ms. cantwell: i ask unanimous consent that the cantwell amendment which is at the desk be agreed to, the bill as amendedden considered as read a third time and passed and that the motions to be considered be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. cantwell: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 127, s. 1543. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 127, s. 1543, a bill to amend the public health service act and so forth. ms. cantwell: i ask the committee-reported substitute be agreed to, the bill as amended be considered read a third time. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. cantwell: i know of no further debate. the presiding officer: is there further debate? hearing none, all those in favor say aye. all opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the bill is passed. ms. cantwell: i ask that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: with

ms. cantwell: madam president, i thank the majority leader for moving forward on the rosenworcel nomination. for those who don't have access to broadband, the macob tribe, 90% of those don't have access to broadband. i know that one county in mississippi, the home of my colleague, that is estimated that the broadband mapping overestimates coverage by a whopping 80%. this is unacceptable. we need accurate mapping and we need the broadband funding to move forward. i know the biden administration understands the importance of affordability of broadband. i know they want to deploy broadband and make it more affordable and we want to work with them. chairwoman rosenworcel looked at the issue of health care and that the internet is access to doctors, medical information, to monitoring patients and keeping the lights on. this is also why i think her nomination is so important. she took time to first-hand visit telehealth in the state of washington in seattle and how we were pushing forward and yet the f.c.c. is going to do more in this particular area. her leadership will help her sure that her sp

cantwell. i do agree this is an important hearing to consider nominations of ms. gigi sohn to be commissioner of the particular fifnlgt alan davidson to assistant secretary of commerce for communications and information. mr. yesterday kolko to be undersecretary of commerce of economic affairs. and mr. viquar ahmad to be assistant secretary of commerce for administration and chief financial officer at the department of commerce. i look forward to being introduced to family members if they are in attemptance today. attendance today. these positions are vital to the commission's economy and it is essential that the committee give careful consideration to the goals and qualifications of the individuals who have been nominated to fill them. ms. sohn has been active participant in the telecom sector for her entirer career. including the tenure on the staff of the former fcc chairman tom wheeler. many members of the committee have had an opportunity to engage with her over the years on public policy issues under consideration by congress and the fcc. we would agree that

ms. sohn. mr. kolko come welcome. i look forward to your statement. >> chair cantwell, ranking member wicker, members of the committee, thank you for welcoming here today and considering my nomination for the position of undersecretary of commerce for economic affairs. i'm grateful to president biden and sector armando for the conference in the end if confirmed i would ever think i can to live up to that promise. i would also like to thank members of your staff for substantive and aspiring meetings. i've been blessed with decades of support, family, friends, mentors and colleagues. my parents nurtured my love of numbers from the start. my first trip to washington, d.c. at age 13 my family indulged an unusual extra stop in addition to visiting the lincoln memorial and other classic spots. i made a detour with the government printing bookstore. there i found the washington souvenir i wanted most, a recently released book of summary tables in the 1980 census population. for decades later i remained in awe of the richness of american infrastructure i know how essential high-quality data are to economy and society. i'm eag

cantwell. i do agree this is an important hearing to consider nominations of ms. gigi sohn, mr. davidson to be assistant secretary of commerce, the undersecretary of commerce for economic affairs and mr. ahmad to be assistant secretary of commerce, administrative and chief financial officer. i look forward to being introduced to family members if they are in attendance today. these positions are vital to the nation's economy, and it it is essential that the committee give careful considerations to the goals and qualifications of the individuals nominated to fill them. ms. sohn has been an active participant in the telecom sector for her entire career. many members of the committee have had the opportunity to engage with her over the years on public policy issues. all who know her would agree that she's knowledgeable and determined, and a determined advocate. i am concerned about her record of expressing hyperpartisan views on many critical matters that come before the commission. which may come before the commission again in the future such as net neutrality. person who feel fil

ms. sohn, welcome. we'll can the witnesses to provide an opening statement, keep them to five minutes and we can get to q&a and obviously -- [inaudible] gigi sohn, welcome to you. >> thank you, chair cantwell, member wicker, members of the committee. i'm honored to be nominated by president biden to be considered by this committee for a seat on the federal communications commission it's been a privilege to meet many of you over the past few weeks. i'm delighted to be joined by my wife, laura ball order, our daughter, my mother-in-law and brother eric. i want to acknowledge my mother roma who can't be here today whose love and support are the reason that i'm here. my parents raised my three brothers and me in a middle class home on long island. the radio was always on in my family kitchen. the all rights from the front lines of the vietnam war, watergate, other critical events of the '60s and '70s resonated. it was there that i learned the power of communications networks to promote democratic values. my love of local broadcasting and especially radio led me to boston university where i studied communications law i and policy. after school in private practice i started what has been an over

ms. cantwell: mr. president, i come to the floor tonight because i want to remind our colleagues and the people of the united states of america we did pass an infrastructure bill, and it was bipartisan. but we are here tonight because the very people that it takes to implement that bill, the very people that work at the department of commerce, the very people who work at the department of transportation are being held up and not being able to be fully confirmed by this body to do the work that it takes to implement that legislation. i know this is incredibly important to people across the united states of america because we know mow popular that -- how popular that bill was. my colleagues are with me toont, two members of the commerce committee, who worked hard, contributed mightily to the surface transportation act that passed out of the commerce committee in a robust bipartisan fashion to come here to the floor, was added with other legislation from other committees. so we're here tonight, myself and

ms. cantwell: mr.resident, i come to the floor and join my colleague from washington to support a woman's right to choose and to make sure that we are making our voices heard loud and clear about the discussion that's happening before the supreme court and why it's so important to have the full reproductive health care choices for women in the united states of america. in 1973, the supreme court decided the constitution protects a woman's right to privacy and, thus, the right to have a safe and legal abortion without excessive government restrictions. and so now that these cases are before the court, it's important for our colleagues to know that the majority of americans support roe v. wade. in my state in 1970, the people voted to legalize early abortions, and in 1991 by a vote of the people in an initiative process we supported that, quote, that every individual possesses an individual right of privacy with respect to personal reproductive decisions codifying roe v. wade in state law. that was in 19