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e e e e e e e e

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e e e e e e e e e

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e e e e for

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spe for e e e for e

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thank you again good morning everyone welcome to today's subcommittee and markup where we will consider three significant subcommittee priority pieces of legislation to protect the Americans data privacy rights protect kids online

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and preserve access to AM radio I want to thank all the subcommittee members for their input and feedback on these topics and I'm looking forward to continuing productive conversations and a bipar and manner to refine these bills

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as we move through the legislative process we have a historic opportunity to advance legislation that will end the patchwork and uh finally provide a federal standard to govern how Americans personal information is collected stored

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retained and transferred the American Privacy Act which is sponsored by our our chair Kathy McMorris Rogers is the strongest consumer data privacy and security framework to date it provides businesses with certainty through a

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national preemptive standard secures individual liberty throughout strong data minimization provisions and cements America's Global Leadership through data security provisions that warn consumers when their information is being collected and

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shared with our foreign adversaries like China and Russia for years Congress has long tried to thread the needle when it comes to getting a National Data privacy Bill enacted into law given the many differences in approach from both sides

0:16:28

size of the political Spectrum I want to applaud chair Rogers of course and again chair kwell in the senate for their tireless efforts to move forward with a framework that strikes this critical balance as well as all the members on

0:16:45

both sides of the aisle that Provisions included in the draft today I understand many stakeholders have continued to engage with every office on this request on these requests their request and I look forward to hearing from my

0:17:01

colleagues about how we can continue to incorporate that feedback I'm thankful for all the constructive comments we received up to this point this is certainly not the last opportunity to deliberate and refine this uh draft

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further but time is of the essence I want to repeat that it's worth repeating time is of the essence so let's continue to move this process forward to protect Americans privacy rights promote individual freedoms and civil liberties

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and secure data from abuse by Bad actors in addition to ARA I'm proud that we are also considering my bill the HR 7891 the kids online safety act I'm thankful to representative caster for her partnership on this particular Bill

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uh as well as the many colleagues on this subcommittee who've co-sponsored our legislation sadly in the face of an un an unprecedented uh youth Mental Health crisis in this nation big Tech has continued to turn a Blind Eye in my

0:18:14

opinion to harms perpetuated on their online platforms Congress has been forced to step in to ensure children and parents have the safeguards tools and transparency measures they need to stay to have our kids stay safe they need to

0:18:33

stay safe folks Kaa kosa requires the prevention and Mitigation Of harms to minors such as promotion of suicide depression substance abuse sexual exploitation and illegal drug sales such as fentanyl too often we've seen the

0:18:53

design features of social media fuel these problems rather than prevent them we've had hearings on this this legislation is not perfect I understand that and I'm hopeful conversations today can illuminate how we can better establish needed protections for

0:19:13

children lastly the subcommittee will be taking a bip taking up a bipartison bill I'm leading with representative the ranking member of the full committee representative palone the AM radio for every vehicle Act at our legislative hearing we heard from

0:19:31

our Witnesses about the importance of having a robust emergency alert and Public Safety Communications infrastructure further Rule and underserved Americans still enjoy listening to AM radio broadcasts for their diverse viewpoints I know my

0:19:51

constituents do given am radio's significant reach as a medium much of it taking place and vehicles we must ensure it remains a readily available option for all Americans particularly as we approach hurricane season I'm proud to

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partner with the ranking member on this initiative and look forward to advancing it through subcommittee today in closing I look forward to working with all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle today to get this these critical bills

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across the Finish Line in aob back the balance of my time and now I recognize the uh the ranking member of the subcommittee miss schakowski my good friend for five minutes for her opening statement thank you thank you very much Mr chairman um

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much of what you've said is what I would just Echo um I am very glad to see that we are moving forward um We are continuing to make sure that consumers who have been so frustrated for s for too long um being so uncertain about

0:21:06

their privacy online um and I see progress made in the the the draft let me uh just highlight a couple of things that I think are so uh so important um in this new uh bill that we're going to be considering um today the will be a um

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one click to make sure that data Brokers can be taken away from the uh consumers who don't want their information shared this is very very important I think it's a big step uh step forward um secondly in the um in this ISS what we're what we're

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discussing today um that we are going to ban targeting of children and teens in a much more aggressive way so these are certainly important things that uh that that we're doing you know big Tech has already um on the Senate side apologized

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for what it's done to Children apology apologies are just not enough so we have to take action and we and we will but I do want to say that I am also disappointed that there is not the consideration of making sure that we are protecting

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consumers from their for their biometric data um by that I mean um fingerprints and U facial recognition um and we know that once that information for example about facial recognition it can be used to go after people because you can't change

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that information that's forever and it also ends up with discrimination that we have seen that people particularly people of color sometimes get accused of things that they're not so we need to control this um biometric uh biometric

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data um and I also um you know want to um make sure that we are doing again everything that we can to protect our our children um so um finally let me just say that I would agree on the issue issue of um AM radio oh before I do that

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let me let me ask um chair uh Caster uh excuse me I'm sorry I'm sorry Kathy I got the Kathy in my mind um um if I if I could ask chair Rogers if we could consider discussion about this issue of the biometric data I would

0:24:01

really appreciate it and if you could tell me that we could work together in order to do that um chairman could we uh could we agree on that the chair is recognized yes yes uh to the to the ranking member of the subcommittee I am

0:24:17

committed to working together on addressing the concerns around the collection of biometric data as well as uh the continuing efforts to make this bill as strong as possible and welcome input from from everyone would like to

0:24:31

work with you specifically on that issue thank you so much and we have that's the one good thing one wonderful thing about this committee we have been working together but I I uh just did want to end with the um the issue of am

0:24:51

um of AM radio um we heard a wonderful hearing on AM radio um here in this uh in this committee and one of the things that was so startling to me um was the degree the number of people who do rely on AM radio not just um for the

0:25:14

um uh information that they need to protect themselves from danger but we know from AARP that are a lot of seniors who use AM radio but we also heard from uh um uh Native Americans that almost exclusively AM radio and cars has uh

0:25:38

been their lifeblood and so we want to make sure that uh we protect AM radio it seemed pretty unanimous um in the uh in the committee and I'm hoping that we can move forward on that and with that I will yield back thank you very much I thank the ranking

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member she yields back I now recognize the chair of the full committee Mrs Rogers for her five minutes for an opening statement thank you Mr chairman good morning everyone our personal identity is at the very core of what makes us human it

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drives us to achieve the impossible and inspires us to pursue our goals and dreams the ability to express our individual identity helps Define who we are and it deepens our to our families and our communities encouraging

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individualism and identity is something that is uniquely American something the founders envisioned and fought for a society that's fiercely individual where people are free to think speak and live their lives the way they want many

0:26:48

believe that the internet could empower the individual even more by creating new ways for people and businesses to connect innovate and share information un fortunately trust has been broken instead over time our identity has been

0:27:05

slowly eroded freedom to think for ourselves manipulated and big Tech is capturing more and more data to surveil and control Our Lives Americans should be in control of how information is disclosed and it should be voluntary not

0:27:22

cursed if the founders were here today they would know as we know that this digital tyranny is not the American dream the American data privacy right is an opportunity for a reset one that can help return us to the American dream our founder Founders

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envisioned it gives people the right to control their personal information online something that the American people overwhelmingly want they're tired of having their personal information abused for profit and right now a

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person's location for instance can be shared without their knowledge or permission by apps on their phone this bill stops those apps from sharing or selling this data without permission if a person searches the internet about

0:28:12

something personal something they want kept private that information could be tracked with hidden pixels and shared without them knowing about it this bill keeps people's search history private if someone be buys a pair of shoes online

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they almost instantly are bombarded with ads across the platforms they use the American privacy Rights Act gives the power back to the People by equipping them with the knowledge of how their data is being used to monetize manipulate and exploit them this

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legislation is it is so important and it is especially foundational and important for protecting our kids online the average American team teager spends 4.8 hours a day scrolling social media platforms I'm a mom I have three young kids I've said it

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before and I'll say it again it's my biggest fear what's going to happen online with my kids because I don't trust what's happening at all our kids scroll companies collect nearly every data point imaginable to build profiles on

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them and keep them addicted they intentionally Target children with dangerous and life-threatening content at our hearing last month we heard from a young woman her name was Ava who shared how bigte weaponized her data collecting this arsenal of data and

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exploited her vulnerabilities Ava story is just one of countless we've heard from kids young adults and families across the country this legislation gets to the root cause of these problems by minimizing the collection and

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exploitation of our data it serves as a strong Foundation from which to layer on other important policies to protect kids online like the kids online safety act which I'm excited that we're considering today it this draft includes key Pro

0:30:15

Provisions from The Children online privacy protection act and I want to thank reps Walberg and casor and Senators Mary and Cassidy for working with us we can achieve stronger protections for people while continuing to encourage Innovation and

0:30:29

Entrepreneurship 18 states now have comprehensive data privacy laws which means 18 different sets of rules that a growing a small business or startup is forced to navigate ensuring compliance is costly just last week I met with a

0:30:44

company who told me that they're going to be forced to pull out of certain States it's one that you would all recognize because they simply cannot comply with the conflicting standards our bill within this Patchwork today

0:30:55

we'll also be marking up hr8 449 the AM radio for every vehicle act led by rips reps billus and uh palone Millions across the country rely on AM radio for critical information especially during public emergencies and it's vital we

0:31:11

preserve this resource for Americans in the nearly 230e history of this committee we've established a rich tradition of taking on hard problems and Del delivering solutions for the people and I believe we have a moment here to change the

0:31:29

status quo and reset what the online ecosystem looks like the American privacy Rights Act is a common sense bipartisan by cameal proposal and I'm grateful for Senator kwell for working with me on this Landmark legislation as

0:31:45

well as ranking member palone who's been a trusted partner over the years as we have worked together on privacy and work to improve this current draft you know as John Dingle has been known to say there hasn't been a perfect law since Moses

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came down from the mountain I urge my colleagues to advance this legislation today I look forward to continuing to work with all the members all the stakeholders to further perfect this bill before it comes for a full committee markup I yield

0:32:19

back I thank the chair now I recognize the gentleman from New Jersey the ranking member of the full committee Mr pone for five minutes for an opening statement thank you chairman billar rockus today the subcommittee is

0:32:32

considering three bills an updated draft of the American privacy Rights Act discussion draft the kids online safety act and the AM radio for every vehicle act which I introduce with chairman bacus earlier this week our bipartisan

0:32:47

legislation on am radios will ensure that all new vehicles come equipped with am radios we know firsthand that am radios can be Lifesavers in emergency situations when other means of communication such as cell phone towers

0:33:01

may be down AM radio waves are uniquely resilient and can travel long distances uh making them a valuable Communications tool in emergencies including when we used AM radio to help coordinate relief efforts in my district when Hurricane

0:33:16

Sandy ravaged our community so I want to thank chairman Bill rockas chairwoman Rogers for working with me on this important bill and I look forward to advancing it today I also appreciate the hard work that went into preparing the

0:33:29

updated draft of the American privacy rights act that will'll consider today we're long overdue for a comprehensive National Privacy Law that puts people back in control of their personal data and today we're taking another

0:33:41

significant step toward that goal I will discuss the the bill the Privacy Bill further when we when it's brought up but I do want to commend Cher Rogers for inserting language that sees to address several of my and Democrats highest

0:33:55

priorities but there is still more work to to do and I know we can continue to work to further strengthen the bill as we advance to a full committee markup it's absolutely critical that we get this done for the American people and

0:34:07

I'll also discuss Co kosa when it's called up by the chairman so in closing I'm grateful to members on both sides of the aisle for the hard work that helped get us here today and I yield back the balance of my time Mr chairman thanks so much I appreciate

0:34:21

that and let's get started the chair calls out the American Privacy Act discuss disc draft and ask the clerk to report discussion draft American privacy Rights Act of 2024 be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United

0:34:39

States of America in Congress assembled section without without objection the first reading of the bill is dispensed with and the bill will be open for Amendment at any point so ordered does anyone seek recognition to speak on the

0:34:54

underlying Bill chair Rogers you're recognized for for five minutes thank you Mr chairman I'm encouraged that we continue to move closer to putting people back in control of their data by advancing this latest draft of the American privacy

0:35:10

Rights Act I'd like to again thank ranking member palone subcommittee chair Bill rakis subcommittee ranking member Jan sh Kowski for their leadership their hard work their partnership in this effort over the past several congresses

0:35:26

I've been working diligently to develop comprehensive data privacy legislation to protect all Americans no matter their age or where they live a comprehensive data Privacy Law is foundational to protecting our kids we know that if we

0:35:40

stop their personal information from being fed to Big Tech we can cut off the harms at the root and when complemented with other critical kids safety legislation we can fundamentally change the online ecosystem in a way that

0:35:53

ensures our kids are safe and and are having a well wellbe the draft bill before us today represents input from members of this subcommittee hundreds of constructive stakeholders and countless hours of good faith discussions

0:36:08

revisions and and exchanges today is not the end of the road but it's certainly is another milestone in giving Americans the Privacy rights they want and deserve my sincere thank you goes out to all the members companies associations advocacy

0:36:26

organizations that were thoughtful and constructive these these past few weeks as we've worked to refine and perfect this important bill we've intentionally kept this latest version of the legislation a discussion draft and we remain committed

0:36:41

to continuing to work to get this rate between now and the full committee sadly there are still many who will do everything they can to slow down or kill this legislation in order to maintain the status quo they hide behind advocacy

0:36:56

groups and Association s engage in Scare Tactics and refuse to negotiate in good faith we've come to expect this from the likes of big Tech and DEA Brokers and hundreds of advocacy groups they bankroll to do their bidding this bill

0:37:14

was carefully crafted to go after Bad actors and The Business of Big Data not Main Street businesses or innovators to say otherwise is an effort to fundamentally misunderstand the legislation or is disingenuous in the

0:37:32

desire to achieve a solution for decades we have repeatedly heard calls from American Business to have a National Data privacy standard now we have a patchwork of state laws that's unsustainable and it's going to crush small business and

0:37:49

medium-sized businesses and it's going to harm American competitiveness this bill achieves all of that while also giving our kids long overdue protections online my appeal to those who have been sounding the alarm that Congress must

0:38:03

act is to join us join us in getting this signed into law or start being honest that they really don't want a viable bipartisan solution or perhaps what they really don't want to admit is that they don't want to see this bill

0:38:22

succeed because it would limit what information they can collect on people how they can use it how they can monetize it for those I have a clear message it's time you stop it's time you stop exploiting Americans privacy to

0:38:38

line your own pockets it's time to stop harvesting our sensitive information and profiling us and it's time to stop exploiting our children we are committed I am committed to plowing the hard ground necessary to legislate and

0:38:55

continue working on behalf of the American people people who are urging Congress to act so let's move this legislation forward and let's continue working together in good faith to get this bill on to the president's desk I yiel

0:39:10

back the chair yelled back now will recognize the ranking member for his five minutes to speak on the underlying bill you recognize ranking full ranking member of the full committee thank you Mr chairman uh for decades we've sought

0:39:26

to safeguard American's fundamental right to privacy with a series of fragmented sector by sector laws and anyone with a smartphone laptop or tablet can tell you that we're not getting the job done data is a valuable commodity big Tech and shadowy data

0:39:42

Brokers generate billions of dollars of Revenue by collecting using and selling Americans personal information oftentimes without them even knowing the data is being collected and monetized and without a comprehensive National

0:39:55

privacy framework in place the American people are powerless to stop this invasion of their privacy as the Privacy abuses Mount the American people are calling on Congress to act 73% of adults believe that they have little or no

0:40:09

control over their data nearly 90% of Americans are concerned about the social media platforms processing personal information about kids for several years the subcommittee has been tackling this Challenge and I believe we all want to

0:40:22

put the American people back in control of their personal data and I'm committed to contining contining to work to finally enshrine robust privacy protections and law this current draft of the American privacy Rights Act or

0:40:36

APPA was only released 36 hours ago it's important that we give legislation of this significance and complexity time for review and feedback at last month's legislative hearing I advocated for crucial modifications to strengthen APPA

0:40:50

I called for specific protections for children and teens including explicitly prohibiting targeted advertising to kids who often cannot distinguish between advertising and non-advertising content I encourage the chair to add a provision

0:41:04

requiring companies to identify assess and mitigate privacy risk with respect to kids I also advocated for cracking down on the shadowy world of data Brokers by establishing a universal deletion mechanism empowering consumers

0:41:19

to direct all data Brokers to delete their information in one Fell Swoop I called for the discussion draft to ensure that artificial intelligence and personal data cannot be weaponized to deprive people of the equal opportunity

0:41:31

to find housing look for a job or receive information about goods and services and as I explained the bill should reflect what we have learned about AI particularly generative AI since ad PPA moved through this committee two years ago a data

0:41:46

minimization must be the foundation of any privacy bill as it limits the amount of personal information entities collect possess retain or transfer to only what is necessary to provide the products and services requested by the consumer so

0:42:00

I'm pleased that strong data minimization requirements were in the initial APPA discussion draft and encourage a chair to clarify that advertisements are not exempt from the data minimization requirement and that research of benefits the public is

0:42:14

permitted so I want to commend cheer Rogers for aiding language that seeks to address several of these highest priorities I'm actively reviewing the modified language to determine if my overarching policy goals have been met

0:42:27

but there's still more work to be done we must ensure that APPA acknowledges that kids are uniquely susceptible to privacy harms and deserve tailored privacy protections we need to work with stakeholders to make sure the

0:42:39

definitions of targeted advertising and other types of advertising are right and we are preventing abusive use and sharing of consumers data for advertising purposes it should also not remove the fcc's authority to preserve

0:42:53

the reliability of our Communications networks promote competition and protect protect consumers from illegal rooc calls and other abuses so great progress has been made at this point but we're not there yet I have no doubt that we

0:43:06

can get this done together chair Rogers and and chair schakowski and B rockas and everyone on this committee have a strong track record of producing results to the American people nobody has a better record of reigning in big Tech in

0:43:20

the past month alone we've had two bills signed into law a bill requiring Tick Tock to devest from the Chinese Comm Communist party and my legislation with chair Rogers restricting the sale of Americans data to foreign adversaries so

0:43:34

I look forward to hearing from my colleagues and stakeholders so we can make the changes necessary to get this discussion draft over the Finish Line because it's long past time we give the American people back control of the

0:43:45

personal data now yield back Mr chairman thank you thank you I appreciate it and I want to thank the gentleman for uh last term getting a similar bill out of the full committee so we're going to move forward and get this cross the

0:43:59

finish line with the leadership of of our great chair Rogers I now recognize myself for five minutes speak on the bill as was mentioned previously we have an opportunity to fundamentally change the way we conduct business and activity

0:44:16

on the internet ecosystem and can reclaim the rights of Americans who have too long been taken advantage of by big tech companies who use and sell their information without their consent the American privacy Rights Act will

0:44:32

ensure that no matter what state you live in you have a guaranteed right to online data privacy and security I want to thank again chair Rogers and her team we got a tremendous staff here on ENC for their work and her work of course on

0:44:50

this legislative draft and I hope we can continue to move this bill along through the process I'm asking each one of my subcommittee colleagues to support this particular effort and hope that we can continue to engage in a productive manner to improve

0:45:09

the bill further the American people overwhelmingly agree we must enact a national Privacy Law and end the pr the practice of data Brokers and online platforms manipulating selling and abusing our information without our consent

0:45:27

this bill ends the patchwork of State data privacy laws through a federal standard and requires significant transparency and accountability for covered entities regarding the right to collect use store and transfer individuals data the bill gives

0:45:45

individuals the freedom and control for how they like their data to be accessed giving consumers true choice about how they prefer to see adver ements engage with others on social networks and conduct eCommerce further AA would stop

0:46:06

discriminatory measures against individuals using their personal information and requires impact assessments about algorithms and their use preventing manipulation of Americans by big Tech or worse by our foreign adversaries it provides significant data

0:46:26

security stand standards to protect against data breaches and cyber threats such as hacking requiring businesses to maintain responsibility for their practices and their actions we have made significant improvements in this version

0:46:41

of the draft including refinements about data collected through the clinical trial process clarified language on customer loyalty programs ensuring mainstream retains that valuable option and a full prohibition on targeted

0:46:59

advertising to minors under the age of 17 I also want to give special recognition to my good friend and vice chairman of the subcommittee this particular one uh Tim Walberg from the great state of Michigan for his steadfast leadership and tireless

0:47:18

efforts that have spent years with regards to reforming children's online privacy in this updated version of the comprehensive privacy Bill we included as a new title two on reflecting Mr Wahlberg's priority to advance an update

0:47:36

for the children's online privacy protection act and we're improving upon that as well we remain committed to continuing to work with him and representative caster and others on this language and a bipartisan manner so

0:47:53

we've made a lot of progress and we've got to continue and I'm I'm a SEC guy but let's move those chains I know that's a big 10 phrase uh but but that's the truth so I thank the full chair uh committee chair Rogers for her uh

0:48:10

historic work on this and again I yell back and we're going to hear from uh from the Michigan guy pretty soon but I yell back and I'll re representative stto for his uh five minutes thank you Mr chair Here We Go Again a major comprehensive privacy bill

0:48:33

before us and Americans are counting us they're counting on us to protect their data online I fear many have even given up feeling like Congress just can't get the job done and this is exactly why we're here today uh to make sure we're

0:48:49

protecting our families and our data when you look at the provisions in there data minimization is key people have a reasonable expectation that the data collect is going to be related and within the scope of the services that

0:49:03

they're asking for online it defines authorized uses of data as well so that businesses know what they're safe to be able to use protection of personal data when you think of everything from our Biometrics to our literally our location

0:49:19

that our cell phones Define our calendars uh healthc care data so many different things right now there's no rules of the road on him we we appreciate the opt out provisions and the denialist service banss we also have work to do to continue on the Civil

0:49:34

Rights protections and algorithms we've seen for years uh internet companies whether directly or through algorithms perpetrate some of redlining and and other uh discriminatory practices and then enforcement um the FTC will do a

0:49:48

great job so will state AGS and we need to look at uh whether we're we have the right of action at the level it needs to make sure individuals can help and of course preemption as well Florida just passed some privacy legislation uh

0:50:02

it is not quite up to where it needs to be and so we're thrilled about the work being done here lastly I filed an amendment today which is more for discussion purposes I had a local constitu in Alex bugay a University of

0:50:14

Central Florida student whose identity was totally stolen uh and then social media was put up to criticize and make racist comments against the Georgia state legislature this theft of his identity destroyed his life he lost his

0:50:28

job he almost got kicked out of school and it's become a huge new story in Central Florida which is why I filed the shield act which I hope to get as part of the Amendments uh in the uh next round uh as we go to the full markup

0:50:42

which is to help protect folks against their identities being stolen for liable or slanderous or other Criminal action and that they'll either have the ability to put up a community note or at the ideally that they have the ability to

0:50:56

take down down this information so I look forward to working with colleagues on both sides of the aisle on this really important measure to protect uh families Across the Nation in our data online and I yield back thank you

0:51:08

appreciate it the gentleman yields back now I'll recognize Dr bushan from the great state of Indiana I guess he's a big 10 guy too I am thank you Mr chairman I I mve to strike the last word on the underlying bill today States across the United

0:51:24

States and Nations across the globe have recognized the importance of establishing rules of the road for how the data of their constituents is used and regulated I'm glad that Indiana is one of those States now it's time for

0:51:37

Congress to act on at a national level I want to thank chair MCM Morris Rogers for working to get a much-needed Federal framework for data protection in place and I'm pleased with many of the changes that occurred from the initial

0:51:49

discussion draft to what we're considering today I have the following thoughts on clinical Health trial medical research data research doesn't begin and end in the clinic data obtained from patients post FDA approval and post

0:52:05

Administration are important to feedback into the R&D process Provisions related to the use of this data derived outside of the clinical trial setting to derive R&D insights and Provisions related to the collection and use of this data to

0:52:20

comply with FDA maned reporting requirement should be considered as part of this text additional the draft legislation limits the general scientific research exemption to efforts that are public and peer reviewed which

0:52:33

in my view is somewhat restrictive and doesn't account for much of the research that that industry does to develop life-saving drugs and treatment and I think we can uh we can work with that uh to get that improved um I'm also

0:52:50

concerned a little bit about the way the legislation defines data Brokers which includes the processing of covered data as a trigger to be classified as a data broker none of the individual state laws that have been enacted to date Dem an entity that

0:53:04

processes data as a data broker if they do not go on to transfer or sell that data over scoping this definition could have negative consequences for many who simply provide their own users an in tenant service another issue I think that still

0:53:18

needs address pertains to the definition of on device data this legislation should exempt data that remains on technolog iCal devices such as automobiles that is not accessed by their manufacturer or transferred to other entities using Vehicles as an

0:53:34

example many onboard computer systems and sensors control the basic operations and safety function of vehicles so long as this technical data is not sold or transferred outside the vehicle uh it should be exempt again I I think we've made a lot

0:53:49

of progress and I'm committed to a National Data Privacy Law and I'm very pleased with the progress we we've made in the American privacy Rights Act discussion draft we're considering today I look forward to continue working to

0:54:02

enact a National Data privacy framework that establishes clear protections for how hoar's data can be used give citizens of Indiana control over their own data and promotes Innovation uh throughout our country thank you and I yield back gentleman

0:54:19

yields back now recognize the ranking member of the subcommittee Miss schakowski for her five minutes and she's going to speak on on the bill thank you Mr chairman I want to go back to this issue of uh biometric um data um we are talking here about

0:54:41

information um that is um unique to each individual um and so when um we don't do anything to disallow the Gathering of information like uh like f fingerprints or or DNA um then all people are a vulnerable they can't do anything to change um the

0:55:09

basic data that could be uh that could be collected and I'm so happy um that uh chairman Roger said that she would um agree to uh work with us on on on dealing with this let me just give you one example Le um is profiling that can

0:55:29

occur at a grocery store where for example where pictures are taken of of someone um and this kind of activity has actually ended up where people are wrongfully um even arrested for shoplifting or for something and that it is most likely to happen and has

0:55:53

happened to uh to to people of of color so it seems to me very important that we consider this vulnerability um and include it in the uh in the legislation and I look forward for that to happen and with that I gent lady yield please yes yes you're

0:56:13

recognized thank you and I I share the concern around the collection of biometric and genetic information uh I do want to point uh everyone to the to the legislation we do have provisions and that are that are I believe strong perhaps even stronger

0:56:33

than what was in the the bill that passed out of this committee last year um but I am committed to continuing to work to make sure that the provisions around protecting biometric and genetic information are as uh as strong as they

0:56:47

need to be and so I'll I'll yeld back does the general lady yield back yes okay she yields back now we'll recog ize uh Mr Wahlberg from the great state of Michigan for his five minutes he's going to speak on the bill as well thank

0:57:03

you Mr chairman I want to sincerely thank chair Rogers and the committee for their ongoing work to establish a comprehensive Privacy Law this is no easy task as we all know unfortunately I don't do have some concerns about the

0:57:16

legislation as it currently is drafted protecting children and teens online is one of the top priorities for parents across the country we're facing a youth Mental Health crisis and a suicide crisis because social media companies

0:57:30

are not looking out for the well-being of our kids instead more data equals more targeted ads which equals more Revenue no matter the cost or the harm to young people it is crucial that we cut these practices off at the root and

0:57:44

in a way that is a straightforward functional and strong this is why I and representative Caster introduced the children and teens online privacy protection act or copy 2. 0 the legislation is a robust update to the only Federal children's privacy

0:58:01

framework on the books it's a long negotiated bipartisan by coll bill with nearly 100 organizations supporting it they include Advocates on all sides of political Spectrum as well as groups that represent our constituents our

0:58:16

teachers our parents our doctors and so many others CA 2.0 which is Led in the Senate by Senators Mary Cassidy Cruz and canwell dis distinguished group there is the update we need along with Casa led by my friend chairman bill rakus I

0:58:33

believe Capa 2.0 has a clear path forward in the Senate due to its significant bipartisan and stakeholder support the legislation would raise the age to 10 16 ban any targeted advertising to minors update the outdated knowledge standard establish

0:58:49

strong data minimization requirements and create an eraser button for parents and teens to have true control unfortunately at this point this is not CA 2.0 in the discussion draft it has the skin but not the meat and the bones while I appreciate that APPA

0:59:08

Incorporated some updates to cppa more of cppa 2.0 needs to be included or Advanced separately to better increase privacy protections for young people first the APPA draft legislation eliminates provisions of Capa 2.0 that

0:59:22

would have raised the age of protection to 16 we have all heard testimony and countless heartbreaking personal stories of why teenagers are the most vulnerable group when it comes to the harmful and manipulative data practices by big Tech

0:59:37

I understand that APPA includes teenagers in the definition of a covered minor for title one but raising the age of protection specifically for Kappa is a necessary update that allows greater Clarity and targeting for The Unique

0:59:51

protections and options that should be granted to minors and their parents additionally APPA needs to update the the actual knowledge standards so we can move past a standard that has been in place since the late 90s I know the committee is

1:00:05

aware and understands this need as it's been previously discussed in kosaa never could say adepa and CA 2.0 lastly I'm also concerned uh that with the definition of targeted advertising as it stands there are loopholes that

1:00:22

platforms and websites could exploit to continue pushing targeted ads to miners keeping the prohibition on targeting or targeted advertising within the update of Capa allows more flexibility to be specific to Miners and close those

1:00:37

loopholes without threatening the ability of businesses to provide targeted ads to adults again I sincerely support the chair chair's efforts to establish a much needed comprehensive Privacy Law this is a massive undertaking that she has been working on

1:00:53

since she stepped into her role on energy and Comm for her this issue is personal and I so appreciate the work that she and staff have done to better protect all Americans online we have already seen some promising updates made since the

1:01:07

legislative hearing and are encouraged by its progress but we need to be vigilant in making sure that we are not unintentionally moving away from stronger privacy protections for children and teenagers in our effort to increase online privacy I think all

1:01:23

members uh of the committee agree minor should be treated differently and have a privacy framework that accounts for their unique harms and developmental needs I still believe the best and most straightforward way of accomplishing

1:01:35

this is Copa 2.0 I hope I can continue uh working with the committee on a path forward to see my legislation addressed more adequately so we can work toward a goal we all share protecting young people online thank you I yield

1:01:50

back gentleman yields back now recognize uh Miss Kelly uh for your five minutes with regard speaking on the bill the underlying Bill you're recognizing Mr chair I move to strike the last word you're recognized for starters I want to

1:02:06

thank my colleagues and all the staff for the hard work that has been done to craft a federal privacy bill that establishes National Data privacy rights for Americans the American privacy Rights Act makes important gains as as

1:02:20

it relates to protecting Americans data privacy acts importantly APPA has critical data minimalization Provisions that limit the type of data that companies can collect keep and use to what companies need to provide for

1:02:33

products and services APPA also gives Americans greater control over their data by requiring companies to let people access correct delete and Export that data additionally I appreciate appa's inclusion of language to provide

1:02:47

stronger protections to address the youth Mental Health crisis by prohibiting certain data practices that exacerbate harmful algorithms targeting America's children and teenagers I also applaud appa's inclusion of civil rights

1:03:01

protections that prohibit companies from using Americans personal information to discriminate against them this is especially important to me because as I said during the April 17th IDC subcommittee hearing privacy rights are

1:03:15

civil rights because in the era of Big Data personal information information can be weaponized for digital redlining Studies have found that mortgage algorithms were 80% more more likely to reject black applicants than white

1:03:28

applicants with similar characteristics aut Insurance algorithms increasingly assess applicants based on socioeconomic factors and less on their driving behavior and retailers use facial recognition technology that erroneously

1:03:43

accuse customers of shoplifting and falsely flag women and people of color at higher rates than other Shoppers however I do have concerns with APPA and I think further changes should be considered that said it has been

1:03:57

difficult for me and my staff to review a 174 page bill in a little over 24 hours so like many others we are still trying to understand everything that is in this bill but starters it is my understanding that APPA unlike adpa from

1:04:12

the 117th Congress does not afford consumers the right to seek relief in the courts for companies collecting processing retaining and storing sensitive data data not necessar to provide a product or service that may be data about one's race religion sex

1:04:28

health or geolocation further I joined some of my colleagues and the concerns raised by 15 state attorney generals in a May 8th letter also signed by Illinois Attorney General juami Rahul around appa's intended or unintended impact on State's

1:04:44

Attorney's General enforcement capabilities specifically it appears that APPA could impede or prohibit a state attorney general's ability to use civil investigative demands under their consumer protection authority to demand

1:04:58

documents or information when there could have been a violation of the law this concern concern stems from section 120 subdivision C which provides that a violation of this act or a regulation prolongated under this act may not be

1:05:13

pleaded as an an element of any violation of any state common law or any state statutary law I believe this could be a shift in the status quo and that as pointed out by the May 8th letter ordinary generally a violation of a

1:05:26

federal law stand it could also be a violation of State Consumer Protection Law consequently my concern is that this language could limit State's Attorney General's investigatory Powers when there are violations of such laws lastly I would

1:05:41

also like to voice my continued disappointment in the lack of inclusion of privacy icons next to short form notices something I advocated for with the adpa I believe more can be done to ensure consumers understand what their

1:05:55

agreement to with these privacy policies which is why I've supported adding privacy icons to privacy policies so consumers can be aided by visual representation of how their data is treated in closing it is my view that explainable privacy icons are key to

1:06:12

data transparency and ensuring consumers understand their options when agreeing to company privacy policies for these reasons why I'm encouraged by the work that has been done I urge my colleagues to agree to continue to work on this

1:06:25

bill before it heads to a full committee markup lacking the necessary changes raised by me and others I'm not yet sure that I can support this privacy legislation so it be considered at a full committee markup thank you and I

1:06:38

yield back General Le yields back now does anybody uh on the Republican side wish to speak on the bill okay I'll recognize representative C for her five minutes and she's going to speak on the bill appreciate it very

1:06:55

much you're right recognize thank you Mr chairman it is urgent that we adopt a modern data Privacy Law to protect the personal information of all Americans and I I truly appreciate uh the work of chair Rogers and reing member palone and

1:07:12

my good friend uh chair Bill graas and ranking member schakowski uh and I it's been music to my ears that you're saying this morning that this discussion draft will be uh strengthened from this point forward because big te big Tech platforms track

1:07:28

everything we do everywhere we go everything we buy online uh they use that information to manipulate us to exploit us um and this manipulation is particularly harmful to to children and Adolescence the the American Academy of

1:07:45

Pediatrics says on data collection from children and teens on a vast scale allows companies to monitor track and Target young people with advertisements and Conta that exploit their developmental vulnerabilities for commercial gain

1:08:00

Research indicates that the use of data to Target children in adolescence with highly personalized behavioral advertising and user experiences is not developmentally appropriate because they have not yet develop mature critical

1:08:12

thinking skills or impulse inhibition kids are very lucrative to these big Tech platforms they're ripe targets for a wide range of online actors from child sexual abuse cyber bullies drug dealers and scam artists and parents and kids need help

1:08:33

they need this Congress to finally pass a modern Privacy Law and to update the children's online privacy protection act which hasn't been changed for 25 years uh big Tech platforms use every method possible to keep uh kids online and

1:08:52

addicted so that they can pocket huge profits and the mental health repercussions for our kids are staggering the mental health uh the American Psychological Association has issued a mental health advisory uh similar to what the US Surgeon General

1:09:10

has done almost half of the teens in the US have experienced bullying or harassment online between 2010 and 2019 teen depression rates doubled with teenage girls seeing the sharpest increase in 2021 almost a third of girls said

1:09:28

that they are seriously considering attempting suicide and this committee has heard directly from whistleblowers including the Facebook whistleblower Francis howan and others that the platforms know this they know that their platforms are

1:09:43

causing harm but the kids are just too lucrative for them to change how they do business so it's long past time for Congress to step in I know many of you have have probably um tuned into Jonathan hate and his new book The anxious generation how the great

1:10:00

rewiring of childhood is causing an epidemic of mental illness I think one of the reasons uh what he is saying is so resonant with parents like me and many across the country and I hear it in in chair Rogers what she says because

1:10:14

we've watched this we've watched the changes over time we saw the rise of of social media and these platforms and how they skirt the law um that's that's why I am so very disappointed very disappointed with how ineffective and weak the apera

1:10:35

discussion draft is when it comes to kids uh I Echo the concerns of my good friend Mr Wahlberg who has worked for many years on this uh for many years we've had the I've introduced the kids privacy uh the kids Privacy Act we have a bipartisan Bill CA 2.0

1:10:55

that has a uh stakeholders parents Advocates endorsement across the Spectrum one of the pathways forward is to bring up CA 2.0 uh and pass it the other the other way forward is to incorporate it into APPA uh the discussion draft completely

1:11:15

fails to include important protections uh it removes the ca 2.0's knowledge standard entirely and would now only apply to websites and apps that are directed to Children excluding those platforms that uh where um platforms

1:11:30

that know a user as minor APPA includes a weak definition of targeted advertising that would allow many websites and apps to continue serving targeted ads to children and teens these issues are critical to modernizing current law to reflect the tech driven

1:11:46

world that we live in so uh chair Rogers I hear your uh offer and Mr Bill aracas I hear your offer to continue to work on them um I I trust you we are going to move forward but as this bill stands now it it really fails kids and teens and and

1:12:04

families we have our work cut out for us I yeld back General lady yields back uh so who seeks recognition on on the bill the underlying Bill anyone on the Republican side I will go with the Democrat side and representative Dingle

1:12:22

you're recognized for five minutes to speak on the bill thank you Mr chairman I move to strike the last word privacy thank you privacy is a fundamental right and I'm encouraged by the desire of my colleagues to make real

1:12:36

bipartisan progress on comprehensive privacy legislation any comprehensive P privacy bill that comes out of this committee has to do the following things keep kids safe online as so eloquently expressed by my colleague Empower individuals to

1:12:54

be the ultimate Arbiter of their data and how it is used protect sensitive and personal information from being misused clarify the role and the expectations in the collection processing and transfer of data and provide accountability

1:13:12

measures for lapses in offering these protections which have become all too common place no consequences consumers care about how their data is used and I'm supportive of this ongoing process in the tangible progress we've made in the American

1:13:28

privacy Rights Act I thank my colleagues for the commitment to strengthening these protections but there is still work to be done we've made significant bipartisan progress on both sides of the aisle to find solutions for sensitive data categories and data

1:13:46

minimization these efforts are needed to protect consumer privacy we must continue to focus on on ensuring that the data minimization Provisions in this bill allow only the collection use retention and transfer of necessary data reducing misuse risks and

1:14:07

enhancing consumer trust protections for sensitive data such as health and financial information are particularly important and we need to make sure consumers understand when they are looking at what could be released I think it became real to too many

1:14:28

consumers who just get Gobbledy gooped when they read in the New York Times that General Motors was selling their information to an insurance company and their insurance rates were going up that is not right we must ensure that the

1:14:43

permissible purposes for using consumers data are consistent with people's expectations and benefit rather than harm consumers for example covered entty ke such as automakers need some data to continue to keep people safe automakers

1:15:00

need to use and retain some data that's linked to car owners such as VIN numbers to push the quality improvements to the correct vehicles and to perform quality research and improve vehicle quality but not sell data or give data to people

1:15:17

they don't know it's going to additionally we must ensure fairness in audit and review requirements for data holders while also addressing the threat of foreign adversaries accessing our consumer data building on bipartisan e

1:15:32

efforts like protecting America's data from foreign adversaries act which he passed out of this committee and President Biden signed into law we must enforce strict protections against transferring sensitive data to foreign

1:15:46

adversaries I have filed an amendment that further limits foreign adversaries access to American sensitive information I won't offering that or seeking a vote on the amendment today I look forward to working with members on both sides of

1:16:01

the aisle to ensure this important priority is addressed prior to full committee markup and I also continue to be concerned about how we use data that could contribute to domestic violence as I said at the outset all of us can agree

1:16:17

we need comprehensive privacy reform the americ and privacy Rights Act is a major step in the right direction and will protect consumers across the country I want to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their

1:16:31

collaboration on this legislation and I will work with everyone to help get it across the finish line Thank you Mr chairman and I yield back General lady y's back appreciate that and uh does anyone uh seek recognition on the

1:16:47

Republican side Mr chair no yes you're recognized thank you Mr chairman I I Mo District the last work you recognize you know I'm happy to see that we're making progress with this legislation and I'm proud of the work this committee and our

1:17:02

chairwoman's done in negotiating the bipartisan draft I know it's not perfect as nothing ever is but I know there needs to be bipartisan compromise to get this across the finish line but this is not a finished product yet and we're

1:17:16

going to keep working uh and because this legislation is too important not to get right with that Mr chairman I encourage my colleagues to advance this important bill to the full committee and with that sir I yield back appreciate

1:17:29

that thank you gent lady yields back now I does anybody seek recognition on the Democrat side all right Mr Tran you're recognized for five minutes to speak on the bill well thank you chair bill rockz and I sincerely appreciate the hard work

1:17:44

that you chair Rogers ranking member schakowski and ranking member palone have uh put in to bring this legislation forward this legislation is already stronger than it was uh um at introduction and I'm glad to see the changes I suggested have been included

1:17:58

in the latest draft to ensure that consumers can delete their data held by data Brokers and that public interest and peer-reviewed research is restored as a permitted purpose under the Privacy Law I'd like to submit for the record

1:18:12

this letter from the center for American progress and numerous researchers pushing for the restoration of that important permitted purpose and while a lot of progress has been made I objection so order I filed a few amendments highlighting some

1:18:26

particular areas where the bill still has room to improve and I hope that we can work to address these issues at full committee markup I join representative Kelly in her concern about the Bill's potential impact to State Attorney

1:18:38

General investigative Authority we have to ensure that our state AGS can investigate potential APPA violations through civil investigative demands uh before bringing a suit I filed an amendment to clarify that the preservation of State AG investigatory

1:18:55

Authority in section 118 of opa applies to the entire Privacy Law ensuring that no other provision of the title can be construed to limit that Authority I've also filed an amendment to clarify that data Brokers do not get a free pass to

1:19:09

sell our personal information and ignore the Privacy Law just because they are in part consumer reporting agencies when a consumer reporting agency starts brokering our personal data for targeted advertising they should be considered a

1:19:22

data broker under the law my amendment makes that Crystal Clear finally I've also filed an amendment to further support the efforts of public interest researchers who despite numerous structural barriers work hard every day

1:19:37

to bring transparency and accountability to online platforms I'd like to submit for the record another letter from numerous public interest researchers and organizations urging the committee to take stronger action to bring transparency to Big Tech without

1:19:51

objection so order thank you and my final Amendment which establish is a safe harbor for public interest privacy protective platform research allows researchers to collect publicly available data from online platforms without fear of violating the platform

1:20:06

platform's terms of service time and time again social media platforms use their terms of service to threaten intimidate and harass independent researchers to stifle them from sharing honest truths about their platform's

1:20:19

impacts on youth Mental Health Online safety and harassment this amendment would put a stop to it and I hope we can include it in the bill going forward and last but not by any means least I'm glad that the committee is including CA 2.0

1:20:33

in AA and seeking to improve protections for children's privacy as well but it's important that key provisions of CA 2.0 are not lost in the transition to the comprehensive Privacy Law I'm a mom too one of CA 2.0's most impactful changes

1:20:49

is the expansion of its privacy protections to teenagers as well as children and the bill also has a stronger definition of targeted advertising that better protects minor privacy there's a lot of work to be done to fully realize the benefits of CA 2.0

1:21:04

and properly integrate it into Opera and I hope the chair will commit to working with congresswoman caster and me and so many others on this important effort thank you I yield back would the gentle lady yield yes yes thank you thank you uh I

1:21:23

am I just want every want to know I'm fully committed to working with with you with representative casor with the ranking member palone with representative wallberg on strengthening the provisions around Copa 2.0 I think

1:21:38

there's uh it's very important that we get uh CA as much as we can get it Incorporated and um and and get it to uh work well with the underlying American privacy rights act so um I I'm committed and I hope everyone else is committed

1:21:57

too let's get it done yield back General lady yields back now does anybody on the Republican side seek recognition to speak on the bill seeing none uh are I understand we have yes representative Clark you're recognized to speak on the bill thank you Mr

1:22:17

chairman I think the chairwoman of the uh of the committee as well as U ranking member chowski and ranking member palone and while I'm relieved that we are finally moving forward with Comprehensive data privacy legislation this Congress I would remind my

1:22:34

colleagues that process really matters the work we're doing is too important way too important and we must move forward in an open bipartisan manner that gives members on both sides of the aisle sufficient time to review changes

1:22:50

to Major legislation and offer thoughtful feedback and Amendment that being said I was pleased to see that important provisions on civil rights and algorithms were included however just as I voiced at the legislative hearing on the previous

1:23:06

discussion draft there are issues with the definition of key terminology in this bill the current definition used for targeted advertising in particular really needs to be tightened up and further I would uh I I appreciate the

1:23:24

addition of uh consequential decision uh but I worry that term as currently defined in the bill may not be sufficient to that end I'm working on legislative language to improve and strengthen the bill and once again urge

1:23:40

my colleagues to move forward with as much transparency as possible as this bill Works its way through the committee I want to uh also add my voice to that of uh congresswoman um Kathy caster and of course Lori TR and um many others who

1:23:57

have voiced their concern about um putting as as strong a a a backing behind the COA legislation as we can to the benefit of our our children um the the the monetization of of their lives starts you know pretty early on and we

1:24:16

can only imagine as uh they they proceed in life what the consequences of uh that LEL of Engagement and intrusion into their lives will mean for them as adults uh and we know that vulnerable communities are are are counting on us

1:24:33

to get this right so I stand at the ready to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and make sure we are putting forth a federal data privacy standard worthy of the American people with that Mr chairman I yield back

1:24:46

General Le yields back uh any further uh comments any anyone wish to speak on the bill all right let's get started let's get into the amendatory process um anyone seek to offer an amendment yes representative o You're recognized to offer an amendment Mr

1:25:08

chairman I have an amendment at the desk designated obaly 64 the clerk will report the amendment amendment to discussion draft offered by Mr oboli of California page 3 5 strike line 12 and all that follows through line 19 without

1:25:27

objection the reading of the amendment is dispensed with and represent all you're recognized to uh for five minutes in support of your Amendment well thank you Mr chairman I I'd like to thank you and uh our full committee chairwoman for

1:25:40

the uh open and inclusive process that you've used in developing this bill this is a topic that's very important to me and that me uh that that I've had a lot of Engagement in uh when we drafted the California consumer privacy act in

1:25:54

California several years ago I was one of the leads involved with that and I want to make sure that we get this process right uh that we incorporate the lessons that we learned in California When approaching this topic and that we

1:26:05

also avoid some of the mistakes that were made there and that's why I am so appreciative of the fact that you've been so open and inclusive in this process uh one of the things that I think is critically important when we approach this issue is that we

1:26:19

distinguish between small businesses and larger businesses it's very clear I mean this bill is is already 174 Pages likely to get even longer that is a lot of regulatory complexity for uh two people in a garage to deal with who are trying to start the

1:26:36

next Google so we it's it's critical that we differentiate uh what our requirements are based on the size of the company and that's why I think it's very important that we get the definition of small business right so this amendment makes an important uh

1:26:50

change to that uh first it inflation indexes the uh the gross receipts uh that's one of the tests for the small business under this bill we're trying to craft something that's durable here that Americans can rely on to protect their

1:27:02

privacy for generations to come I think that that definition because of inflation has got to be inflation indexed and so it makes that change another change that I think is very important is uh in the following section when uh it as regards the number of

1:27:17

individuals covered data that an entity can store before no longer being considered a small business right now that is set at 200,000 let me tell you why that might be a problem it's taken from my own experience a career in video

1:27:31

game development uh there are lots of small video game developers that are just a couple of people working out of their homes uh that might that might create a very simple mobile game that you can play on your phone and they

1:27:42

might charge 9 cents for it if 200,000 people bought that game at 99 Cents that is only an annual revenue of $200,000 not even close to $40 million uh and yet this game might include a leaderboard that includ that displays a user score

1:27:59

next to their name and under this bill that's arguably covered data so uh those two people would no longer meet the definition of small business and I don't think that that was the intent of this committee so I would suggest that that

1:28:11

test that two-prong test be uh or instead of an in other words uh you have to uh either you have to both have a a gross revenue over 40 million and store uh more than 200,000 people's covered data so uh that's the substance of the

1:28:26

amendment I think it's worthy of consideration I have uh I understand that the intention here is not to have votes as we move towards a full committee markup and in the spirit of that uh and a desire to to to see us continue having this discussion I'll

1:28:41

withdraw that for today I yield back Mr chairman gentleman wishes to withdraw his Amendment yes sir all right are there further amendments you recognize uh I have an amendment at the desk designated obber 59 clerk will report amendment to discussion draft

1:29:05

offered by Mr oberti of California page 35 line 22 without objection the reading of the amendment is dispensed with and representative Al Alber is recognized for five minutes in support of his Amendment thank you very much Mr

1:29:19

chairman this is another amendment to in the definition of small business that was suggested by the committee staff as a way of perhaps solving the problem that we just talked about where uh we we're uh dealing with a business that's

1:29:32

storing information that's not necessarily sensitive information and that would include things like someone's score in a video game uh this would add the word sensitive to that definition to make it clear that what we really care

1:29:43

about is the storage of sensitive information and if you're storing information that's not sensitive uh that a little bit more leeway can be exercised in defining you a small business so I think this is a very worthwhile uh amendment to consider and

1:29:56

I hope that it'll be incorporated in the draft moving forward but for today I will withdraw it and uh let me just say I had a number of other amendments here that I think are important but in the spirit of uh uh of expediency uh and

1:30:08

working towards getting a full committee markup uh that that's the last Amendment I'll be offering today I you I appreciate that very much the gentleman withdrawals of amendment are there any further amendments to the bell and let's proceed on Final

1:30:26

passage is there any further discussion on on the particular Bill no okay if there are no no further discussion on either side the vote occurs on forwarding the discussion draft to the full committee all those in favor shall signify by saying I I all those

1:30:49

oppose the eyes have it and the discussion draft is agre agreed to the chair calls up HR 7891 and asks the clerk to report HR 7891 a bill to protect the safety of children on the internet without objection the first reading of the bill is dispensed with

1:31:13

and the bill will be open for Amendment at any point so ordered does this uh does anyone seek recognition to speak on the bill at this particular time I'm going to recognize myself uh for five minutes to speak on the bill okay

1:31:29

so I urge my colleagues support kids online safety act legislation that will shift the Paradigm of responsibility when it comes to Online safety from families to Big tech companies who have repeatedly failed to adequately protect

1:31:46

kids who use their platforms unfortunately we've seen a disturbing spike in rates of depression self harm and suicide attempts and death among teens with teen depression in particular Rising by more than 60% since 2011 according to the

1:32:06

CDC this coincides with the same period that uh social media and smartphones use the use use has exploded folks it's unacceptable and these Trends are uh caused for alarm and action kosa provides significant reforms to the way

1:32:26

these online products are offered to children by requiring them to ensure their design features mitigate against these harms uh we've seen among youth at our legislative hearing we heard testimony from Ava smithing and the

1:32:43

chair uh actually brought this up uh and she is she was representing the young People's Alliance uh and she shared her story about about her battle with eating disorders that were perpet uh perpetuated by Instagram's algorithms

1:33:02

filter Bubbles and use of her data to serve ads that uh made the problem even worse I know many of us have also met with survivor families who have tragically had children succumb to worse Fates I've heard uh stories from

1:33:20

Jennifer Mitchell in my district in Pascal County FL Florida whose son Ian died after attempting a a dangerous online Challenge on Snapchat and Sherl mcor Brown uh in my home county of pelis uh whose daughter McKenna died by

1:33:39

suicide after being Cyber Bullied and harassed on social media and Nas the nasca family from Long Island who lost their son Chase because of Tik tok's algorithms pushing him to Suicide I commend these moms for being willing to turn their sorrow into action

1:34:01

to improve Online safety and we've heard you and we are uh responding to this sadly these stories are too common ladies and gentlemen and we must do more to stop addiction depression and wrongful deaths the kids online Act is a

1:34:21

significant step forward in holding these online platforms accountable our legislation would provide kids and teens the opportunity to turn off datadriven recommendation systems provide parents with tools to manage a Minor's use of a

1:34:39

platform including options to control safety settings by default track their time limit purchases and address harmful usage most consumers especially children are underw Ware that much of the content they see on platforms is determined by

1:34:58

sophisticated algorithms that draw on data about each consumer's online activity title two of the bill which incorporates Senator thun's uh fil filter bubble Bill requires platforms to notify users when a secret algorithm is

1:35:19

used to determine how it serves content to users this provision will make it easier for children and parents to understand how they are manipulated by these recommendation uh systems used by internet platforms like Tik Tok Facebook

1:35:36

or Google among others we have taken a significant amount of feedback on this particular piece of legislation and I know Advocates stakeholders and others include my in including my callings here on the DI have expressed ideas about how

1:35:52

to improve this particular bill so I plan to work on those suggestions and I look forward to continue to collaborate and negotiate with my colleague Kathy casor from the state of Florida and thank her for her leadership on this

1:36:08

particular Bill I know we are both committed to getting this legislation across the Finish Line I also thank my colleagues representative buan uh shrier and Halon for their input and I appreciate them co-leading this effort

1:36:24

with us so let's do the right thing ladies and Gentlemen let's move forward with hr70 n 7891 in a bipar and fashion the kids online safety act we must protect our children online that's the bottom line and hold big Tech accountable so I'll yield back the

1:36:46

balance of my time and I will recognize a person on the Democrat side and it's my friend uh the lady from General lady from new uh from Florida Miss caster for her five minutes to speak on the bill well thank you chairman Bill aracas the kids online

1:37:06

safety act is going to make the internet safer for kids and teens uh and uh Bill Rus I want to thank you for your leadership and your partnership on on this endeavor and I also want to recognize uh senator blo all Senator Blackburn uh folks all the

1:37:27

professional staff but mainly the parents and Advocates who have gotten us to this point today and repus you're right many of them have lost children or are grappling with with uh The Fallout right now and we are going to act uh

1:37:46

we're going to try to prevent these online harms to other other kids um in the future because we know what's going on the big Tech platforms they design their products so that they can addict kids steal their time and attention keep them

1:38:04

online uh as as long as possible and oftentimes funnel them towards harmful and exploitative content and the big Tech platforms have known this but they have failed to mitigate the dangers and harms uh being perpetrated online

1:38:24

and as as is a parent today that it's it's led to a mental health crisis among kids and teens uh stolen attention and time away from what they of what childhood should mean being able to get outside be healthy and well um so the

1:38:41

kids online safety act kind of now will institute some guard rails uh kind of rebalance the scales for for parents and kids and promote transparency so here's a few of the things that it does uh it it the bill outline outlines a set of

1:39:00

harms uh to miners under the age of 17 and requires the tech platforms to take reasonable measures to prevent and mitigate U online harms including suicide depression eating disorder substance abuse sexual exploitation and

1:39:17

certain unlawful products for miners like drugs and tobacco products and gambling and alcohol it empowers parents and informs policymakers about individual social media platforms efforts to reduce risk to kids by requiring independent Audits and

1:39:33

supporting access to important data for experts and academic researchers a something that I really appreciate representative Tran's leadership on as well we can do more here it directs the covered platforms to implement controls

1:39:46

to protect against stalking and exploitation of children provides kids and teens the oper the uh ability to turn off datadriven recommendation algorithms uh requires the platforms to provide parents with the tools to help manage a Minor's use

1:40:03

of a platform including options to control safety settings track their time limit purchases and address harmful usage and it makes this the default mode it implements rep a reporting mechanism by directing covered platforms to

1:40:21

establish a dedicated reporting channel to alert the channel to of harms to Miners and requires them to substantively respond in a timely manner it ensures that the covered platforms offer an easy to use control and prohibits the use of dark patterns

1:40:38

that mislead or confuse consumers uh it's not perfect and and R B chair billus I appreciate your your ongoing Outreach on how we can strengthen this uh chair Roger Roger I hear you um and thank you as well for for bringing this bill uh today and your

1:40:59

commitment to to working to to strengthen this and the Copper Fit Provisions I'm grateful to both of you and and the entire committee I think all of the committee members here have a greater understanding of what has been

1:41:12

happening we've come a long way from a few years ago um when it was really over in the Senate that they didn't have they didn't quite understand what was happening with these big Tech platforms and and what they were doing to addict

1:41:26

kids but everyone is wide awake now to the harms and the necessity for for making the internet a safer place for for our kids so thank you again for for bringing the bill today uh we should all vote for it enthusiastically and then

1:41:43

work in the coming days to make it even stronger thank you and I yeld back my time thank you General a yzb I look forward to working with you continue work with you as a matter of fact I spoke to one of the Senate sponsors last

1:41:56

night we got to get this acoss the Finish Line uh we'll find consensus so we appreciate it very much and now I recognize the the chair of the full committee Mrs Rogers for her five minutes to speak on the bill thank you

1:42:09

Mr chairman I'd like to take a moment to recognize several folks who are in the audience today Sam Chapman Deb schmill and Todd and Mia Min Miner do you want to wave thank [Applause] you all whom have experienced firsthand

1:42:34

the J damaging impact big Tech is having on our children and the experiences that you've been forced to go through are every parents greatest fear I've mentioned before I'm a mom of three young kids and my biggest fear is

1:42:48

what's happening to our kids online I don't trust what's happening at all and I want to thank you for being here I want to thank you for your advocacy for many many years and I'm confident that this subcommittee is going to take

1:43:02

important action today and we're going to continue to work to strengthen protections for all of our children online and all Americans online this is our moment I yield back thank the general lady General lady yields back now recognize Miss blunt

1:43:20

Rochester for her five minutes to speak on the bill thank you Mr chairman I mve to strike the last word you're recognized today as we consider legislation to respond to the clear need for federal standards for data privacy and for the protection of kids

1:43:41

online I am focused on as our chairwoman said I'm a mom I also have a mother who is a senior who I'm concerned can fall prey to some of the things that are happening on these big Tech platforms and so for us to be able to make sure that we in a

1:44:03

bipartisan way focus on this um is important as we protect our health and the mental health of our young people as we seek to keep us all safe and also protect our personal data in this world today we know we work we learn we do business connect with

1:44:23

others online so we must ensure that Americans are protected from harmful and exploitative practices and that's why last Congress I introduced a bipartisan bill called The Detour act this bill would prohibit online platforms from

1:44:41

using dark patterns which are design features that could deceive Americans into handing over their data or giving their consent and I'm going to just give a couple of examples because this is a term that many people never even heard

1:44:55

before a dark pattern is um when you sign up for a trial period of something maybe a credit card and then after that you're automatically charged and then you can't figure out how to get out of it you can't figure out how to cancel it a dark pattern is

1:45:15

when you are on a page and there's a teeny tiny X but it's so tiny that you can't even X out of it or even find it a dark pattern is a bait and switch the detour act would also forbid platforms from using people especially children as

1:45:33

test subjects in Behavioral or psychological research without their Express consent and finally it would specifically protect kids by prohibiting interfaces designed to encourage compulsive usage of these online platforms I'm encouraged that the heart

1:45:54

of these Provisions from my detour act are included in the kids online safety act and the American privacy Rights Act which we are considering today we must work together to put in place some basic protections for our kids and for all

1:46:11

Americans I think we'd be hardpressed to find a member in this room or even in the legislative body who would object to the premise that online platforms and services cannot be allowed to trick and manipulate people into making choices

1:46:28

that serve the bottom line and expense uh of those companies but at the expense of our constituents and it is clear that we still have some work to do but I'm encouraged by the work of All of Us coming together and I'm encouraged by my

1:46:44

colleagues on who have been working tirelessly on this ultimately the the The Detour Act should be a part of both of these bills and I'm glad that they are and I'm looking forward to working in Partnership to strengthen these bills

1:47:01

because it is truly about safe Safety and Security of all Americans thank you Mr chairman and I yield back thank you General L yields back now recognize Dr bushan uh to speak on the bill thank you Mr chairman thanks for the recognition

1:47:19

I'm a proud co-sponsor of the kids online safety act and Copa .0 and I'm glad that this committee is moving forward with these bills to protect Young Americans from the harms they face online today our children are served content online that is wildly

1:47:34

inappropriate ranging from promoting suicide and eating disorders to alcohol and tobacco many parents struggle to monitor their children's activities even if they're trying this is due in part to the fact that many platforms is

1:47:48

algorithms that direct content and try to keep users attention online are not available to the public we need transparency as a father of four who now adult children grew up in the midst of social media I'm blessed that my my

1:48:03

family avoided the harms that have hurt and actually taken the lives too many Young Americans online I'm grateful to the many parents who had the courage to tell the stories of how their families were not as lucky as mine and to learn

1:48:19

about what Congress can do to prevent these tragedies that began online from occurring again we can act and we must so I'm proud to support the kids online safety act today and I encourage my colleagues to do so as well thank you

1:48:33

and I yield back the balance of my Time gentleman yields back anybody on the Democrat side wish to speak on the bill recogn yeah M Tran you recognized five minutes to speak on the bill thank you thank you chair B rockus I'm I'm glad

1:48:46

that the committee is finally considering the kids online safety act and I appreciate your and representative castor's continued leadership on the issue as this bill has progressed in the Senate it's undergone countless

1:48:57

revisions to refine and tailor many of the Bill's key revision Provisions especially the duty of care to minimize potential abuses and focus the bill on its critically important goal of protecting Children online irresponsible

1:49:11

Tech platforms have ignored discounted or outright harmed the health of our children across the country by prioritizing screen time and AD Revenue over our children 's health and well-being and they fought relentlessly to avoid any accountability or

1:49:27

transparency into their business practices it's why as policy makers we've had to rely on whistleblowers like Francis hgan and independent researchers who have to fight against the platform tooth and nail to collect the data they

1:49:41

need to do their job investigating these problems I was extremely disappointed to see that the Senate struck and replaced coa's original section on Independent research facilitation with a limited series of studies that

1:49:55

hardly provide a shred of accountability and insight the sponsors initially intended with this bill the original section would have allowed qualified independent researchers to demand data from online platforms to study how their

1:50:08

recommendation algorithms their daily login rewards and other design features are affecting our children and it would have done so while respecting the Privacy standards were also advocating for and protecting intellectual property

1:50:23

I agree with ranking member palone and so many others that we should improve this section on Independent research and I think the best place to start is with the original bipartisan provision that actually enabled independent

1:50:34

accountability into these platforms I hope to work with the Bill's sponsors in the committee on this in advance of the full committee markup and I yield back General lady Ys back and uh now I'll recognize the gentleman from

1:50:53

California Mr Alber MTI for his five minutes uh again he'll speak on the underly bill thank you very much Mr chairman i u am a strong supporter of what this bill is trying to do however I'd like to raise a serious concern that

1:51:06

I have uh Section 102 of the bill establishes a duty of care and says that online companies shall exercise reasonable care and take steps to mitigate a list of harms to children and I very much agree with the harms that

1:51:24

we're trying to mitigate the problem is we don't Define in the bill what we mean when we say reasonable and we don't Define what the steps that should be taken are and I think that that's lazy legislating I think that we are

1:51:36

abdicating our responsibility as legislators if we fail to define those terms because we're just punting to the courts and people are going to wind up in court for years and years arguing about uh what our intent was and what we

1:51:50

meant by reasonable and whether or not a step that's taken is reasonable even if it didn't if it failed to completely mitigate the harm uh in the list so I really hope that we can Define what we mean there and tighten up that language

1:52:02

as this bill moves forward are you back Mr chairman gentleman yelds back your point is well taken uh so anyone else on the Democrat side no Republican side would wish to speak all right well let's move into the amendatory process uh anyone

1:52:18

wish to offer an amendment for what purpose is a gentleman from uh new Jersey seek recognition uh Mr Speaker I have an amendment at the desk labeled palone 026 the clerk will report the amendment amendment to HR 7891 offered

1:52:35

by Mr palone of New Jersey strike section 106 without objection the reading of the amendment is dispensed with and representative pone is recognized for five minutes in support of his Amendment thank you Mr chairman and I do intend to

1:52:53

uh withdraw the amendment but I'd like to talk about it before we move to a full committee uh this amendment would strike the requirement that the Federal Trade Commission pay the National Academy of Sciences to perform five

1:53:05

studies the FTC has a large Mission but a limited budget today we're discussing bills that would add to that mission but not to the fdc's funding and my Amendment will prevent the situation from getting even worse earlier this

1:53:18

year the National Academy of Sciences issued a report entitled social media and Adolescent Health which was funded by several private foundations including the Democracy fund and the Ford Foundation the reports studied the same

1:53:31

issues required by the provision in this bill according to staff at the National Academy no new research has been published in the interim that would change the result of that study and therefore there's no need in my opinion

1:53:44

for a new National Academy of Sciences report at this time furthermore in addition to there being no new research since the last report paying for those studies would likely Force the FDC to cut important Consumer Protection work

1:53:56

and leave the agency with less funding to implement new requirements including those contained in the bills before the committee today it's not only redundant it's harmful I would also like to say that I hope private foundations continue

1:54:09

to support important research efforts for future studies as the evidence evolves now let me also say that I strongly agree that social media companies should be held accountable for harming our nation's youth but I have

1:54:22

concerns about the ability to achieve that goal through the duty of care requirement established in kosa at this as this committee is aware we place a legal duty of Care on medical professionals when we seek care from a doctor or other medical provider we

1:54:38

justifiably expect the provider to identify our needs as individuals and act in our best interests expecting healthc Care Professionals to care for their patients and to provide a level of care that a reasonable health care

1:54:49

provider would have exercised under the same circum ances is appropriate however when we apply this concept to social media companies serious questions arise first no one thinks that social media companies are acting in the best

1:55:02

interest of their users and we should not trust them to do so in the future I believe that companies operating these platforms know that the use of their platforms is causing harm particularly to many of our nation's young people and

1:55:15

yet they continually make business decisions putting profits over people so I'm concerned that adopting a duty of Care standard for big Tech runs the risk of creating additional harm adopting the duty of care could cause social media

1:55:29

companies to over filter content out of an abundance of quoti about legal risk and as a result some young people could Lo lose access to helpful and even life-saving content now I do not believe holding social media companies as the

1:55:42

duty of care included in this bill is the right solution to preventing harm to young people who use social media instead I believe this issue can only be solved through reforming section 230 which through the courts has become an

1:55:54

absolute shield for big Tech against any transparency or accountability and finally I have serious concerns about the ability of social media companies to prevent and mitigate mental health disorders our scientific understanding

1:56:09

of mental health disorders continues to evolve including why certain people develop mental health disorders While others exposed to the same environment do not therefore it's unclear that evidence exists for social media

1:56:21

companies implementing such requirements but in any case despite these concerns I'm not going to stand in the way of advancing this bill out of subcommittee today we'll you know take up some of these things when we get to full

1:56:33

committee uh and uh obviously I would like ultimately to have this amendment passed uh but we're not going to do that today and I'll just withdraw it at this time the gentleman yield oh sure thank the ranking member for

1:56:49

yielding I hear his point on resource allocation at the FTC and I've long advocated that we keep the FTC focused on their consumer protection Mission we need the commission focused on implementing Provisions outlined in a

1:57:03

data Privacy Law and it's time for us to focus them on the mission we're directing them today I yield back and I thank the rank I mean I thank the chairwoman um with that Mr chairman I'd yield back thank you very much the gentleman

1:57:18

wishes to withdraw his Amendment consider it withdrawn I don't believe there are any further amendments so the question now occurs on forwarding HR 7891 to the full committee all those in favor say I I all those oppos the eyes have it and the bill is agreed

1:57:41

to moving along the chair calls up HR 8449 and ask the clerk to report a bill to require the Secretary of Transportation to issue a rule requiring access to AM radio broadcast stations and motor vehicles and for other purposes without objection the first

1:58:04

reading of the bill is dispensed with and the bill will be open for Amendment at any point does anyone seek Rec recognition on the particular bill I do I now recognize myself for five minutes to speak in support of the underlying bill Bill the AM radio for

1:58:25

every vehicle act which I'm proud to lead alongside riking member palone uh in in times of emergency folks we must have every available Avenue to receive Public Safety alerts as quickly as possible with as far re as far reach as

1:58:43

possible our constituents should have quick access to critical information so they make timely and potential life-saving decisions to evacuate stay in place seek shelter or contact First Responders the emergency alert system plays a crucial role in this

1:59:03

infrastructure as it can be used across our nation to disseminate this important emergency information an AM radio continues to be a medium in which Americans can receive this information particularly in rural communities I

1:59:20

represent the rural community ities as well as many people on the on the DI on both sides the integrated public alert and warning system I pause further allows broadcasters to disseminate critical alert information to communities Across the Nation recently

1:59:39

Houston Texas uh was hit with significant severe weather and hundreds of thousands of Americans have remained without power sadly eight individuals have passed because of these storms before the event in the moment that moment in the aftermath

2:00:01

radio broadcast can become a Lifeline as you know and without power many turn to their vehicles for updates further at our legislative hearing we heard testimony from Melody span Cooper who told us about the role that AM radio

2:00:20

plays in her community both growing up and in the current age through Chicago neighborhoods as part of the Midway Broadcasting Corporation many of my colleagues enjoy listening to a and myself included enjoy listening uh listening to AM radio for

2:00:40

its diverse views and Christian conservative viewpoints might add ball games as well yet the Hightech Auto industry has attempted to turn turn off these AM radio options for consumers in gas and electric fueled Vehicles citing

2:01:00

its difficulty to implement particularly in electric vehicles our side of the aisle is particularly concerned that the bid administration's EV mandates have exacerbated this problem further Congress has made it clear there is

2:01:17

bipar agreement that taking away AM radio option options for Americans is inappropriate and premature which is why we've come together to move AM radio for every vehicle Act of 2024 we're moving it Forward our bill with representative

2:01:38

palone will direct the Department of Transportation in consultation with FEMA and the FCC to ISS a rule that requires automakers to maintain am broadcast radio devices as standard equipment in their vehicles in a way that is easily

2:01:59

accessible for consumers and without a separate or additional payment or Sarge fee it would also require clear disclosure for those vehicles that don't currently have am as an option in their cars and lastly it would require GAO to

2:02:20

study to uh a study to examine the importance of AM radio as a Communications technology and any improvements we can make to the iaw and emergency alert systems we have in place I'm proud to be a partner uh with representative palone our ranking member

2:02:38

of the full committee on this and I appreciate his steadfast support for this broadcast media I know we make uh we we will make and look to make additional technical Corrections and tweaks as we look forward and look ahead

2:02:56

to the full committee markup but I ask my colleagues to join me and supporting and forwarding this bill so we appreciate it very much let's pass HR 8449 for our constituents to have access to a it's not much to ask for so thank you very much and I yell

2:03:18

back recognize the uh ranking m M the ranking member of the full committee Mr palone for his five minutes okay so I'll recognize the ranking member of the subcommittee Miss chowski if she'd like to make any comments she's okay all right very good

2:03:38

now I recognize yes Miss dingo Miss dingo I'll recognize you uh for your five minutes to make any remarks regarding the Bill thank you Mr chair I move to strike the last word yeah I recognize you thank you I want to start

2:03:55

off by saying that I agree with what we've heard from numerous stakeholders and constituents AM radio is an important tool and resource for communities all across the country ensuring that all Americans can rally readily access life-saving information

2:04:13

during emergencies is vital all consumers must have access to these alerts and that is why I don't think access access to these Services should be limited to only like Duty vehicles but I before I even go there I want to

2:04:28

point out to the committee I mean we've got to have some discussions but when we were in committee talking about this it seems like a year ago may only have been months ago uh immediately went out and talked to uh the CEOs of the

2:04:44

domestic most of the domestic the GMS the Fords the stalon is and they voluntarily said then that they would continue to offer it on their vehicles um but I also so I want to point that out and they want to work with us and that they've been really

2:05:02

trying to understand all these issues but I also think AM radio should be in all vehicles like the title suggests in cars as well as trucks boats Agriculture and recreational vehicles I think we need to study those issues I think

2:05:16

they're complicated and I would like to ask that between subcommittee and committee we can look at some of these for instance think about the critical role that commercial vehicles trucks and Maritime Vehicles play in emergency

2:05:28

situations emergency vehicles must remain constantly updated with alerts while truck drivers frequently traveling long distances require time that's not in our committee but we need to look at the different vehicles require timely

2:05:42

information moreover AM radio stations provide indispensable Services as you said to agricultural communities offer offering specialized programming in rural areas Travelers in remote areas also benefit from AM radio Services

2:05:59

receiving essential updates on travel emergencies local news and weather forecast so I would like to offer an amendment between subcommittee and full committee that would look at that we need to be looking at those issues but

2:06:13

we should also be critically examining the future of our emergency communications infrastructure to ensure it offers broad coverage comprehensive information and reliability during uh times of Crisis which I know you're trying to do Mr chair this isn't a

2:06:30

debate about getting rid of AM radio and considering that 99% of the 286 million vehicles on the road today have AM radio 90% of new vehicles have AM radio and the average age of vehicles on the road today is more than 12 A2 years old the

2:06:50

vast majority of vehicles will'll have AM radio for years and decades to come but I'm raising this because I think we probably need to look at the studies more in detail we need to I'm concerned about the need to protect consumers

2:07:05

pocketbooks and ensure we have the necessary data to inform the policy and and to look at what that might be because well I know I'm not going to get in trouble naming any companies today but some are offering some aren't and we

2:07:22

want to make sure that I'm trying to behave um that all of a sudden we're not going to see consumer prices go up and consumers are going to start yelling at us and as technology changes down the road as we mandate this how do we make

2:07:36

sure we've got studies that are looking at is this still current so I I think maybe it would be helpful to have the Secretary of Transportation adjust any AM radio requirements based on objective analysis and research down down the road

2:07:51

and it could be also helpful to obtain feedback from various cabinet officials on the potential ramifications of such a federal requirement so um my goal and will always be to put the consumer in the driver's seat and that they're the

2:08:06

drivers so I totally believe everybody here knows I went to the companies very strongly and told them about the vital role of AM radio but I think in our enthusiasm of doing something that's right let's make sure we're doing it

2:08:21

right and so if we could work together on some of those issues between subcommittee and let me be clear I support AM radio thank you and I yield back with that I think you've been pretty clear about that all right gent lady yields back now

2:08:37

recognize Dr buan for uh for five minutes in in support of the Bill thank you Mr chairman uh and the recognition to speak in favor of the bill over the last couple of years there's been a trend in the Auto industry among

2:08:50

electric vehicle producers to remove am radios from new vehicles while I'm glad that a select few have reversed course to ensure that the platform stays available to hoers as standard in vehicles the fact remains that this

2:09:01

critical broadcasting platform has been standard in vehicle for decades and and is now being removed by some fact my back in the day when you got a new car it just had an AM radio and if you wanted more than that you actually had to get an

2:09:16

upgrade while power the power may go out or other methods of communication may be disrupted by extreme weather events the emergency broadcasts over AM radio are specifically engineered to be more resilient This Is Why seven I repeat

2:09:30

seven former FEMA administrators sent a letter supporting this bill and stressing am radio's role in promoting Public Safety on top of the safety concerns AM radio plays a key role for hoers in rural areas and underserved

2:09:44

communities in my district for example minority-owned am broadcasters like weo aam out of Ville Indiana are Staples in their Community they broadcast local high school football games local news and events faith-based content and more

2:10:00

including all the safety stuff this is why I'm a proud co-sponsor of the AM radio for every vehicle act I urge my colleagues to support this legislation I yield back the balance of my time the gentle I will yield to Mr Duncan I thank

2:10:13

the gentleman uh chair of the broadcasters caucus um I support AM radio I support uh the efforts of this subcommittee in the full committee and the sponsors of this bill to to address this issue uh I was an Auctioneer before

2:10:27

I came to Congress I drove 65,000 Mi year I was in the truck a lot AM radio was always uh available to me um especially late at night when uh you wanted something just to stimulate you as you were driving just to listen to AM

2:10:41

radio provided a lot of content that just wasn't you know music in the background but I'll say this driving those 65,000 Mi a year even driving recently I noticed the dot signs on the highway that said for traffic and weather alerts turned to am550 or

2:10:59

whatever the number was and consumers do that and they need that ability to find out what might be ahead or if they uh anticipate inclement weather that may affect their travels uh to and fro so I appreciate the work on this I hope all

2:11:14

my colleagues will support it and um and let's get this done to ensure Americans have access to AM radio especially on their vehicles I yield back and I yield back the balance of my time thank you gentleman yields back we appreciate that

2:11:27

very much I I now I'm going to yield to excuse me uh recognize representative caster for five minutes in support of uh this particular Bill well thank you Mr chairman I'm I'm moved to strike the last word you recognize uh thank you I

2:11:44

I'm very pleased that the committee is working in a bipartisan fashion and advancing the AM radio for all act it's a it's it's a bipartisan bill it's widely supported and I think you've heard from my colleagues um many reasons

2:11:58

why it is vital to our neighbors back home um Mr Duncan I think you're absolutely right it provides essential weather alerts news Community updates it's truly a community lifeline and in fact a recent neelon report uh confirmed

2:12:13

that radio continues to reach more American consumers than any other platform linear or digital uh strong Community a strong community resource like AM radio really should be protected that's why I'm I'm proud to lead the

2:12:28

separate local radio Freedom Act uh that's a resolution that reaffirms congress's support for local radio stations and opposes any new fees or taxes on local free broadcast radio um I think Mr chairman you you also understand how important radio is to uh

2:12:49

our neighbors back home especially at times of emergency and I agree with you the testimony of Miss span Cooper from Illinois was particularly uh impactful during our last hearing about how broadcasters provide updates about food

2:13:06

and shelter and evacuation routes um not just during the time of Crisis but in the aftermath at that hearing as Dr bushan mentioned was also very impactful was uh the letter from Seven former Federal Emergency Management agency

2:13:24

directors uh who explained that the taxpayers have invested millions of dollars in creating and bolstering the national public warning system to communicate with the time with the public at times of Crisis largely through AM radio uh because it is the only

2:13:44

communication system with the reach and the resiliency to ensure that elected leaders and Public Safety officials can communicate with the public at times of Crisis so for all these reasons I support the bill and urge the committee

2:13:59

to move it forward with the Goman yield I'm happy to yield to the ranking member well thank you and I I I do want to add something um you know most of the time myself and and uh chairman bakas and others have talked about the importance

2:14:13

of this uh in times of emergency weather emergencies other emergencies uh Miss casor mentioned that National Emergency warning system which operates largely through AM radio and I don't want to take away from that because I

2:14:28

experienced firstand during superstorm Sandy when our local AM radio stations responded to that crisis by providing a lot of information to people during After the Storm because cell towers and other sources of information were out

2:14:42

but I did also want to mention that um many of um constituents have contacted me over this bill also because because of diversity reasons in other words what we find is that many times uh AM radio stations maybe in part because they're

2:14:59

not expensive to buy are purchased by uh minorities by uh people who speak uh foreign languages that maybe are not as common uh one of the examples uh at the hearing last month we heard from an Illinois radio broadcaster and a

2:15:15

representative of the Navajo Nation about the vitally important role that AM radio stations and cards provide Ides uh to the Navajo Nation I also have heard from um uh universities and colleges student radio stations which uh usually

2:15:31

are AM stations as well so as much as um we have been emphasizing the the importance of this an emergency or national disasters and I don't want to take from that that's the primary reason why I think this bill is important uh it

2:15:45

does uh am ready also provides an important platform for diverse and upper under representative voices to to be heard and it keeps rural communities uh connected too so um this is all uh these are all um added reasons if you will why

2:16:04

uh this bill should be passed and I must say as chairman Bill rockus knows from the very beginning this has been totally bipartisan on the committee uh I haven't you know heard from almost every member of the committee about why they want to

2:16:16

do this bill so uh with that Mr chairman I'll yield back my time I mean I'll yield back to miss Caster thank you General lady yields back I appreciate it very much I understand no no amendments are being offered is that correct all right then

2:16:35

let's uh the question now occurs on forwarding HR 8449 to the full committee all those in favor say I I those oppose the eyes have it and the B is agreed to so we appreciate all your cooperation today I I want to take a a

2:17:00

moment of uh to recognize one of our policy staffers Michael Cameron whose last day is tomorrow unfortunately uh Michael has been a key member of our team advising members and their staff on critical policies moving through the subcommittee over the last

2:17:20

several years we going to miss him so uh we wish him well I know he's going to do great at his uh his next Endeavor and uh look forward to seeing him uh and continue to to advise us unofficially he does an outstanding job uh I I'll

2:17:38

recognize is ranking member have any anything else to say all right so without objection staff is authorized to make technical Technical and conforming changes to the legislation approved by the subcommittee today so ordered without

2:17:58

objection the subcommittee stands adjourned thank you e

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