. We have only a few members, and they claim
they only have a few, and I accept that so----
Secretary Ross. All right. Well, then I will try my best to
hold out.
Mr. Serrano. They state--I am sorry. Not they claim, they
state.
Mr. Cartwright.
Mr. Cartwright. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Secretary Ross, you were asked by my colleague,
Congresswoman Meng about this 2020 congressional district
Census that turned out to be a survey sent out by the
Republican National Committee.
Do you recall those questions Ms. Meng had for you.
Secretary Ross. Yes, sir.
Mr. Cartwright. I would like unanimous consent to enter
this misleading survey into the record.
Mr. Serrano. Without objection.
Mr. Cartwright. OK. Now, there is a difference though, Mr.
Secretary, between this survey, which is printed out on copy
paper so it is a white. The one that was sent to people was on
blue paper. Were you aware of that?
Secretary Ross. I have not seen the one that was sent.
Mr. Cartwright. The Census itself is on blue paper. Am I
correct in that?
Secretary Ross. Yes, yes.
Mr. Cartwright. So this was something that was made,
deliberately made, to look like the Census. In fact, it says
``2020 Congressional District Census'' on the paper. So the
idea is this is deliberately made to look like the Census and
make people think it is the Census, and the idea is that it
will mislead people. And you understand that, Secretary Ross,
it will mislead elderly and/or infirm people into thinking that
they have already received the Census and responded to it and
so mislead them into declining to respond to the actual Census
when it comes later.
You understand all of that, right?
Secretary Ross. To the degree that were proven to be the
case, we would then go the nonresponse followup; namely, a
person coming around door to door to explain, and preceding
that, there would be additional mailings from us to the people.
Mr. Cartwright. Well, you are the head of the Census,
Secretary Ross. Is that correct?
Secretary Ross. Well, I am the head of Commerce to which
Census is a part.
Mr. Cartwright. And you are absolutely committed, are you
not, to the accuracy of this Census count?
Secretary Ross. Yes, sir, yes, sir.
Mr. Cartwright. So you would be highly atoned to any kind
of scams or falsehoods or misleading mailers of this nature,
wouldn't you?
Secretary Ross. Well, as I mentioned to the Senate last
week when asked a similar question, I have directed the staff
at Census to review the information and provide their
recommendations. And once that review has been completed, I
will be happy to report back to the committee.
Mr. Cartwright. You found out about this, this Census
survey, from the RNC before today, didn't you?
Secretary Ross. Yes. I learned about it a little bit ago.
Mr. Cartwright. OK. How did you find out about it?
Secretary Ross. Someone raised it with me. I don't recall
who.
Mr. Cartwright. There was an article on the whole thing in
the Los Angeles Times dated February 20 of this year. Did you
see that article?
Secretary Ross. No. I am not a normal reader of the L.A.
Times, sir.
Mr. Cartwright. But you are a reader of everything that has
to do with the Census, aren't you?
Secretary Ross. I try to be, but you would be amazed how
much written material there is about it nowadays.
Mr. Cartwright. Your testimony today was you haven't done
anything about this mailer because you are lacking statutory
authority to do that. Is that what you said?
Secretary Ross. No. What I said was, as I mentioned to the
Senate last week, I have directed the career staff at Census to
see what, if anything, there is we can do about it.
Mr. Cartwright. Earlier today you said you couldn't find
any statutory authority to follow up. What did you mean?
Secretary Ross. That is correct. We have not found it as
yet.
Mr. Cartwright. Well, when you mislead somebody with a
mailer, that is called mail fraud. Isn't it?
Secretary Ross. That is a legal judgment, sir, I am not
qualified to make.
Mr. Cartwright. No, but lawyers are. And have you made a
referral of this matter to the Justice Department for their
review?
Secretary Ross. No, I have not. I have asked the Census
staff to figure out what, if anything, we can or should do
about it.
Mr. Cartwright. When did you ask them that?
Secretary Ross. Some days ago.
Mr. Cartwright. This isn't the first time the RNC did this
kind of thing. After the last Decennial Census in 2010, they
did the same sort of thing, and our colleague, Carolyn Maloney
from New York filed a bill to make that illegal, and that bill
passed. That is the law. And the question is--and it passed on
a bipartisan basis, Secretary Ross. So my question is, have you
done anything to see if that law applies to this mailer?
Secretary Ross. As I said, I have asked the staff to review
the question. I am not intimately familiar with that law
myself.
Mr. Cartwright. I yield back, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Serrano. Ms. Meng.
Ms. Meng. Thank you.
I wanted to ask about a different topic. A new rule shifts
responsibility from the State Department to your department for
making decisions about whether or not a company will get a
license to post the computer code that enables the 3-D printing
of firearms on the internet. Your department will now soon be
responsible for deciding whether downloadable 3-D printed guns
could become widely available.
The first question, do you believe that allowing the
blueprints of 3-D printed guns to be available on the internet
is in our Nation's best safety and security interests?
Secretary Ross. The commerce rules were not enjoined by the
litigation in the court. The BIS has posted guidance to license
applications on its website, and I would direct you there. I am
afraid I can't comment further due to the fact this is in
continuing litigation.
Ms. Meng. You can't answer any questions about your
department?
Secretary Ross. About the litigation, no, ma'am.
Ms. Meng. OK. Do you recognize the danger of 3-D printed
guns in general? It doesn't have to be in relation to your
department.
Secretary Ross. Yes, as I mentioned, we have provided
advice, and the advice is that licenses would have to be
applied for. As I understand it, that has not been enjoined by
the court.
Ms. Meng. Do you know that 30 percent of all guns that have
been retrieved in California, for example, are ghost guns?
Secretary Ross. I am sorry, I couldn't hear.
Ms. Meng. 30 percent of all guns that are retrieved in the
state of California are ghost guns. Do you know that?
Secretary Ross. That could well be. Is there a question in
that, ma'am?
Ms. Meng. No. I just asked you yes or no.
Secretary Ross. Oh.
Ms. Meng. Do you know that the State Department has
previously said that downloadable guns off of the internet
could be a national security risk?
Secretary Ross. Yes, I am aware of that.
Ms. Meng. Do you know that certain 3-D printed guns could
easily pass through metal detectors without any alarms?
Secretary Ross. Well, 3-D gun publication plans has not
been relieved of an obligation to license. There has been no
deregulation of it. The licensing requirement stands, as it has
been.
Ms. Meng. Correct. I am just asking if you realize that 3-D
guns could--because they are made of plastic could easily pass
through metal detectors without setting off any alarms.
Secretary Ross. Sure?
Ms. Meng. And do you agree--do you know that no background
checks could be detected because of the needed parts to make 3-
D guns?
Secretary Ross. As I said, there is no change in the
licensing procedures from what had been before.
Ms. Meng. So I wanted to, in line with that, there was a
man named Cody Wilson who was at the forefront of the
downloadable gun movement. He is a self-described anarchist
looking to make 3-D guns available to anyone with an internet
connection. Last September, he was sentenced to 7 years of
probation after he pled guilty to injuring a child following
accusations that he sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl. He
was required to register as a sex offender.
Do you support allowing sexual offenders to have gun
licenses?
Secretary Ross. I think that we have to consider all
behavior patterns in deciding whether or not to give a license,
and that would certainly be something that one would view with
great severity.
Ms. Meng. Would I be able to get you and the Commerce
Department to commit to not issuing a license to this sex
offender or anyone else seeking to post downloadable gun
computer codes online?
Secretary Ross. Well, we, as I say, are not changing
anything to do with the licensing procedure. We have no
intention--assuming that the litigation is resolved, we have no
intention of weakening any of the provisions.
Ms. Meng. OK. Thank you.
I yield back.
Mr. Serrano. Mrs. Lawrence.
Mrs. Lawrence. Yes, Mr. Secretary, and I hope this will be
the last question. But I wanted to give you some information.
The RNC attempted to do the same mailer in 2010. Congress
passed, on a bipartisan basis--as a matter of fact, it was 416
to zero--The Prevent Deceptive Census Look Alike Mailing Act to
prohibit mailers that could cause Americans to believe that
they had already filled out the Census. Again, the DNC modified
the mailer to bypass the law and the action again drew
bipartisan rebuke. Former Representative Jason Chaffetz, a
chairman of the Oversight Committee, sent a letter to the
chairman of the RNC urging, and I quote: I write today to ask
you to seriously reconsider the use of such deceptive and
misleading tactics. Simply put, the RNC should not invoke the
Official U.S. Census as a means to confuse and deceive
recipients of the mailer and to opening it, thinking that they
are complying with their civic duty.
Then the Ranking Member, Darrell Issa introduced
legislation to clarify the emphasis in which the term
``Census'' can apply on mailers. Just as before, this
legislation passed unanimously through both Chambers and was
signed into law.
So, again, I am challenged with how you have this
disconnection and you are just looking at it when we have laws
on the books and the Republican Party itself has led the
legislation to stop this behavior, yet again, 10 years later,
here we are using the same tactics.
So, Secretary Ross, there are some things that, if you are
challenged and don't know what to do with it. There is the
Postal Inspection Service, who can investigate based on law.
And it is also the Department of Justice because we have law to
regulate this. And for you as the Secretary to just kind of
like ``I don't know what to do; we are looking into it,'' have
your department research law.
Thank you.
Secretary Ross. Well, we do not believe we have the
statutory authority. If it is the case that the Postal Service
does or DOJ does, then they are the appropriate parties to
enforce. We don't have, as far as we can tell, the unilateral
enforcement authority.
Mrs. Lawrence. So, Mr. Ross, if another group just makes up
a Census form, starts knocking on doors, going door to door,
you would say, ``I have no jurisdiction over that, yes, I know
other groups are out there, it is not my responsibility,'' is
what I am hearing?
Secretary Ross. We lack the authority.
Mrs. Lawrence. But you have law on the books.
Secretary Ross. Well, if there is a law on the books, then
those people who are charged with enforcing it are the ones who
should enforce it.
Mr. Cartwright. Have you recommended that they enforce the
law?
Secretary Ross. We do not have the enforcement----
Mr. Cartwright. Did you recommend to those who have the
authority to enforce the law?
Secretary Ross. I think they should do what their legal
counsel tells them they are obliged to do under the law.
Mrs. Lawrence. Mr. Secretary, I just want you to know that
I just find those answers to be confusing and unacceptable
because the Census we have allocated over and for 2020 $6.7
billion to conduct the Census. That is our taxpayer dollars
and, you know, you have given your answers, but I find them
unacceptable.
Thank you.
Secretary Ross. I am sorry, but we don't have the authority
to do some of the things that you might like us to do.
Mr. Serrano. Thank you.
Mr. Secretary, before we close, let me just tell you that
this committee, as you can see, is very much interested in how
we conduct the Census, and it is very hard around here, almost
impossible to get a bipartisan bill passed with no opposition.
And that bill was clear that these kind of behaviors were not
to be accepted. So who enforces it, I think it behooves you and
other people in the administration to find out from each other
who enforces it so it doesn't happen again, we can deal with
what is happening right now, please.
And I thank you for your testimony today. There will be
more questions for the record. In a friendly way, I ask you to
please consider answering those questions much sooner than last
year's questions we just got answered 4 days ago because we are
cutting the hearing at this point, but the questions are still
important to us and we need the answers.
Secretary Ross. Thank you, sir.
Mr. Serrano. Thank you. And thank you and the subcommittee
is adjourned.