Washington, DC - Energy and Commerce Committee Republican Leader Greg Walden (R-OR), Communications and Technology Subcommittee Republican Leader Bob Latta (R-OH), Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee Republican Leader Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Republican Leader Brett Guthrie (R-KY) released the following statement on the United Kingdom’s decision to ban Chinese telecommunications provider Huawei from its networks.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has made clear not only our need to secure our supply chains, but also that China will stop at nothing to erode U.S. leadership in their quest to become the world’s premier technology producer by 2025 and the global economic leader by 2049.
“The U.S. has taken unprecedented steps to ensure U.S. leadership in wireless and emerging technologies and to hold China and other bad actors accountable for their continued efforts to compromise the security of our networks. Our nation’s leadership has proven important with the U.K.’s announcement to ban Huawei from its networks, and we encourage other countries to follow suit. We applaud this decision by the U.K., and must continue our efforts to remain a global leader on the world stage and work with our allies on shared goals," the committee leaders said.
Background:
* In March 2020, President Trump signed into law the bipartisan Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act (H.R. 4998) to help secure America’s telecommunications supply chain by helping small and rural providers rip and replace suspect equipment. The bill was introduced by Energy and Commerce Committee Republican Leader Greg Walden (R-OR), Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Reps. Doris Matsui (D-CA), and Brett Guthrie (R-KY).
* In April 2020, Energy and Commerce Committee Congressman Brett Guthrie (R-KY), Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Committee Republican Leader Greg Walden (R-OR), and Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-CA), introduced the bipartisan Utilizing Strategic Allied (USA) Telecommunications Act of 2020 to promote and speed up the deployment of 5G networks in the U.S.
* In June 2020, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) designated Chinese telecommunications companies Huawei and ZTE as national security threats.
