Senator Schmitt Amendment Aimed to Protect Americans from Chinese Telecom Network Equipment Passed by Senate Commerce Committee

WASHINGTON – Today, Senator Eric Schmitt released a statement following the Senate Commerce Committee’s passage of an amendment he authored which addresses years of delay to fully fund the Rip and Replace program and once and for all harden U.S. networks from dangerous Chinese telecommunications equipment embedded throughout the country:  

“Decoupling telecommunication infrastructure critical to government, military, and civilian life from China as quickly as possible is in the best interest of United States national security. Not only is this amendment aimed at protecting our telecommunications networks from Chinese espionage and intrusion, but it is also conscious of taxpayer dollars by fully offsetting funding provided for the program. I look forward to seeing this effort through to provide safety and security of our networks from bad actors who seek to do our nation harm,” said Senator Eric Schmitt.        

BACKGROUND:

• Through passage of the Secure and Trusted Networks Act of 2019, Congress appropriated over $1.9 billion for telecommunications providers who participated in the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Universal Service Fund program to rip out compromised Chinese telecommunications equipment from their networks and replace it with equipment from trusted providers. This program has come to be known as “Rip and Replace.”
• The Rip and Replace Program “has become the starkest physical manifestation of the tech Cold War,” The New York Times reported in 2023.
• Removing Chinese telecommunications equipment from America’s wireless networks is a matter of national security, as the technology from companies like Huawei and ZTE could be utilized by the Chinese Communist Party for espionage purposes to invade the safety and privacy of everyday Americans who use their phone to traverse networks on a daily basis.
• Congress’ original appropriations underestimated the amount of technology in need of being ripped out, therefore underfunding the Rip and Replace Program, which has a $3.08 billion shortfall.
• Senator Schmitt’s amendment would modify the authorization of the funds to reflect the shortfall needs. It would then provide an advanced appropriations of $3.08 billion to fully the program. Additionally, it would require the FCC to finish its auction proceeding on the AWS-3 spectrum band, despite the FCC’s spectrum auction authority expiration, and use the revenues from the auction to offset the appropriations of $3.08 billion. 

Read the amendment here.