Press releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) delivered a speech on the Senate floor today thanking Ajit Pai, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), for fighting for the American people and recommending a public auction of the C-band spectrum needed for 5G.

The FCC was considering a closed-door private sale instead of the public auctions it typically conducts.  Two weeks ago Chairman Pai announced the FCC will conduct a public auction of the valuable C-band spectrum. The private auction would have allowed foreign companies to profit from the spectrum sale and lacked transparency. 

Click here or the photo below to watch Sen. Kennedy’s floor speech.

  

Highlights from the Speech:

Benefit of a Public Auction: “Doing a public auction is nothing new for the FCC.  The FCC auctions off different airwaves all the time. In fact, the FCC in the last 25 years has held right around 100 public auctions … The good people at the FCC have brought in to the American taxpayers about $123 billion in the last 25 years by auctioning off these airwaves and giving everybody a fair chance, in a fully transparent way, in front of God and country.”

Fighting for a Public Auction:  “A lot of swamp creatures were pushing hard for a private sale.  The American taxpayers would not only have lost $60 billion, we would have lost control of the C-band … We can’t let our guard down.  I’ve learned in my short three years that those swamp creatures, if they can’t get in the front door, they’re going to try to get in the side door.  And if they can’t make it through the side door, they’re going to try the back door. We’ve got a lot of money at stake here, so we’ve got to remain vigilant.”

Chairman Pai’s Leadership:  “I want to thank Ajit Pai for standing up.  He made the right people mad.  That’s easy to talk about, but hard to do.  It takes courage.”

 

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