senator cantwell. senator cantwell: thank you, chair rosen. thank you to you and the ranking member, i appreciate both of your's interest in this subject of tourism. you are right, i couldn't be more excited about a committee that's called tourism, trade and export promotion because it is pretty much the state of washington and very much appreciate the two of you bringing an intense focus to the tourism aspect amongst the other responsibilities here. i wanted to ask our witness, i think think, ms. barnes, you. senator scott and i introduced legislation on what i just call another layer of infrastructure. you guys have all articulated in your questions, and many of our colleagues, about the important economic consequence of tourism. if it is such an important aspect of the economy, why aren't we doing more to build layers of protection into the system that gives us more data and information. i traveled to china many years ago, and at the airport went through a screening as it related -- i didn't really know i was going through a screening but i

i appreciate calling you that. >> thank you very much, senator cantwell, chair cantwell. next i would like to recognize via webex senator sinema. >> thank you, madam chair. thank you to all of our witnesses for joining us today. you know, tourism is such an important industry for my state of arizona. in 2019 arizona's tourism industry welcomed more than 46 million overnight visitors which generated over $25 billion in direct travel spending and helped support state and local government tax revenue. the covid-19 pandemic has been very difficult for many arizona communities, small business owners and arizonans who work in the tourism industry. in 2020 spending by domestic and international travelers declined by 35%, hurting many local businesses and putting many arizonans out of work. according to arizona lodging and tourism association, covid-19 has wiped out ten years of job growth in areas of tourism and unfortunately we are not out of the woods yet. although 2021 has seen a recent uptick relative to 2020, we are still nowhere near the 2019 numbers and that means many ar

senator cantwell, or chair cantwell and i'd like to welcome via web ex, senator sinema. >> thank you, madam chair, and for all of us. and arizona's tourism industry welcomes 46 million overnight visitors and generated over $25 billion in spending and state and tax revenue. for small businesses and arizonians who work in the tourism industry. in 2020 spending by domestic and international travelers declined by 35%, hurting many local businesses and putting many arizonians out of work. according to pair air tourism association covid-19 wiped out 10 years of job growth for arizona tourism. unfortunately, we're not out of the work. 2021 has seen an uptick to 2020 we're nowhere near the 2019 numbers. that means arizona businesses are struggling. i'll continue to work with my colleagues on the subcommittee for critical issues and help get arizona's tourism industry back to work. my first question is for miss dover. many eyes on the small business rely on travelers to support their operations. i worked with my friend roger wicker to provide relief to our restaurants. an effort became lost as

>> i want to thank chair cantwell and all of the nominees.o see a floridian nominated for nasa. thank you for taking the time. can we talk about the importance of florida to nasa and what they think you can do to continue the growth we've seen in florida over the last decade? >> yes indeed, senator. it's a very robust future we have seen more and more it is happening specifically at the kennedy space center and cape canaveral space force station it's now contracted with the air force and now the space force. they are not only developing a very complex launchpad but they also have a rocket manufacturing facility that they have landed from the kennedy space center and it's a big operation so i think there's a plethora of other companies that are going to be both preparing, manufacturing, preparing and launching from that part of florida. now, why the middle part of central florida on the east coast because it gives you that little extra boost that you don't have to spend the fuel as you go into orbit and fly south the closer you can get to the

senator cantwell is next to . senator grassley is after senator cantwell. [inaudible] >> thank you for the courtesy. i believe senator cantwell -- >> ready to go. >> hold off for one second if you would, senator grassley. >> i will. >> let's go ahead with you, senator grassley. >> thank you. the american rescue plan included major temporary modifications of the child tax credit including making the credit fully refundable and advanced. i have concerns that these changes will drastically expand the irs role into being kind of social welfare oriented at the expense of its primary mission of tax collector. as erin collins, the national taxpayer advocate said, quote, the challenge is the irs was not set up for that purpose, and their i.t. is not structured for that, end of quote. it's clear that setting up periodic advanced payment and associated infrastructure will be a significant undertaking for your agency. in addition to the dollar cost of this program, can you expand upon the amount of work hours and the number of personnel it is estimated it will take to

senator cantwell, leader of the senate commerce committee, said she had a phone call with the acting chair in the chair indicated maps would be done by july that would be great. we can focus on tailored, targeted maps we can get done by that july deadline. i called the fcc to get them done this fall. but since that statement, there has been silence from the fcc on the timing of the maps. the fcc needs to clean this up and speak with clarity via -- clarity about when we will have the maps done. peter: let's bring john hendel from politico into the conversation. >> i would like to talk about new ways broadband has been talked about the past year or so. we have heard new emphasis on infrastructure, digital equity, the adoption of other things, and one thing that struck me when looking over the white house proposal was not much they talked about broadband prices. you have that prominently listed in the plan and you have seen recent interviews with national economic council officials where they talked about u.s. broadband prices, one said they were $30, 40 dollars, $50 higher than europe.

>> i want to thank chair cantwell and all of the nominees. it's nice to see a floridian nominated for nasa. thank you for taking the time. can we talk about the importance of florida to nasa and what they think you can do to continue the growth we've seen in florida over the last decade? >> yes indeed, senator. it's a very robust future we have seen more and more it is happening specifically at the kennedy space center and cape canaveral space force station it's now contracted with the air force and now the space force. they are not only developing a very complex launchpad but they also have a rocket manufacturing facility that they have landed from the kennedy space center and it's a big operation so i think there's a plethora of other companies that are going to be both preparing, manufacturing, preparing and launching from that part of florida. now, why the middle part of central florida on the east coast because it gives you that little extra boost that you don't have to spend the fuel as you go into orbit and fly south the closer you can

not too long ago senator cantwell the leader on the senate commerce committee said she had a phone call with the acting chair in which the chair indicated the maps would be done by this july. that would be a a great thing. we need to focus on tailored targeted maps that we can get done by that july deadline. in fact, i called the fcc to get done this fall. the sense that statement there's been radio silence from the fcc on the timing of the maps so the fcc needs to clean this up and speak with some clarity about when will have these new maps done. >> host: let's bring john hendel of "politico" into this conversation. >> thank you, peter. hello, commissioner. i wanted to talk about some of the new ways broadband is being talked about this past year or so. we had been hearing a different emphasis on rod banff infrastructure debate spirit we've been hearing about digital equity, the adoption side of things and specifically one thing that struck me when looking over the white house proposal was how much they talked about broadband prices. you have seen that prominently listed in the plan an

chair cantwell. ranking member wicker. i loved my time on the commerce committee as ranking member and i so appreciate being asked to come back because i worked so long with bill nelson. i will not be able to top what marco rubio has just said, that was a great introduction and apt recognition of what bill has done in this particular area. so i am here to say how much i endorse the nomination of the president for bill nelson for this important job. and especially because i have worked with him on all of the nasa authorization bills that were during our time. and i know, as a colleague and a friend, that the president has chosen the right person to lead this agency. in 2005, bill and i joined forces to author the nasa authorization bill of 2005. which authorized, for the first time, the use of commercial cargo and crew capabilities and that bill set forth an official policy of nasa that should encourage commercial use and development of space to the greatest extent possible. five years later, we again put our heads together

senator cantwell is next. senator grassley is after senator cantwell. thank you for the courtesy. i believe senator cantwell -- hold on for one second if you were senator. >> i will. >> let's go ahead with you senator grassley. >> the american rescue plan included major temporary modifications to the child tax credit including fully refundable and a danceable. i have concerns that these changes will demand the irs role into a social welfare oriented out the expense of its primary vision of tax collectors. the next -- national taxpayer advocate said quote the challenge is the irs was not set up for that purpose and their i.t. is not structured end of quote. it's clear setting up periodic advance payments and associated them for structure will be a significant undertaking for agency. addition to the dollar cost to this program can you expand upon the amount of work and the number personnel it's estimated it will take to set up to administer what is now a temporary program? >> to implement the cdc program we have to create an entire new structure for the internal revenue service. we

. >> ranking member cruz also chair cantwell and the ranking member. we appreciate the opportunity to talk to the community on the commercial aviation industry. personally i want to thank the entire congress for the care and attention you have given our industry and employees over the last year we would not be where we are today without you. our employees worked tirelessly to seamlessly distribute medical supplies personnel and the vaccine throughout the pandemic. covid eviscerating that passenger airline industry those that were built up three times that of 9/11. those balance sheets were devastated within weeks. the last time i appear before congress was last may. passenger lines were down. 3000 planes were parked that is half the entire fleet companies were losing millions of dollars a month from the beginning we joined with the labor partners and with a single unified voice we asked you to save our jobs. this committee lead the way and it has done a lot you made an investment in the employees and it's already paid off and it continues to pay off no

i also want to include ranking member cantwell in this.i want to personally thank the four of you, this committee and the entire congress for the care and attention you have given our industry and our employees over the last year. we would not be where we are today without you. our employees, both cargo and passenger, have worked tirelessly to see them distribute medical supplies and mostly vaccine throughout this pandemic. covid oviscerated the passenger airline industry. we have a balance sheet that is three times the size of 9/11. for context, the last time i appeared before the congress committee was last may. passenger lines were down 95%. 3,000 planes were parked, half the entire fleet. companies were losing 10 to $12 billion a month, and as we all know, airports were like ghost towns. from the beginning we joined hands with our labor partners, and with a single unified voice, we asked you to save our jobs. you did. this committee led the way and there is a lot to make of that. you made an investment in our companies, our employees,

cantwell: mr. president, i come to the floor to talk about the rise of hate crimes in the pacific northwest and to thank my colleague, the senator from hawaii, for her tremendous leadership in guiding us through this process to get this legislation passed in the united states senate. i want to thank her for her incredible work as a member of the judiciary committee and for getting this out and moved to the floor and to thank senator schumer and senator mcconnell for both helping us get to this point today and for our colleagues for passing this incredible legislation. but again thanks to senator hirono for knowing -- knowing and understanding and be a great member of the judiciary committee that we needed to get this legislation done now. asian americans and pacific islanders have a long history in our one and their contributions c.b.p. significant, both in cultural vibrancy to our economy and to our way of life. but, unfortunately, that has also been marked by periods of history of hate and damagi

serve on relevant committees as relates to infrastructure, particularly senator wicker and senator cantwelle and transportation committee, for instance. so the white house says this is the beginning of a series of meetings that the president intends to have. he's going to make his pitch. another thing that they've said is he's willing to listen to other people's ideas. and to your point about where there's a snowball's chance of this actually becoming a law, he has to listen to other people's ideas because as the bill stands, it's not something that is going to get republican support, let alone every democrat support. you have senator john manchin of west virginia who said the corporate tax rate increase, for instance, is too high for him. he wants it at a lower rate. the white house has signaled they're willing to compromise on that. senator manchin is not part of this meeting today but the white house said this is the beginning of the conversation, first of many to come, steph. >> is that why he chose this particular group of lawmakers? they may not be big-name influencers within their re

. >> senator cantwell the chair has joined us and has now recognize just spent thank you for holding this important hearing and everybody participating. great to see sharon nelson last time we talked you were sick with covid glad to see you're doing much better today. i want to make sure the united states learns from the pandemic we follow best practices and we learn from other nations have already done dealing with h1n1 and sars by the time they got to covid they were more prepared and one of the reasons they can keep that they because they are ready had temperature check detection at the airports it is a noninvasive technology that helps to reveal whether people whatever they are sick with that obviously could be in a communicable this position to pass something on. 152 countries and airports have the best practice technology. yet we don't in the united states. introduce legislation. i want to ask doctor marcus. you had questions earlier for my colleagues, this is about detecting temperature checks and other countries have implemented that to establish best practices is this the be

i would now like to call remotely on chairman cantwell if she's available. apparently she is not here as of yet. is senator wicker available? if not, let me move ahead to introduce the witnesses, daniel kaufman, acting director of the consumer protection at the ftc. he served for eight years as the bureau's deputy director and before joining the ftc in 1998 as a staff attorney, he was a litigator, spent four years as a litigator in new york city, received his b.a. and received cum laude by the university of pennsylvania law school. bonnie patton, ceo of truth in advertising graduated from boston university and received her jd from boston university and her b.a. from the university of pennsylvania. prior to helping found the truth in advertising organization, she spent most of the past few decades working as a litigation attorney in new haven, connecticut. we're joined remotely by william kovaced. professor kocacik has taught anti-trust contracts and government contracts before joining the law school in 1999, he was the george mason university foundation prof

i would now like to call remotely on chairman cantwell if she is available. apparently she is not here as of yet. here is senator wicker available. if not, let me move ahead to introduce the witnesses, the two who are with us this morning in person, first, daniel cough, men acting director of the bureau of consumer protection at the ftc. he served for eight years as the deputy director, and before that, before joining the ftc in 1998 has a staff attorney, he was a litigator. he spent four years as a litigator in new york city. he received his ba from cornell and graduated come loud at the university of pennsylvania law school. laude by the university of the ceo of truth and advertising graduated from boston university and received her j.d. from boston university and her ba from the university of pennsylvania. prior to helping found the truth in advertising organization, she spent most of the past few decades working as a litigation attorney in new haven, connecticut. we are joined remotely by the global competition professor of law and policy and that george

senator cantwell? >> i would have to have the u.s. public policy team follow-up with you on that.nk you. i appreciate that. i can see senator kunz is raising his eyebrows at me and i can see that is enough is enough. >> the chair welcomes the questions from the author of the outstanding book. [laughter] >> i will ask one more question then of ms. culbertson from twitter. just to the original question that i had asked about the disinformation doesn't as we call them. some of these i'm talking about market power isn't as applicable to twitter, so as a competitive platform. but could you at least answer the question here about this disinformation? >> thank you for the question. we continue to review this particular group of individuals against the policies, and we have taken enforcement actions on the several of these individuals. the team will be following up this week with all of the details are around that. and i just want to note that while we are competitors, we are partners to address a a lot of harmful content issues. we've collaborated and we have worked together on terrorism

senator cantwell? >> i would have to have the u.s. public policy team follow-up with you on that. thank you. i appreciate that. i can see senator kunz is raising his eyebrows at me and i can see that is enough is enough. >> the chair welcomes the questions from the author of the outstanding book. [laughter] >> i will ask one more question then of ms. culbertson from twitter. just to the original question that i had asked about the disinformation doesn't as we call them. some of these i'm talking about market power isn't as applicable to twitter, so as a competitive platform. but could you at least answer the question here about this disinformation? >> thank you for the question. we continue to review this particular group of individuals against the policies, and we have taken enforcement actions on the several of these individuals. the team will be following up this week with all of the details are around that. and i just want to note that while we are competitors, we are partners to address a a lot of harmful content issues. we've collaborated and we have worked together on terro

klobuchar: in my role on the congress committee, senator cantwell is leading a bill on privacy. do you believe consumers should have the ability to access data and control how it is used including what data is used in social media company algorithms? do you give customers that ability now for content and advertising algorithms? ms. bickert: senator, thank you. we do give people a number of controls, that includes everything from the ability to download your own information, remove and control who can see your posts. you can opt out of our algorithm , you can see who can see your content at any time and change those studies. sen. klobuchar: is the company supportive of our bill on privacy? ms. bickert: [indiscernible] i would have to have our u.s. public policy team follow up on that. sen. klobuchar: ok, alright. thank you. i appreciate that. i can see senator kunz is raising his eyebrows at me and that's a sign that enough is enough. chair coons: the chairman welcomes additional questions for the celebrated author of an outstanding book. sen. klobuchar: [laughter] i will ask one

. >> senator cantwell, as always, your out in front on these issues. senator crapo and i have been talking about a bipartisan effort in this telehealth area. as part of the critical reimbursement issue, you mentioned this committee really shoehorned the telehealth efforts into the first cares package. i think it will be important to make sure that right now, as a result of the pandemic, we have removed some of the roadblocks for people to actually get to a telehealth provider. we will have to make those kinds of changes permanent, in addition to working on the critical reimbursement issue. your mention, and i want to thank senator crapo, because he has indicated telehealth can be one of the real bipartisan priority for the committee. >> arbery sure the three of us, whether in the panhandle of idaho or in eastern oregon, we see a very dispersed rural health care system where people have to drive hours. i think this would be very health full -- helpful. >> we are now onto senator cassidy on the web and then senator bennett. our colleagues have a hectic m

senator cantwell is next. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for holding this important hearing. the state of washington is one of the first states to record the impacts of the covid-19 virus and many people may remember on february 10th a life care center in kirkland, washington, reported an outbreak of covid-19 within the facility that ultimately would claim 46 lives. in the state of washington nearly half of reported deaths have been in long-term care facilities. that is why in the american rescue plan they included 750 million in skilled nursing home facilities including $500 million for strike teams and up to $200 million for infection control. this is something my colleague senator casey and his leadership as part of the covid-19 nursing home protection act, which i also cosponsored with them was very important legislation. this i believe is critical, so i would like to ask, doctor, how this utilization of both strike team and staffing issues can help protect nursing home residents during these times of major outbreaks? >> thank you for that question. i think the strike tea

national military family association, national consumer law center, and retired army colonel paul cantwell, the former cfpb assistant director for service member affairs all support this by i'm mape to say that democrats and republicans agree that congress should put a halt to these abusive practices and this bill does just that. congresswoman dean's work across the aisle and with the house armed services committee last congress resulted in a house floor vote of 355-0. i urge my colleagues to unanimously support this bill again so we can better protect our service members who do so much to protect us. with that, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from north carolina is recognized. mr. mchenry: thank you. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the secret recognized. mr. mchenry: i rise in support of h.r. 1491 and i want to thank the gentlewoman from pennsylvania, ms. dean, for offering this legislation. our service members put their lives on the line for us every day. to that end we must ensure they'

cantwell: thank you, mr. president. i come to the floor this afternoon to support the nominations of vanita gupta and kristen clarke to serve in the leadership of the u.s. department of justice, and i'm here, mr. president, to say that just because you are pro-civil rights does not mean that you are somehow anti-police. to be for a department of justice that will help us make the right decisions in enforcing civil rights laws around the united states is what is at stake with these nominations. i personally am tired of the challenges that we have faced at home when we do not have people being held accountable and we have incident after incident, and the last administration said instead of playing our role on descent decrees and making sure federal civil rights laws are enforced, instead they say we're going to stop playing that role. so it is so important that we get a department of justice that will fight for the civil rights and civil liberties of all americans. both these women are highly qualified. they have defended

i have worked with senator cantwell, i have worked with senator blumenthal to address some of the issuesey have raised and i thank them both for their efforts to work with me. we've incorporated in this amendment three simple requirements, two of which the industry already adheres to, requiring defribillators on ships, making sure that the passenger billion bill of rights is publicly available and ask to have a rulemaking on how to safely return human remains. these are simple commonsense changes that ensures cruise something safe for passenger and for crew. so i would ask, along with senator sullivan and congressman young, i would ask the senate to consider and pass the alaska tourism restoration act so that cruises can gain some semblance of opportunity in america as they have for so long. so, again, madam president, i will -- i will restate my -- my motion here asking unanimous consent that murkowski amendment number 593 be called up and agreed to. the presiding officer: is there objection to the request? blumenthal. mr. blumenthal: reserving the right to object. the presiding officer