Click here to watch Senator Blunt Rochester's exchange with the witnesses.

Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, today participated in a hearing to conduct oversight of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Senator Blunt Rochester pressed the commissioners for clarity on affordability, internet access, and cybersecurity.

To watch Senator Blunt Rochester's exchange with the witnesses, click here. Excerpts can be found below:

Senator Blunt Rochester: "My first question is for you, Commissioner Gomez. Commissioner Gomez, Democratic leadership at the FCC in the past has emphasized affordability, competition, transparency, and closing the digital divide. Commissioner, from your perspective, how do affordability policies under the previous Democratically led FCC compare to the current administration's affordability policies…specifically [how] it relates to consumer outcomes?"

Commissioner Gomez: "Thank you, Senator, for that question. This administration has really lost its focus on consumer issues. Particularly on affordability. We have not seen any action to address affordability. When we lost the Affordable Connectivity Program, millions of consumers lost their service and lost the support for their service. We are spending billions of dollars to deploy networks, but we're not going to have sustainable networks if people cannot afford to actually subscribe to the service.

"We need seniors to have access so they can get health care services. We need students to have access to broadband so they can prepare themselves for this AI economy that is coming. We need people to be able to access the internet for jobs. I was just listening this morning to the head of the National Economic Council who said we're not going to have a problem with finding jobs because they can be found on the internet. And my thought at the moment was - if you have access to the internet. Schools and libraries need to have access to the internet. Instead, this Commission took back the ability to provide hot spots through libraries so that people could have internet at home and so that students could have hotspots through their schools. Same thing with Wi-Fi on school buses. We are not ensuring that people who cannot afford to be connected can get access to the internet."

Senator Blunt Rochester: "So not only will people not be able to afford the services and the tools they need, but more people will be left behind?"

Commissioner Gomez: "Correct."

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Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester represents Delaware in the United States Senate where she serves on the Committees on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Environment and Public Works; and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.