[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                  THE FISCAL YEAR 2022 DEPARTMENT OF 
                           COMMERCE BUDGET

=======================================================================

                            VIRTUAL HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

            SUBCOMMITTEE ON CONSUMER PROTECTION AND COMMERCE

                                 OF THE

                    COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                             FIRST SESSION

                               __________

                              JUNE 8, 2021

                               __________

                           Serial No. 117-36
                           
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]                           


     Published for the use of the Committee on Energy and Commerce   
                        govinfo.gov/committee/house-energy
                        energycommerce.house.gov
                        
                               __________

                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE                    
49-409                     WASHINGTON : 2022                     
          
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------   
                       
                    COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE

                     FRANK PALLONE, Jr., New Jersey
                                 Chairman
BOBBY L. RUSH, Illinois              CATHY McMORRIS RODGERS, Washington
ANNA G. ESHOO, California              Ranking Member
DIANA DeGETTE, Colorado              FRED UPTON, Michigan
MIKE DOYLE, Pennsylvania             MICHAEL C. BURGESS, Texas
JAN SCHAKOWSKY, Illinois             STEVE SCALISE, Louisiana
G. K. BUTTERFIELD, North Carolina    ROBERT E. LATTA, Ohio
DORIS O. MATSUI, California          BRETT GUTHRIE, Kentucky
KATHY CASTOR, Florida                DAVID B. McKINLEY, West Virginia
JOHN P. SARBANES, Maryland           ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois
JERRY McNERNEY, California           H. MORGAN GRIFFITH, Virginia
PETER WELCH, Vermont                 GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida
PAUL TONKO, New York                 BILL JOHNSON, Ohio
YVETTE D. CLARKE, New York           BILLY LONG, Missouri
KURT SCHRADER, Oregon                LARRY BUCSHON, Indiana
TONY CARDENAS, California            MARKWAYNE MULLIN, Oklahoma
RAUL RUIZ, California                RICHARD HUDSON, North Carolina
SCOTT H. PETERS, California          TIM WALBERG, Michigan
DEBBIE DINGELL, Michigan             EARL L. ``BUDDY'' CARTER, Georgia
MARC A. VEASEY, Texas                JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina
ANN M. KUSTER, New Hampshire         GARY J. PALMER, Alabama
ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois, Vice       NEAL P. DUNN, Florida
    Chair                            JOHN R. CURTIS, Utah
NANETTE DIAZ BARRAGAN, California    DEBBBIE LESKO, Arizona
A. DONALD McEACHIN, Virginia         GREG PENCE, Indiana
LISA BLUNT ROCHESTER, Delaware       DAN CRENSHAW, Texas
DARREN SOTO, Florida                 JOHN JOYCE, Pennsylvania
TOM O'HALLERAN, Arizona              KELLY ARMSTRONG, North Dakota
KATHLEEN M. RICE, New York
ANGIE CRAIG, Minnesota
KIM SCHRIER, Washington
LORI TRAHAN, Massachusetts
LIZZIE FLETCHER, Texas
                                 ------                                

                           Professional Staff

                   JEFFREY C. CARROLL, Staff Director
                TIFFANY GUARASCIO, Deputy Staff Director
                  NATE HODSON, Minority Staff Director
            Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce

                        JAN SCHAKOWSKY, Illinois
                                  Chair
BOBBY L. RUSH, Illinois              GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida
KATHY CASTOR, Florida                  Ranking Member
LORI TRAHAN, Massachusetts           FRED UPTON, Michigan
JERRY McNERNEY, California           ROBERT E. LATTA, Ohio
YVETTE D. CLARKE, New York           BRETT GUTHRIE, Kentucky
TONY CARDENAS, California, Vice      LARRY BUCSHON, Indiana
    Chair                            NEAL P. DUNN, Florida
DEBBIE DINGELL, Michigan             GREG PENCE, Indiana
ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois             DEBBIE LESKO, Arizona
DARREN SOTO, Florida                 KELLY ARMSTRONG, North Dakota
KATHLEEN M. RICE, New York           CATHY McMORRIS RODGERS, Washington 
ANGIE CRAIG, Minnesota                   (ex officio)
LIZZIE FLETCHER, Texas
FRANK PALLONE, Jr., New Jersey (ex 
    officio)
                             
                             C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              
                                                                   Page
Hon. Jan Schakowsky, a Representative in Congress from the State 
  of Illinois, opening statement.................................     2
    Prepared statement...........................................     3
Hon. Gus M. Bilirakis, a Representative in Congress from the 
  State of Florida, opening statement............................     3
    Prepared statement...........................................     5
Hon. Frank Pallone, Jr., a Representative in Congress from the 
  State of New Jersey, opening statement.........................     6
    Prepared statement...........................................     8
Hon. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Representative in Congress from 
  the State of Washington, opening statement.....................     9
    Prepared statement...........................................    10

                                Witness

Gina M. Raimondo, Secretary, Department of Commerce..............    12
    Prepared statement...........................................    14
    Answers to submitted questions...............................    58
H.R. ___, the State Opioid Response Grant Reauthorization Act, 
  submitted by Ms. Eshoo\1\
H.R. ___, the Streamlining Research on Controlled Substances Act, 
  submitted by Ms. Eshoo\1\......................................    59

 
           THE FISCAL YEAR 2022 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE BUDGET

                              ----------                              


                         TUESDAY, JUNE 8, 2021

                  House of Representatives,
  Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce,
                          Committee on Energy and Commerce,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 2:02 p.m., via 
Cisco Webex online video conferencing, Hon. Jan Schakowsky 
(chair of the subcommittee) presiding.
    Members present: Representatives Schakowsky, Rush, Castor, 
Trahan, McNerney, Clarke, Cardenas, Dingell, Kelly, Soto, Rice, 
Craig, Fletcher, Pallone (ex officio), Bilirakis (subcommittee 
ranking member), Upton, Latta, Guthrie, Bucshon, Dunn, Pence, 
Lesko, Armstrong, and Rodgers (ex officio).
    Also present: Representatives Matsui and Joyce.
    Staff present: Billy Benjamin, Systems Administrator; 
Jeffrey C. Carroll, Staff Director; Lisa Goldman, Senior 
Counsel; Waverly Gordon, General Counsel; Jessica Grandberry, 
Staff Assistant; Daniel Greene, Professional Staff Member; 
Tiffany Guarascio, Deputy Staff Director; Perry Hamilton, 
Clerk; Alex Hoehn-Saric, Chief Counsel, Communications and 
Consumer Protection; James Johnson, Policy Coordinator; Ed 
Kaczmarski, Policy Analyst; Zach Kahan, Deputy Director, 
Outreach and Member Services; Mackenzie Kuhl, Digital 
Assistant; David Miller, Counsel; Kaitlyn Peel, Digital 
Director; Chloe Rodriguez, Clerk; Kylea Rogers, Staff 
Assistant; Andrew Souvall, Director of Communications, Outreach 
and Member Services; Caroline Wood, Staff Assistant; C.J. 
Young, Deputy Communications Director; Anna Yu, Professional 
Staff Member; Sarah Burke, Minority Deputy Staff Director; 
Peter Kielty, Minority General Counsel; Bijan Koohmaraie, 
Minority Chief Counsel; Tim Kurth, Minority Chief Counsel, 
Consumer Protection and Commerce; and Michael Taggart, Minority 
Policy Director.
    Ms. Schakowsky. The Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and 
Commerce--somebody unmuted--will now come to order.
    So today we will hold a hearing that is entitled ``The 
Fiscal Year 2022 Department of Commerce Budget.''
    Due to--I am going to say it again--due to the COVID-19 
public health emergency, today's hearing is being held 
remotely. All Members and witnesses will be participating via 
videoconference.
    As part of our hearing, microphones will be set on ``mute'' 
for the purpose of eliminating inadvertent background noise. 
Members and witnesses, you will need to unmute your own 
microphones each time that you wish to speak. Additionally, 
Members will need to be visible on the screen in order to be 
recognized.
    Documents for the record can be sent to Ed Kaczmarski at 
the email address that we have provided to your staff. All 
documents will be entered into the record at the end of the 
hearing.
    The Chair now recognizes herself for 5 minutes.
    Oh, I see. OK. OK. I will be right there.
    OK. I am not muted, am I? Somebody answer me. No?
    Mr. Cardenas. Yes, we can hear you.
    Ms. Schakowsky. OK, you can hear me. OK.

 OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JAN SCHAKOWSKY, A REPRESENTATIVE IN 
              CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF ILLINOIS

    So welcome, everyone, to today's hearing, which will be 
conducted in order to do oversight of the Department of 
Commerce. We are so lucky to have Secretary Gina Raimondo with 
us today.
    You know, our subcommittee has one of the largest 
jurisdictions of any subcommittee in the House of 
Representatives. The Department of Commerce has a similarly 
wide jurisdiction. Yes, the Department of Commerce impacts 
everyday Americans in so many different ways, some seen, some 
unseen. So, today, I will focus on the Secretary's role in 
overseeing our country's manufacturing competitiveness.
    The COVID-19 crisis laid bare our uneven manufacturing 
policies over the last 40 years--policies that, overall, have 
made American families poor and left our country flatfooted in 
the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our manufacturing 
sector lacked the capacity to produce many of the goods that 
were needed to respond to the virus. And we also experienced a 
shortage of essentials like semiconductors, which are needed in 
so many different American products.
    At the heart of these failures were the two worst public 
policy decisions, at least in my opinion, of the last 30 years: 
NAFTA 1.0 and Chinese ascendance into the World Trade 
Organization. And, really, that is why Joe Biden, as part of 
his Build Back Better agenda, prioritized reshoring key 
American manufacturing capacities and promoting supply-chain 
integrity.
    Key pieces of the President's plan are right now--I mean 
right now--in the Endless Frontier Act in the Senate--they are 
voting, I think, at this moment--currently being voted on in 
the Senate. And I intend to introduce legislation that will 
strengthen our priorities by promoting a bottom-up approach 
that ensures that local communities are included in the 
crafting of our manufacturing policy.
    The American Jobs Plan and American Family Plan rejected 
policies that disproportionately favored big corporations and 
executives--policies that really have led to the greatest 
income inequality in a century. This worker-first agenda must 
be promoted, and the Wyden-Crapo efforts to entrench Big Tech's 
failed policy models as part of the Endless Frontiers Act must 
be rejected.
    I look forward very much to the Secretary's testimony and 
yield the balance of my time to Mr. McNerney.
    [The statement of Ms. Schakowsky follows:]

               Prepared Statement of Hon. Jan Schakowsky

    Welcome everyone to today's hearing in which we will 
conduct budgetary oversight of the Department of Commerce. We 
are so lucky to have the Secretary, Gina Raimondo, with us 
today.
    This subcommittee has one of the largest jurisdictions of 
any subcommittee in the House of Representatives. The 
Department of Commerce has a similarly wide jurisdiction. Yes, 
the Department impacts everyday Americans in so many ways, seen 
and unseen.
    Today I want to focus on the Secretary's role in overseeing 
our country's manufacturing competitiveness. The COVID-19 
crisis laid bare our uneven manufacturing polices over the last 
40 years--policies that overall have made American families 
poorer and left our country flat-footed in the early days of 
the COVID-19 pandemic. Our manufacturing sector lacked the 
capacity to produce many goods needed to response to the virus, 
and we also experienced a shortage of essentials, like 
semiconductors needed for so many American products.
    At the heart of these failures were the two worst public 
policy decisions of the last 30 years--NAFTA 1.0 and Chinese 
accession to the World Trade Organization.
    That is why President Biden, as part of his Build Back 
Better Agenda, prioritized re-shoring key American 
manufacturing capacities and promoting supply chain integrity.
    Key pieces of the President's plan are in the Endless 
Frontiers Act, currently being voted on in the Senate. I intend 
to introduce legislation that will strengthen these provisions 
by promoting a bottom up approach that ensures local 
communities are included in the crafting of our manufacturing 
policy.
    The American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan reject 
policies that disproportionately favor the big corporations and 
executive--policies that have led to the greatest income 
inequality in a century.
    This worker-first agenda must be promoted and the Wyden-
Crapo efforts to entrench Big Tech's failed business models as 
part of the Endless Frontiers Act must be rejected.
    I look forward to the Secretary's testimony and yield the 
balance of my time to Mr. McNerney.

    Mr. McNerney. Well, I thank the chairwoman for yielding.
    Secretary Raimondo, welcome. It is great to have you here 
before the committee.
    As the chairwoman just said, the Department has a very 
broad mission, and the agency's work is critical to our 
competitiveness, promoting economic growth and job creation. It 
is front and center to strengthening our economy.
    I am pleased that the President's job plan and fiscal year 
2022 budget request for the Department would establish robust 
programs to revitalize and strengthen our domestic 
manufacturing sector and support critical supply chains.
    I am also pleased to see the administration's announcement 
this morning about creating a supply-chain disruption task 
force to address short-term supply-chain needs. It is good to 
see that this administration is taking supply-chain issues very 
seriously. The pandemic exposed significant vulnerabilities in 
our supply chains, and it is imperative that we take necessary 
steps now to address both short-term needs and to be prepared 
for the next emergency.
    I look forward to your testimony, and I yield back.
    Ms. Schakowsky. The Chair now recognizes Mr. Bilirakis, who 
is ranking member, of course, of the Subcommittee on Consumer 
Protection and Commerce, for 5 minutes for his opening 
statement.

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. GUS M. BILIRAKIS, A REPRESENTATIVE IN 
               CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF FLORIDA

    Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate it. 
Good morning. Again, thank you for holding this hearing.
    And welcome to Secretary Raimondo again, the Commerce 
Secretary. Welcome to the Energy and Commerce subcommittee. 
First and foremost, congratulations on your confirmation as the 
Department of Commerce Secretary. We appreciate you taking the 
time to appear before us, albeit virtually, to discuss several 
important topics before the subcommittee.
    As you know, the DOC covers a broad range of issues, as our 
illustrious chair said, including the innovation and deployment 
of emerging technologies, foreign investment into American 
companies, reinforcement of our critical supply chains, and 
enhancement of our Nation's cybersecurity, the latter of which 
we know is taking on great importance every day.
    So we are very fortunate to--I am very fortunate to be the 
ranking member on this committee.
    Madam Secretary, we take the broad issue areas of your 
department very seriously, and we understand the benefits you 
pose to our economy. That is why I am hopeful you will uphold 
the mission to create conditions of economic growth and 
opportunity in our great Nation.
    Your appearance before us could not come at a more crucial 
time. I think you know that. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us 
the need to embrace the mission of the DOC. We must accelerate 
American leadership in traditional and emerging technologies. 
It is critical. And we must enhance job creation and strengthen 
U.S. economic and national security. Failure to do so will have 
devastating consequences, in my opinion. I believe this hearing 
is a step in the right direction, and I appreciate the 
chairperson holding this hearing.
    There are many challenges that lay ahead of us while we 
work towards recovery from this pandemic. One of the hardest-
hit sectors was our travel and tourism industry, and we must 
not overlook the work that must be done to restore this 
powerful engine of economic growth for communities across the 
Nation. And, of course, you know that Florida's number-one 
industry is tourism, but that is in so many of your States, and 
we appreciate that.
    Last Congress, this subcommittee held a hearing on Brand 
USA, the extension of Brand USA. I was proud to introduce this 
legislation with my good friend Peter Welch and to lead the 
effort to get it enacted as part of the Further Consolidated 
Appropriations Act. While it extended the Brand USA program 
through 2027, no one anticipated what the pandemic would do to 
our country, nor the mechanics of this small but very critical 
program.
    In preparation for this hearing, I remembered back to that 
day where each of us were able to boast about great businesses 
and tourist attractions in our district--the national parks, 
wineries for California, and, of course, Florida's beaches. 
Every single one of us can point to a special place in our 
districts as a great destination for tourists to come visit.
    I just toured the Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida, 
yesterday--an outstanding place. But they have 450 job 
openings--450 job openings at $13 an hour. Again, these are 
level entry jobs with a $400 signing bonus.
    But over a year now, again, travel unfortunately has 
stopped, travel from foreign nations to the United States. This 
once-flourishing market brought millions of international 
tourists to our districts, contributing billions of dollars to 
local economies and creating countless American jobs. Sadly, 
this virus has reduced spending in the industry by over 43 
percent in 2020. And, during that span, international travel to 
the U.S. fell by over 80 percent. People are traveling within 
the U.S. but not internationally to the U.S.
    My fear is Brand USA won't be able to lead our country 
through international travel recovery because of the absence of 
matching funds from the private sector. We must address this. 
For this reason, I am working on legislation to address this 
gap, along with my colleague Peter Welch. And I hope I can work 
with you, Madam Secretary, and my fellow colleagues here today 
on seeing that effort through.
    I don't have much time, do I?
    OK. I have a couple more pages, but I am going to yield 
back the balance of my time, Madam Chair. I appreciate it. I 
want to get off to a good start. Thank you.
    [The statement of Mr. Bilirakis follows:]

              Prepared Statement of Hon. Gus M. Bilirakis

    Good morning Madam Chair, thank you for holding this 
hearing and welcome, Secretary Raimondo to the Energy and 
Commerce Committee. First and foremost, congratulations on your 
confirmation to the Department of Commerce (DOC). We appreciate 
you taking the time to appear before us, albeit virtually, to 
discuss several important topics before the subcommittee.
    As you know, the DOC covers a broad range of issues 
including the innovation and deployment of emerging 
technologies, foreign investment into American companies, 
reinforcement of our critical supply chains, and enhancement of 
our Nation's cybersecurity, the latter of which we know is 
taking on greater importance every day.
    Madam Secretary, we take the broad issue areas of your 
department very seriously and understand the benefits they pose 
to our economy. That's why I am hopeful you will uphold its 
mission--to create conditions for economic growth and 
opportunity in our great Nation.
    Your appearance before us could not come at a more crucial 
time. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us the need to embrace 
the mission of the DOC. We must accelerate American leadership 
in traditional and emerging technologies, enhance job creation, 
and strengthen U.S. economic and national security. Failure to 
do so will have devastating consequences.
    I believe this hearing is a step in the right direction. 
There are many challenges that lay ahead of us while we work 
towards recovery from this pandemic. One of the hardest hit 
sectors was our travel and tourism industry, and we must not 
overlook the work that must be done to restore this powerful 
engine of economic growth for our communities across the 
nation.
    Last Congress, this subcommittee held a hearing on the 
Brand USA Extension Act. I was proud to introduce this 
legislation with my good friend Peter Welch and to lead the 
effort to get it enacted as part of the Further Consolidated 
Appropriations Act. While it extended the Brand USA program 
through 2027, no one anticipated what the pandemic would do to 
our country, nor to the mechanics of this small but critical 
program.
    In preparation for this hearing, I remembered back to that 
day where each of us were able to boast about great businesses 
and tourist attractions in our districts, the national parks, 
wineries, and of course Florida's beaches. Every single one of 
us can point to a special place in our districts as a great 
destination for tourists to come visit. But for over a year 
now, this travel has stopped.
    This once flourishing market brought millions of 
international travelers to our districts, contributed billions 
of dollars to local economies, and created countless American 
jobs. Sadly, this virus has reduced spending in the industry by 
over 43% in 2020 and during that span international travel to 
the U.S. fell by over 80%.
    My fear is Brand USA won't be able to lead our country 
through international travel recovery because of the absence of 
matching funds from the private sector. For this reason, I am 
working on legislation to address this gap, and hope and I can 
work with you Madam Secretary and my fellow colleagues here 
today on seeing that effort through.
    While the pandemic paused travel, it did lead to a surge in 
traffic on ecommerce, which provided essential goods and 
services to seniors, those with disabilities, and underserved 
communities. This showed the ingenuity and adaptability of the 
American people to overcome adversity. However, we must work to 
ensure this space is not a venue for bad actors to take 
advantage of our constituents. I do think there should be 
safeguards in these marketplaces to ensure consumers are 
protected by best practices. I know this is an issue you are 
passionate about, Madam Chair, and I look forward to working 
with you to identify possible solutions.
    As I said before, there are many challenges ahead of us as 
we start to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. I am hopeful 
this hearing serves to move us forward in addressing these 
challenges and growing our great economy together.
    I look forward to hearing the Secretary's testimony, and I 
yield back.

    Ms. Schakowsky. Well, thank you so much. And I remember 
that day when it was one advertisement after another for our 
States and our districts and we were so proud----
    Mr. Bilirakis. Yes, that was great. I loved it. That was a 
wonderful day.
    Ms. Schakowsky. That was great.
    The gentleman yields back.
    And now the Chair recognizes Mr. Pallone, the chair of the 
full committee, for 5 minutes for his opening statement.

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. FRANK PALLONE, Jr., A REPRESENTATIVE 
            IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY

    Mr. Pallone. Thank you, Madam Chair.
    And thank you, Secretary Raimondo, for testifying today. I 
am a big fan of yours, as I think you may know.
    But Gus made me think about the fact the tourism economy--
because, you know, I am at the Jersey shore. That is part of my 
district. And, of course, Gus and Kathy Castor need to know 
that all the Floridians are back here. The snowbirds have 
returned, and it is like you can barely move this past weekend 
in New Jersey at the shore. It is unbelievable. But I am not 
suggesting we don't need to do more for our tourism economy.
    But I also have to thank the Secretary because, you know, I 
can't help but think of you as the Governor today, because--as 
you see, I have my thing that says I voted--today is the 
gubernatorial primary and the legislative primary in New 
Jersey. So I am thinking of your term as Governor and the 
similarities between Rhode Island and New Jersey, Rhode Island 
being the Ocean State--you know, a high-density population but 
a lot of tourism and recreational areas along the shore. So I 
am thinking about your State and my State and all those 
snowbirds that are back from Florida as well.
    Anyway, the Department of Commerce has one overarching 
goal, and that is to help the American economy grow. In order 
to meet that goal, we must ensure that the U.S. has a vibrant 
and thriving industrial base, a base capable of developing the 
technologies and manufacturing the products essential for 
economic development and prosperity, advanced technologies and 
products like next-generation artificial intelligence, cutting-
edge telecommunications, and advanced manufacturing equipment.
    But America's manufacturing base, as we know, faces steady 
headwinds. Over the past few decades, multinational 
corporations, favoring their short-term financial interests, 
have adopted the business strategy of offshoring, sending 
operations and jobs overseas. And these actions have severely 
eroded America's capacity to produce, with more than 5 million 
manufacturing jobs lost since 2000.
    As a result, the U.S. now relies on production in other 
countries for many of our necessities. And this steady erosion 
of America's productive capacity threatens our Nation's 
economic vitality, international competitiveness, and 
resilience to economic shocks and national emergencies.
    And the lack of domestic equipment manufacturers results in 
telecommunication providers buying suspect equipment from 
companies like Huawei, undermining communication network 
security. A major global shortage of semiconductors has forced 
some manufacturers of autos and consumer electronics to idle or 
delay production, harming our economic recovery. And the 
Department of Defense has warned that the decline in domestic 
manufacturing capacity and capability could result in a growing 
and permanent national security deficit.
    So, while the U.S. manufacturing capacity has waned, our 
economic competitors' capacity is on the rise. In 2010, China 
surpassed the U.S. as the world's largest manufacturing 
country. The United States must restore its capacity to produce 
critical products essential to our economic welfare and 
national security. We need a bold, transformative vision for 
revitalizing American manufacturing and shoring up our supply 
chain.
    So I was so pleased that the Biden administration, Madam 
Secretary, has released the American Jobs Plan and his fiscal 
'22 budget, which included a comprehensive set of policies to 
restore America's industrial power.
    The administration is proposing $300 billion for 
investments to retool and revitalize American manufacturing, 
$50 billion to improve the resilience and capacity of critical 
supply chains, and $50 billion to support research, 
development, and production of semiconductors.
    And I am also happy to see the administration announced 
actions today that it plans to take to address vulnerabilities 
in critical product supply chains.
    So, with the American Jobs Plan, the U.S. will harness 
innovation, strengthen the industrial base, and invest in the 
American worker. It will help ensure our economic success, 
strengthen our national security, and improve our preparedness 
for the next national emergency. So it is time to reinvest and 
refocus on U.S. manufacturing, and that is a critical component 
of the American Jobs Plan.
    Finally, the Commerce Department is key to advancing good 
telecommunications policy. At the end of last year, I worked on 
a bipartisan basis to pass critical broadband provisions as 
part of the final omnibus, and that legislation established a 
$1 billion grant program at the National Telecommunications and 
Information Administration, NTIA, to support broadband 
connectivity on Tribal lands. It included rural broadband 
grants and broadband access at minority-serving institutions. 
It established an office in NTIA to coordinate and ensure the 
efficiency of broadband support across the Federal Government.
    So we look forward to working with you, Secretary Raimondo, 
on creating these policies and look forward to your testimony 
today. I know, based on your experience as Governor and your 
work in the private sector, that you really can make a 
difference, and that is why it is so great to see you. Thank 
you again.
    And thank you, Madam Chair. I yield back.
    [The statement of Mr. Pallone follows:]

             Prepared Statement of Hon. Frank Pallone, Jr.

    Thank you, Secretary Raimondo, for testifying today.
    The Department of Commerce has one overarching goal: help 
the American economy grow. In order to meet that goal, we must 
ensure that the United States has a vibrant and thriving 
industrial base. A base capable of developing the technologies 
and manufacturing the products essential for economic 
development and prosperity in the 21st century. Advanced 
technologies and products like next-generation artificial 
intelligence, cutting-edge telecommunications, and advanced 
manufacturing equipment.
    But America's manufacturing base faces steady headwinds. 
Over the past few decades, multinational corporations favoring 
their short-term financial interests have adopted the business 
strategy of offshoring, sending operations and jobs overseas. 
These actions have severely eroded America's capacity to 
produce, with more than 5 million manufacturing jobs lost since 
2000.
    As a result, the United States now relies on production in 
other countries for many of our necessities: consumer 
electronics, telecommunications equipment, pharmaceuticals, 
computer chips, and strategic minerals and materials.
    This steady erosion of America's productive capacity 
threatens our Nation's economic vitality, international 
competitiveness, and resilience to economic shocks and national 
emergencies. The lack of domestic equipment manufacturers 
resulted in telecommunication providers buying suspect 
equipment from companies like Huawei, thereby undermining 
communications network security. A major global shortage of 
semiconductors has forced some manufacturers of automobiles and 
consumer electronics to idle or delay production, harming our 
economic recovery. The Department of Defense has warned that 
the decline in domestic manufacturing capacity and capability 
could result in a growing and permanent national security 
deficit.
    And while the U.S. manufacturing capacity has waned, our 
economic competitors' capacity is on the rise. In 2010, China 
surpassed the United States as the world's largest 
manufacturing country. And U.S. manufacturing output is growing 
slower than the output of South Korea, Germany, and Mexico.
    The United States must restore its capacity to produce 
critical products essential to our economic welfare and 
national security.
    We need a bold, transformative vision for revitalizing 
American manufacturing and shoring up our supply chains.
    That's why I am so pleased that the Biden administration 
has released the American Jobs Plan and its Fiscal Year 2022 
budget, which include a comprehensive set of policies to 
restore America's industrial power. The Biden administration is 
proposing $300 billion for investments to retool and revitalize 
American manufacturing, $50 billion to improve the resilience 
of capacity of critical supply chains, and $50 billion to 
support research, development, and production of 
semiconductors. And I'm also happy to see the administration 
announce actions today that it plans to take to address 
vulnerabilities in critical product supply chains.
    With the American Jobs Plan, the United States will harness 
innovation, strengthen the industrial base, and invest in the 
American worker. It will help ensure our economic success, 
strengthen our national security, and improve our preparedness 
for the next national emergency.
    It's time to reinvest and refocus on U.S. manufacturing and 
that's a critical component of the American Jobs Plan. 
Manufacturing is the piece of the puzzle that transforms 
research and development into growth of jobs and wages across 
the entire U.S. economy.
    Finally, the Commerce Department is key to advancing good 
telecommunication policy. At the end of last year, I worked on 
a bipartisan basis to pass critical broadband provisions as 
part of the final omnibus appropriations package. The final 
legislation established a $1 billion grant program at the 
National Telecommunications and Information Administration 
(NTIA) to support broadband connectivity on Tribal lands. It 
also included a $300 million rural broadband grant program and 
a $285 million grant program for broadband access at minority-
serving institutions. And it established an office in NTIA to 
coordinate and ensure the efficiency of broadband support 
programs across the Federal Government. I am pleased to see the 
Department's recent announcement regarding the Tribal grant 
program and believe implementation of these programs will have 
a meaningful impact on the lives of all Americans.
    I look forward to working with you, Secretary Raimondo, on 
enacting these policies and look forward to your testimony 
today.

    Mr. Pallone. Did you guys hear me that I yielded back?
    Ms. Schakowsky. I am so sorry. I did it again.
    Mr. Pallone. OK.
    Ms. Schakowsky. The gentleman yields back.
    And now I recognize Mrs. Rodgers, ranking member of the 
full committee, for her 5 minutes.

      OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. CATHY McMORRIS RODGERS, A 
    REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

    Mrs. Rodgers. Good morning, everyone.
    We, as Republicans, believe it is time to return to the 
committee room for hearings and markups. According to the CDC 
and the Attending Physician's Office, as we have seen 
implemented by the Senate, it is possible to do our work and it 
is so important that we do our work in a safe and responsible 
way in the committee room.
    As amazing as this technology is, it is only a partial 
substitute to being together in person. COVID has impressed 
upon us all the importance of human interaction, human 
connection in our lives, including legislating on behalf of the 
people that we represent. I am deeply concerned about the 
partisanship and the polarization of this committee and the 
House due to continued lockdowns.
    Today--I will turn now to the committee and the 
subcommittee work at hand. I want to join in welcoming 
Secretary Raimondo. Certainly, protecting American 
technological and economic leadership is critical as we focus 
on beating China and winning the future.
    As the Republican lead on this committee, I was proud to 
work and to lead in a bipartisan way work on this subcommittee 
last Congress with the chair, Chair Schakowsky, as well as 
everyone on this committee, as we were focusing on issues, 
working with the Department of Commerce on new and emerging 
technologies that are transforming and will improve the quality 
of our lives. They have the potential to save lives and provide 
new job opportunities while allowing us to conquer some of the 
most complex problems that face us as a country--crushing 
COVID-19, surviving this pandemic.
    You think about 3D printing that helped ramp up PPEs; 
autonomous vehicles that delivered medical supplies; and 
blockchain, how important it is in securing America's privacy 
in contact tracing. America also leveraged the power of 
supercomputing and AI to speed up the development of the 
vaccine.
    Empowering you, Madam Secretary, to carry out these 
responsibilities to spur the development of these emerging 
technologies is a shared commitment on this committee. 
Operation Warp Speed and the CARES Act, which was authorized by 
this committee, demonstrate the power of American ingenuity and 
innovation when we work together.
    Our ingenuity and innovation sets America apart from the 
rest of the world, even our closest allies. The European Union, 
for example, has taken a different tack, as it seeks to 
regulate American tech companies at the same time, even as they 
acknowledge that recent intellectual property waivers for 
vaccines could harm innovation in critically needed vaccine 
development.
    It is true that we must rein in Big Tech, especially when 
it comes to protecting our kids, and I will continue to fight 
for our children and hold these companies accountable. However, 
I fear that protectionist policies like the EU's Digital 
Markets Act and the Digital Services Act will not result in 
more consumer protection. The Congress and this administration 
have an obligation to push back on such protectionism, 
especially when U.S. companies are the target, and refocus our 
allies' misguided aggression on legitimate threats like China.
    The U.S. can and should do more to protect people and 
ensure economic security. Recent attacks on Colonial Pipeline, 
SolarWinds, and JBS highlight the vulnerabilities to ransomware 
and other cyber threats. We need policies, like Representative 
Upton's recent Pipeline and LNG Facility Cybersecurity 
Preparedness Act, that strengthen the cybersecurity of our 
critical infrastructure against bad actors. The Senate is 
currently working to pass the U.S. leadership package to boost 
American competitiveness and beat China. This committee must 
also look at every available vehicle at our disposal to 
accomplish that goal.
    It includes enacting a national privacy standard to 
strengthen data protection for Americans. This will signal to 
the world that we are serious about protecting our data and 
promoting cross-border data flows that are part of the Privacy 
Shield. If we do nothing, we leave open a void for our 
adversaries like China.
    We also need to enact a national framework for autonomous 
vehicles to enable the Department's effort to secure strong AV 
supply chains here in the United States. If we fail to do so, 
our auto sector will face the same fate as our communication 
companies suffered.
    So we need trusted vendors. This is highlighted right now 
with the CHIPS Act. Our semiconductor and microelectronic 
sector needs secured. We need more manufacturing in the United 
States of America.
    We worked together last Congress on the American COMPETE 
Act. I was pleased and honored to work with Congressman Rush. 
Let's keep building on that. Let's keep making sure America 
leads and beats China and we continue to lift people out of 
poverty and provide more jobs here in the United States of 
America while improving our standard of living.
    And, with that, I yield back.
    [The statement of Mrs. Rodgers follows:]

           Prepared Statement of Hon. Cathy McMorris Rodgers

    Thank you, Madam Chair. And welcome Secretary Raimondo.
    Promoting American technological and economic leadership is 
critical to beating China and winning the future. As the lead 
Republican on this subcommittee last Congress, I know how much 
can be accomplished when the Department of Commerce and our 
committee work together.
    New and emerging technologies can transform and improve our 
quality of life. They have the potential to save lives, provide 
new job opportunities, all while allowing us to conquer some of 
our most complex problems like crushing COVID-19 and surviving 
this pandemic.
    3D printing helped up ramp up PPE, AVs delivered medical 
supplies, and blockchain is securing Americans privacy in 
contact tracing.
    America also leveraged the power of supercomputing and AI 
to speed up the development of the vaccine. Empowering you, 
Madam Secretary, to carry out these responsibilities to spur 
the development of these emerging technologies is a shared 
commitment on the committee.
    Operation Warp Speed, and the CARES Act--which was 
authorized by this committee--demonstrate the power of American 
ingenuity and innovation when we work together. Our ingenuity 
and innovation sets America apart from the rest of the world, 
even our close allies.
    The European Union, for example, is taking a different tack 
as it seeks to regulate our American tech companies. At the 
same time, even they acknowledge that recent intellectual 
property waivers for vaccines could harm innovation in 
critically needed vaccine development.
    It is true that we must rein in Big Tech, especially when 
it comes to protecting our kids. I will continue to fight for 
our children and hold these companies accountable.
    However, I fear that protectionist policies like the EU's 
Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act will not 
result in more consumer protection and innovation.
    This Congress and this administration have an obligation to 
push back on such protectionism, especially when U.S. companies 
are the target, and refocus our allies' misguided aggression on 
legitimate threats, like China.
    The U.S. can and should do more to protect people and 
ensure our economic security. Recent attacks on Colonial 
Pipelines, SolarWinds, and JBS highlight our vulnerabilities to 
ransomware and other cyber threats.
    We need policies--like Rep. Upton's recent Pipeline and LNG 
Facility Cybersecurity Preparedness Act--that strengthen the 
cybersecurity of our critical infrastructure against bad 
actors. The Senate is currently working to pass a U.S. 
leadership package to boost American competitiveness and beat 
China.
    This committee must also look at every available vehicle at 
our disposal to accomplish that goal. That includes enacting a 
national privacy standard to strengthen data protection for 
Americans.
    This will signal to the world that we are serious about 
protecting our data and promoting cross-border data flows that 
were part of Privacy Shield. If we do nothing, we leave open a 
void for adversaries, like China, to manipulate outcomes.
    We also need to enact a national framework for autonomous 
vehicles to enable the Department's efforts to secure strong AV 
supply chains here in the U.S. If we fail to do this our auto 
sector will face the same fate as our communications companies 
suffered with adversarial countries--like China propping up 
their own companies to dominate the network equipment 
marketplace and pushing out trusted vendors.
    Doing this will require that we build on the committee's 
work to pass the CHIPs Act. Which secures our ability to set 
terms for the semiconductor and microelectronics sector...
    And ensure access to a reliable supply chain for leading-
edge chips for industries of the future.
    Last Congress, I was proud to lead the American COMPETE Act 
with Congressman Rush, cosponsored by Members on both sides of 
the aisle, and enacted with the support of Chairman Pallone and 
Chair Schakowsky.
    As artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies 
move beyond the lab phase, the written recommendations required 
by the American COMPETE Act can give our committee more insight 
on how to deploy these technologies and keep our supply chains 
secure.
    Once again, thank you for being here. I look forward to 
working with you to accomplish our shared goals together. With 
that I yield back, Thank you.

    Ms. Schakowsky. The gentlewoman yields back.
    And the Chair would now like to remind Members that, 
pursuant to committee rules, all Members' written opening 
statements will be placed into the record.
    And now I want to welcome our witness for today, our only 
witness for today--and we thank her so much for being here--the 
Honorable Gina Raimondo, who, as we know, is the Secretary of 
the United States Department of Commerce.
    We really do want to thank you so much for joining us 
today. We look forward to your testimony. And I now yield to 
you for an opening statement of 5 minutes.

    STATEMENT OF GINA M. RAIMONDO, SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF 
                            COMMERCE

    Ms. Raimondo. Well, thank you so much, Chairwoman 
Schakowsky and Ranking Member Bilirakis and members of the 
subcommittee. Thank you all. Thank you for your service, thank 
you for your commitment to this important work, and thank you 
for such a warm welcome.
    It is my absolute pleasure and honor to be here with you to 
talk about President Biden's fiscal year 2022 budget request 
for the U.S. Department of Commerce. And, as the Chair 
recognized, the breadth of Commerce is significant, similar to 
the breadth of your committee.
    President Biden's request includes $11.5 billion for the 
Department of Commerce, which is about a 29 percent increase 
above the 2021 enacted level.
    And I am incredibly proud of the work the Department is 
doing. I am a relative newcomer here and have been so impressed 
with the career staff here at the Department. That said, we 
have to do more. As all of you have just said, we have to do 
more to build back better, improve manufacturing, get Americans 
back to work, and lay the foundation for shared growth and 
prosperity.
    President Biden's budget request puts forward investments 
designed to do just that, and I am so looking forward to 
working with each and every one of you in the coming year on 
these important Commerce programs. I would like to mention just 
a few of the key initiatives.
    Together, I would like to see us support American 
manufacturing by providing an additional $125 million for the 
Manufacturing Extension Partnership, which will enable MEP to 
make the U.S. supply chain more resilient by identifying 
supply-chain gaps and increasing individual manufacturer 
resiliency.
    Let's work together to spur research in technological 
innovation by providing $916 million for scientific and 
technological research at NIST; to secure U.S. global 
leadership in advanced manufacturing by providing an additional 
$150 million for the Manufacturing Innovation Institutes 
program, which will enable NIST to fund two additional 
Manufacturing USA Institutes, one of which will be dedicated to 
semiconductors; advance economic recovery in underserved 
communities by funding MBDA to expand opportunities for 
minority-owned businesses and, of course, help eliminate 
barriers for minority-owned firms; prioritize creating good 
jobs by revitalizing former energy communities by supporting 
the Economic Development Administration's locally driven 
projects in communities across the Nation, including assistance 
to coal communities; invest in climate science and research by 
ensuring NOAA has the tools and equipment it needs to expand 
climate observation, weather forecasting, and research; ensure 
commercial operators have access to spectrum by providing NTIA 
with $89 million, including new funding for applied research 
with the Federal advanced communication test sites; strengthen 
American competitiveness and security by ensuring Commerce's 
ITA, International Trade Administration, has staff and 
resources necessary to defend U.S. workers by addressing unfair 
foreign trade practices and barriers; enhancing cybersecurity 
by providing $106.9 million for cybersecurity upgrades at the 
Department of Commerce and $83.8 million for NIST cybersecurity 
and privacy research to continue to strengthen the security of 
our digital world and defeat cyber attacks and to support the 
Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth in the 
implementation in NTIA's broadband grant programs.
    Within the President's budget, the American Jobs Plan 
proposes longer-term investments that complement the annual 
funding priorities that I just described. These investments 
will strengthen supply chains, and I would like to briefly 
note, as several of you just mentioned, that just this morning 
the White House released the results of our 100-day 
semiconductor supply-chain review. The report outlines actions 
the administration will take to support these businesses. And I 
hope, as you have said, that we can work together to quickly 
fund the CHIPS Act and move forward on this vital initiative--
support American manufacturing, expand access to broadband, 
bolster regional economic development to make sure that all 
regions are included, increase research and development, and, 
very importantly, upskill our workforce.
    So it is a lot to do. We will do it together. And I look 
forward to working with you in bringing back manufacturing and 
creating an economy that works for everybody by creating jobs 
and growth to support American communities, businesses, and 
workers today and in the decades to come.
    So I am, again, honored to be here and happy to take your 
questions.
    [The statement of Ms. Raimondo follows:]
    [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    
    Ms. Schakowsky. Well, thank you very much for that.
    I would encourage Members to read your written testimony, 
which goes into even more detail about the highlights that you 
hit in a brief 5 minutes. I know I really appreciated seeing 
all the things that your department is really focusing on.
    So we have now concluded the witness opening statement, and 
at this time we will move to Member questions. Each Member will 
have 5 minutes to ask a question of our witness, and I will 
start with recognizing myself for 5 minutes.
    And, Secretary, you mentioned the diversity in our country. 
The American Jobs Plan not only presents an opportunity to 
revive our industrial base, but it also presents an opportunity 
to improve racial and gender equity. How would the American 
Jobs Plan make our manufacturing sector more inclusive and 
equitable?
    Ms. Raimondo. Thank you for that incredibly important 
question.
    So it is important to think about equity in terms of women, 
people of color, and regional differences. And the American 
Jobs Plan includes $20 billion to invest in regional innovation 
hubs and a Community Revitalization Fund. At least 10 regional 
hubs which are intended to leverage private capital will be 
rooted in communities, both rural and urban. And we will 
prioritize making sure that we have innovation in communities 
of color and rural communities and with an emphasis on small 
and medium-size enterprises and women-owned enterprises, who, 
as you know, often lack access to capital and the technical 
tools that they need.
    So there are substantial investments that the President is 
proposing in manufacturing, and I will commit to you that, as 
we execute on those plans, we will do it with an eye towards 
equity to make sure that, you know, everybody is included.
    Ms. Schakowsky. Excellent.
    Also, Secretary Raimondo, how would the American Jobs Plan 
account for the many regional differences in manufacturing to 
ensure that areas of the country--all areas--benefit from these 
vital programs?
    Ms. Raimondo. Thank you.
    So I will say that, as a former Governor, I know how 
important it is to engage with State and local government 
leaders and also Tribal leaders, and that is what we will be 
doing.
    So, in order to account for, as you say, regional 
differences, we will do a tremendous amount of stakeholder 
engagement with mayors, with Governors, frankly with you and 
members of your committee who are rooted in your communities, 
with local business leaders, to make sure that we take into 
account the regional differences.
    And, as I said, you know, the investments that the 
President is calling for, the regional innovation hubs and the 
Community Revitalization Fund, are all intended to make sure 
that this economic development is broadly distributed across 
America, in rural communities, in Tribal communities, and urban 
communities.
    Ms. Schakowsky. Great. I appreciate that, and certainly our 
State and local officials will appreciate that as well.
    How would investment in our manufacturing base help us meet 
our national goals like reducing carbon emissions and 
supporting American workers?
    Ms. Raimondo. Yes. So thank you for that question.
    I would say in a number of ways, but perhaps the most 
important is by encouraging investment in new technologies that 
reduce carbon emissions. And this is something that Secretary 
Granholm is very passionate about.
    You know, in order to meet the climate goal that we need 
to, we will need technology and manufacturing technology that 
isn't even invented today. So it is the green technologies of 
tomorrow--electric vehicles, new battery storage, all kinds of 
other technology--that needs to be invented and manufactured in 
America in order for us to, you know, meet the needs of the 
climate crisis.
    Ms. Schakowsky. Thank you.
    What are the consequences if Congress doesn't pass 
legislation making significant investments in our industrial 
base? And can we expect our domestic manufacturing capacity to 
continue to decline or grow?
    Ms. Raimondo. Yes. I believe and testify to you today that 
the consequences will be devastating.
    We have allowed our manufacturing base to erode. As one of 
the Members said, because we were in search of cheap labor, 
which resided overseas, we have watched our manufacturing base 
wither. We have lost 25 percent of our small and medium-size 
manufacturers in the past couple of decades.
    By the way, I lived that, you know, in Rhode Island. That 
was the story of Rhode Island. When I grew up in Rhode Island, 
everyone worked in a manufacturing operation, including my dad 
until he lost his job when all the jobs went overseas, in his 
case to China.
    It is time to bring them back, because not only is it 
millions of jobs for American people, but there is a link 
between national security and economic security. And if we are 
totally dependent for critical minerals, semiconductors, 
batteries, technology, on other countries, that is not only an 
economic problem, it is a national security problem.
    So I----
    Ms. Schakowsky. I am going to have to cut you off because I 
have run out of time, but I----
    Ms. Raimondo. Sure.
    Ms. Schakowsky [continuing]. Think we get the point that 
this is urgent. So thank you very, very much.
    And now I recognize the ranking member of the subcommittee 
for 5 minutes for his questions.
    I apologize, Gus, for going over. Go ahead.
    Mr. Bilirakis. No problem at all. Thank you, Madam Chair. I 
appreciate it.
    Madam Secretary, thank you again for being here.
    As mentioned in my opening statement, the travel and 
tourism industry in the United States needs to--they need help 
to recover from the pandemic, and I believe Brand USA has a 
significant role to play. It is a program that does not cost a 
single taxpayer dollar and provides a 25-to-1 return on 
investment. But the funding mechanism relies on inbound 
international travel being accessible across our borders. I 
think you probably know that.
    The questions are: Will you commit to working with myself 
and this committee as we look towards a legislative fix that 
will address the absence of matching contributions from the 
private sector to Brand USA? I think that is vital. What role 
can the Department play in assisting with the recovery of Brand 
USA?
    Ms. Raimondo. Yes. Thank you for the question. My answer 
is, yes, I would look forward to working with you to do that.
    As you say, travel and tourism has been devastated, and 
Brand USA is an incredibly important initiative, which, you 
know, as you say, relies on the revenue coming from travel and 
tourism. So I would look forward to working with you and 
Members of the House and Senate to figure out how we get it 
funded, since the traditional funding stream has been dried up.
    Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you very much.
    And a followup: What additional economic programs are 
currently in place at the DOC to assist in revamping local 
businesses and economies struggling from the lack of travel and 
tourism, like those in my district?
    Ms. Raimondo. So we are about--Congress appropriated $750 
million to the EDA, to Commerce, specifically for travel and 
tourism. And, very soon, we are about to put the notice of 
funding opportunities out for that money. And, at that time, 
every, you know, State will have the opportunity to receive 
some of that money. It could be used for marketing, it could be 
used for job training, it could be--again, it will be very 
flexible. So we will work with you and your community to make 
sure that you can take the benefit of that.
    Mr. Bilirakis. So that could be marketing overseas as well. 
Is that correct?
    Ms. Raimondo. Yes. It is going to be very flexible.
    Mr. Bilirakis. OK. Thank you.
    Next question: As you mention in your testimony, the U.S. 
has been hit with several cyber attacks over the past year, and 
it seems these attacks are becoming more frequent and with 
higher stakes, unfortunately. The attacks result in significant 
damage to our Nation. For example, after the recent ransomware 
attacks on JBS meatpacking company, Americans are seeing higher 
prices for meat.
    Up until now, cybersecurity was not a common household 
topic when discussing areas the U.S. should focus on. I think 
it is imperative we alter this narrative and quickly ensure we 
mitigate further attacks on our country.
    Can you elaborate on any guidance, Madam Secretary, DOC has 
issued within the Department or to sectors of our economy on 
best practices to increase the protections against cyber 
attacks or to train individuals to detect suspicious activity?
    We had some issues in my district, in the city of Oldsmar, 
with regard to the water supply. There was a cyber attack.
    So if you could give us some information with regard to 
that, we would really appreciate it. Thank you.
    Ms. Raimondo. Yes. So, first of all, I couldn't agree more.
    Second of all, the President is extremely focused on this. 
I have been doing convenings with the private sector in order 
to urge them to take the threat of ransomware seriously and 
modernize their cyber defenses, including implementing the 
practices in the President's Executive order on improving 
cybersecurity. His Executive order outlines five high-priority 
cybersecurity initiatives that, if implemented, will reduce the 
risk of cyber attacks.
    The good news is some of these are quite simple, like two-
factor authentication or proper backups. And so we really need 
to push the private sector to do their fair share, take it more 
seriously, and take these five steps.
    Mr. Bilirakis. Well, thank you very much, Madam Chair, and 
I yield back.
    Thank you, Madam Secretary. Appreciate it.
    Ms. Schakowsky. The gentleman yields back.
    And now I recognize the chairman of the full committee, 
Frank Pallone, for 5 minutes of questions.
    Mr. Pallone. Thank you, Chairwoman Schakowsky.
    Madam Secretary, the American Jobs Plan calls on Congress 
to provide $50 billion to create a new office at the Department 
of Commerce dedicated to monitoring domestic industrial 
capacity and funding investments to support production of 
critical goods.
    Madam Secretary, how would such an office improve the 
resilience of supply chains and revitalize manufacturing in the 
U.S., in your opinion?
    Ms. Raimondo. Thank you. By the way, when you were 
comparing Rhode Island to New Jersey, I thought you were also 
going to say that we both had a lot of Italian Americans in our 
States.
    Mr. Pallone. I didn't mention that, but it is certainly 
true. We always compete for the largest number.
    Ms. Raimondo. Exactly.
    So, in any event, I think, first of all, it will allow us 
to monitor supply chains. As I said earlier, we have seen a 
slow erosion over time of the semiconductor supply chain, and 
so we can't ever let that happen again. We have to monitor it.
    Secondly, we need to invest to build new manufacturing 
operations in America so we can make semiconductors again in 
America. We are at a very dangerous spot with respect to that, 
and I hope that the Congress funds the CHIPS Act at the full 
$52 billion so we can get to work doing that.
    Mr. Pallone. Well, let me ask you, is there any Federal 
agency charged with monitoring the resilience or diversity, 
security, or strength of supply chains that are critical to our 
economic welfare at this point, at this time?
    Ms. Raimondo. So the President--in fact, the President has 
tasked us to work in an interagency fashion, so there is no one 
agency that does it. In fact, just today, as somebody 
mentioned, we put out the Supply Chain Disruption Task Force. 
So Commerce is responsible for lumber, steel, semiconductors, 
Department of Energy is responsible for critical minerals, HHS 
for pharmaceuticals. The way our administration is handling it 
is that, where the expertise resides, that is the department 
that is responsible for that piece of the supply chain.
    Mr. Pallone. But it makes sense to have a comprehensive, 
governmentwide process to designate and monitor supply-chain 
vulnerabilities, you know, to make sure that we are better 
prepared for economic shocks or to respond to emergencies. And 
would you think that the Department of Commerce maybe should 
spearhead that kind of a governmentwide process?
    Ms. Raimondo. It is certainly something that I would 
consider and, you know, take to the administration. As I said, 
at this point, the President has directed us to take a 
governmentwide response, you know, led primarily now from the 
NSC and the NEC. But, you know, I take your point, and I will 
think some more about it.
    Mr. Pallone. All right.
    And then, you know, the last thing I wanted to ask is, we 
know that supply-chain monitoring alone isn't going to ensure 
that these vulnerabilities are addressed. And I do think that 
robust Federal funding and support is key to improving the 
resilience of the supply chain and closing these 
vulnerabilities and revitalizing manufacturing in the U.S.
    So I just wanted to ask you if you agree with that. I think 
you do, but let me ask you anyway, if you do agree.
    Ms. Raimondo. I strongly agree.
    And, look, China alone, one other country, has said that 
they are committed to spending $200 billion on their 
semiconductor supply chain in the next 5 years. We are 
proposing 50. I think we need every bit of it and then some.
    Mr. Pallone. Well, can I just ask, you know, what 
authorities do you think the Department of Commerce needs if it 
is going to design and administer a program providing financial 
assistance to improve resilience of supply chains? I know you 
have talked about something, but do you think you need more 
authority to do that?
    Ms. Raimondo. So what is laid out in the Endless Frontier 
and the CHIPS Act, I think, is sufficient. You know, the 
President has put that forth. It would allow us to do 
investments, grants, research and development initiatives, 
stockpiling. So I think that what is in that proposal would be 
sufficient.
    Mr. Pallone. All right. Well, thank you so much. I know 
that you and the administration have put forward some very good 
ideas in this respect, and I certainly think it is important.
    You know, we went on a couple trips with Congressman Walden 
when he was the chair or the ranking member, and we went to 
these Scandinavian countries like Iceland and Norway where they 
actually had a ministry of manufacturing, you know?
    Ms. Raimondo. Uh-huh.
    Mr. Pallone. So, I mean, it is important that we and the 
Department of Commerce address this. And thank you again.
    Thank you, Madam Chair.
    Ms. Raimondo. Thank you.
    Ms. Schakowsky. The gentleman yields back.
    And now I recognize Mrs. Rodgers, the full committee 
ranking member, for 5 minutes.
    Mrs. Rodgers. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair.
    And, Madam Secretary, I appreciate you being in front of 
this committee.
    I believe that one of the most important issues for us to 
address is a privacy law for the United States of America, a 
national privacy standard. And that has only been underscored 
with COVID. It is so important that our businesses have clear 
guidelines on how to manage the data that they are collecting 
from their customers, and this would add an added layer of 
security for all that are involved.
    You mentioned in your testimony expanding opportunities for 
minority-owned businesses. And I agree with you. We must ensure 
that every American has equal opportunity to succeed.
    I wanted to ask you, when it comes to privacy, if the 
Department of Commerce has taken a position on a national 
privacy standard. And how important do you think it is to 
ensure privacy legislation does not set up barriers to 
preventing the startups and small-business growth, especially 
among minority-owned businesses?
    Ms. Raimondo. Yes. Thank you for the question.
    So I would be very interested to work with you on privacy 
legislation. I think it is vital, particularly for small 
businesses.
    At the moment, I am deeply engaged in negotiating a 
successor agreement to the Privacy Shield----
    Mrs. Rodgers. Very good.
    Ms. Raimondo [continuing]. Which is very important for all 
the reasons you have said. But even if we are successful in 
doing that, that is, you know, temporary and not as sustainable 
as privacy legislation.
    And so, in any event, I think that you are right to 
identify it, and I would look forward to working with you on 
it.
    Mrs. Rodgers. Great. And I appreciate you bringing up the 
U.S.-EU Privacy Shield, because that does need to be addressed, 
and the Department of--the EU's Court of Justice ruling on the 
adequacy of protections.
    I was going to ask you about that too, just what updates 
you can give us on the negotiations, since it has been a year 
since the Court of Justice ruled. And I wanted to ask if you 
were planning to bring it up next week with your EU 
counterparts when you travel.
    Ms. Raimondo. I am. I am. I have, you know, only been at 
this a couple of months, but I personally have been very 
engaged. And, you know, it is a challenge. We are working hard. 
I am optimistic that we will be able to come to an agreement. 
We share the same values with Europe. And, quite frankly, it is 
in our joint best interests that we could get something done. 
So we are going to stay at the table. And I do plan to have 
meetings with my counterparts next week in Brussels on this 
topic.
    Mrs. Rodgers. Well, I look forward to hearing how that 
goes.
    As I mentioned in my opening statement, last year, 
Congress, we worked, bipartisan, on this subcommittee to pass 
the American COMPETE Act. I was really proud to work with 
Congressman Rush in leading that legislation. And it passed the 
House, unanimous, and it was ultimately signed into law. And it 
is really focused on emerging tech, whether it is artificial 
intelligence or some of the other emerging technologies.
    I just wanted to ask if you would commit and continue to 
look at the recommendations that were put forward in that 
legislation so that the United States will lead in 
commercializing this technology.
    And as the EU looks to set artificial-intelligence policy, 
can you give us a sense as to how these policies are going to 
impact U.S. leadership?
    And you mentioned in your written statement that American 
businesses and workers can compete if we all play by the same 
rules. Do you believe that China is playing by the same rules 
when it comes to emerging tech?
    Ms. Raimondo. Yes. OK. So a few things.
    No, the answer to that last question, no. Which is all the 
more reason that we need to work with our allies that have 
like-minded values to set tech standards, particularly in the 
areas I know you are interested in: AI, quantum computing, 
blockchain.
    You know, we are working on the studies required under the 
COMPETE Act. I think they are incredibly important. And we need 
to set standards. We cannot let China that doesn't share our 
values set the standards in these critical new emerging 
technologies.
    Mrs. Rodgers. Can you give us any insights as to how you 
view the EU's artificial-intelligence policy and how it might 
impact our leadership?
    Ms. Raimondo. n more detail, I would have get back to you 
on that specifically. I am not sure if you have--I mean, as I 
said, I think we are roughly aligned, but if you have something 
specific, I am happy to follow up.
    Mrs. Rodgers. OK. I would like to do that.
    Thank you. Great to meet you virtually.
    I yield back the balance of my time.
    Ms. Schakowsky. The gentlewoman yields back.
    And now I recognize my colleague from Illinois, Bobby Rush, 
for his 5 minutes of questions.
    Mr. Rush. I want to thank you, Madam Chair.
    Madam Secretary, I certainly welcome you to this hearing.
    Madam Secretary, I am going to take a different approach. 
You have mentioned in your opening statement the office of 
minority business development, or the Minority Business 
Development Agency, which I think since its inception has been 
a woeful failure. It is woefully inadequate. And, in my humble 
opinion, it needs to be scrapped, because it has failed to 
accomplish even a modicum of what I envisioned--or what I felt 
was its original vision.
    You mentioned funding for the MBDA in your opening 
statement. What is the budgetary increase in the President's 
budget for this agency?
    Ms. Raimondo. He calls for a $22 million increase.
    Mr. Rush. A $22 million increase.
    What is the mission of the MBDA, in your opinion?
    Ms. Raimondo. First of all, I agree with you, by the way, 
that it needs to be elevated and expanded so we have more money 
to do more, you know, grant making, et cetera.
    The mission is to help minority-owned businesses to have 
access to capital, access to technical assistance, so that they 
can grow and be successful.
    Mr. Rush. Well, Madam Secretary, again, in my opinion, this 
is an agency that can't justify its existence, especially in 
terms of the results that it has achieved for the American 
people. And, as you can tell, I am highly critical of it.
    It is an agency that languishes in the dark. Most minority 
businesses are not even aware that it exists. It has absolutely 
no relationship with the majority of entrepreneurs that are 
located in my district and, I think, in districts that are 
similarly situated in our Nation.
    What can be done, in your opinion, to strengthen the 
robustness and the reach of the MBDA in these very same 
communities that have been obviously exposed to all who can see 
that doesn't exist as a result of this pandemic? So what can be 
done in your opinion to strengthen it?
    Ms. Raimondo. Yes. So let me say this: I share your 
concern. And when I first was learning about the job, I was 
kind of shocked to realize that MBDA is the only agency in the 
entire Federal Government specifically designed to provide 
grant funding to minority-owned businesses above a million 
dollars in revenue, and it is such a small, you know, 
department.
    So what the President calls for in the budget is first to 
elevate it so that there is an Assistant Secretary that is 
properly staffed. You know, I think that elevation would be 
critical, a proper Assistant Secretary, confirmed by the 
Senate, with proper staff.
    Secondly----
    Mr. Rush. Madam Secretary, on that, has there been an 
individual nominated and confirmed by the Senate at this point 
in time?
    Ms. Raimondo. No. No, because now the position isn't high 
enough. So, no, there is not.
    Mr. Rush. OK. So, in the future, as we sit here at this 
hearing, at this introductory hearing before this committee, 
then the forecast for us Members in Congress is that this is 
a--it is a bleak forecast, from my perspective. Do you share 
that perspective?
    Ms. Raimondo. I do. I think--I am sorry, it was hard for me 
to--I share that it should be elevated and, you know, better 
funded.
    Mr. Rush. OK. Well----
    Ms. Raimondo. And, by the way----
    Mr. Rush [continuing]. I humbly submit to you that it 
should be scrapped and that you don't put new wine into old 
wineskins, all right? You recreate a robust agency, and that 
will accomplish the mission that you and I share, in that it 
would enhance the participation and the success of minority-
owned businesses. I take the position that it should be 
scrapped, erased from memory, and that we should replace it 
with something that is much more viable, up to date, and much 
more robust, and, lastly, much more effective.
    Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
    Ms. Raimondo. Could I just say, I would love to come visit 
with you on that so we have more time to discuss it.
    Mr. Rush. You are welcome. You are welcome. The lights are 
always on.
    Ms. Schakowsky. Great.
    The gentleman yields back.
    And now I recognize Mr. Upton for his 5 minutes of 
questions.
    Mr. Upton. Well, thank you, Madam Chair.
    And thank you, Madam Secretary, for this. I, too, look 
forward to meeting you in person and getting to know you a 
little bit. You have a mighty big job, particularly as we try 
to get our economy moving again. There are so many hazards 
every step of the way, and we wish you the very best as we try 
to get our economy opening up again and everybody working.
    I have basically three questions. I am going to ask them 
right at the beginning, and then I will let you take the 
balance of the time to try and respond to all three.
    I know cybersecurity has been mentioned by both Gus and 
Frank a little bit earlier. I serve as the ranking member on 
the Subcommittee on Energy, the top Republican, and I am 
anxious to hear what you all did as it relates to the cyber 
attack on Dominion--on Colonial Pipeline.
    Did you all work and integrate forces with the Department 
of Energy? What strategy do you have in mind? I would be 
anxious to see what you did and what you might propose.
    Second question I have is, today I introduced the SHIELD 
Act. It is going to require you and the FTC to study and report 
on electronic commerce, including data sharing and flow and its 
impact on the U.S. economy.
    I think you are going to the EU soon. And I would wonder if 
you could elaborate on the impact that the U.S. economy has 
experienced in light of the Privacy Shield ruling and, 
obviously, some impact maybe on our legislation as it may move 
forward.
    And, lastly, the construction season is a tough one. Lumber 
prices are, as they say, out of the roof. I continue to hear 
about these building-material prices from my home builders and 
others, my Realtors.
    I understand that you and your team are working towards a 
lumber/building materials supply chain summit. Can you give us 
an update on where that stands to solve this, what I would call 
a real knotty problem?
    Ms. Raimondo. Hi. I also would like to get to meet you in 
person.
    So I jotted everything down. I will go in reverse order.
    So the lumber issue is really, really significant. I 
personally have been talking to home builders and trying to 
assess how bad it is, and the answer is, it is bad.
    Some of it is because of COVID, quite frankly. The sawmills 
shut down, and now, due to the big increase in demand for 
houses because of COVID, there is just a mismatch in supply and 
demand.
    So we are working really aggressively on what you just 
said, which is the summit. I expect that that will happen, 
like, in a matter of weeks. I would, you know, invite you to 
join us or be with us.
    We are all over this, to the extent possible, trying to do 
everything we can to work with the private sector to get the 
sawmills back up and running and do everything we can in the 
short run to help with that supply.
    Secondly, on Privacy Shield, I would be interested to take 
a look at what you proposed. It is really important. You know, 
data flows underpin a massive amount of commerce. As I said 
earlier, the thing I am right now very focused on is the U.S.-
EU data flows and renegotiating a Privacy Shield agreement with 
the Europeans. I am headed to Brussels next week, will be 
talking to my counterparts, and this topic will be on the 
agenda.
    It is an issue--to answer your question, it affects 
particularly small businesses that need, you know, privacy 
standards and that don't have, you know, all of the money that 
the bigger companies do. So it is something that we have to 
work on.
    And then you asked about cyber. I will say, the Department 
of Commerce was not particularly involved with Colonial. That 
was primarily the White House and the NSC and the FBI and the 
Department of Energy.
    And, as I was saying, you know, this is primarily something 
that the private sector needs to own on their own. We obviously 
don't think anyone should pay the ransom. And Colonial as well 
as other companies need to do more to protect themselves.
    Ms. Schakowsky. I don't know.
    Ms. Raimondo. Is someone--sorry. I don't know if I lost 
you.
    Mr. Upton. Yield back. Thank you, Madam Chair.
    Ms. Schakowsky. The gentleman yields back.
    And now I recognize Kathy Castor, Congresswoman Castor, for 
her 5 minutes of questions.
    Ms. Castor. Well, thank you, Madam Chair.
    And welcome, Madam Secretary. Good to see you again.
    I really appreciate your can-do spirit, because America 
needs it right now as we bounce back from COVID-19 and really 
do everything we can to create good-paying jobs, that stronger 
foundation for families to thrive.
    And you have an enormous task ahead. There is a lot of 
bipartisan support for improving advanced manufacturing, our 
supply chains, the industrial base. And, at the same time, we 
have a climate crisis on our hands, where we are going to need 
to ramp up everything that we are doing on the clean-energy 
side. And I appreciate Chair Schakowsky asking about that too.
    House Democrats last year published a major report with 
recommendations. It is really good to see so many of them 
reflected in the Commerce Department budget, such as 
conserving/restoring ocean and wetlands; ecosystems, 
understanding their climate benefits; expanding real-time Earth 
monitoring, the data collection, everything for climate risk 
modeling; expanding federally supported research on the impacts 
of climate; and investing in manufacturing in clean energy, 
clean vehicles, and all of those zero-emission technologies.
    So let's talk a little bit about that. You broached it at 
the beginning of your testimony, on what you are doing to help 
prepare, you know, investing in those companies and those 
technologies, in the research to develop the carbon-free 
technologies.
    But what do you do, what does Commerce Department do to 
prepare the groundwork for sharing those technologies to the 
rest of the world?
    One of the ways we are going to be able to solve the 
climate is making sure that our partners in the developing 
world use American-manufactured technology. So what is your 
plan of action there?
    Ms. Raimondo. Yes, thank you.
    So, first of all, I agree with you that it is very 
important to integrate the work we are doing into our plans 
around climate.
    The President's budget calls for a quadrupling of the 
funding of the MEP program, which is something I used a lot as 
Governor. It allows us to support and provide technical 
assistance to small manufacturers across the country. And many 
of them will be focused on areas that you are talking about--
clean energy, clean tech--and working with the Department of 
Energy to help them, you know, create these new products.
    Separately, we have an initiative in ITA around clean-
energy technologies and products specifically to do what you 
are talking about, which is enhance and improve our export and 
export promotion. So we have a clean-energy-export promotion 
initiative within ITA, which I would be more than happy to come 
to talk to you about.
    So I think it is two things: It is investing to do more 
innovating and also export promotion.
    Ms. Castor. That is great.
    And then we are--this is great, that you were Governor when 
the Nation's first offshore wind project was announced. And now 
that President Biden has followed that up with a goal of 
deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030, how is the 
Commerce Department helping the administration's offshore wind 
goal? And what will meeting that goal mean for the supply 
chains here in the good old USA?
    Ms. Raimondo. Yes. So, for a long time, I was the only 
Governor in America who could say we had an offshore wind farm, 
and I was very involved in it. Investing in offshore wind is a 
huge opportunity to put Americans back to work while, as you 
say, you know, fighting climate change.
    So I am very involved, working with my colleagues at the 
Department of Interior, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. 
We at NOAA will play a big role in making sure that the fishing 
community has, you know, their concerns met.
    I will say this: I know you can have both sustainable 
fisheries and offshore wind. And so, you know, we are really 
bullish on it, and I plan to be very engaged.
    Ms. Castor. That is great. You wouldn't think that, me 
sitting here in Tampa, Florida, that we might see some supply-
chain throw-offs from Orsted and the Atlantic offshore wind 
project, but, sure enough, they said they are going to build 
the vessels that they need to build and maintain all of those 
offshore wind farms right here in my district and along the 
Gulf of Mexico.
    So this is a huge opportunity for manufacturing and all of 
our supply chains. So thanks so much.
    Ms. Raimondo. Totally agree.
    Ms. Castor. I yield back.
    Ms. Schakowsky. The gentlewoman yields back.
    And now I recognize Brett Guthrie, Congressman Guthrie, for 
5 minutes for questions.
    Mr. Guthrie. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thanks to the 
Republican leader for having this.
    Thanks, Madam Secretary, for being here. I appreciate it. 
One of my first roommates in the Army many, many years ago was 
Peter Parente, who was a colonel in the Rhode Island Guard and 
said he worked with you when he was PAO officer. I think he is 
from Cranston, actually, or near that area. So he said to say 
hello.
    What I am interested in--and I know you talked about some 
of this with Ranking Member McMorris Rodgers and also about 
going to Europe next week. So, you know, one of my concerns is 
artificial intelligence and blockchain, which you had sort of 
talked about.
    So just to give you some time to be a little more specific, 
how we can, you know, working within ourselves and working with 
like-minded allies, defeat China in artificial intelligence and 
moving forward on blockchain. Could you give us some specifics 
on that? You mentioned it a little bit.
    Ms. Raimondo. Yes. So, first of all, I do know Peter, and 
please send my regards back. Rhode Island wouldn't have gotten 
through COVID without the National Guard. They were amazing. I 
deployed over 1,000 of them, and I can't say enough.
    So, AI. A few thoughts.
    Underpinning all of AI are semiconductors. The building 
blocks of artificial intelligence are leading-edge 
semiconductors. Right now in this country, we make zero 
semiconductors. So we don't get in--we are very dependent on 
Taiwan for that, and China is spending $200 billion to, you 
know, create their own capacity. So, as far as I am concerned, 
that is among the most important things we can do to win in AI, 
is invest in leading-edge semiconductor capacity in America.
    Secondly, standards. So the standards-setting body is NIST, 
which reports up to me. And, you know, I am really quite 
worried, that we need to work with our allies that share our 
values to set the standards that will govern cloud computing, 
artificial intelligence, you know, all new emerging 
technologies.
    This is really technical stuff. And, by the way, I am not 
pretending I am technically advanced, but here is what I do 
know: When the standards get baked, they define the whole 
industry. And if we aren't the ones making those standards, 
that is a real problem. So we plan to be very, very active at 
NIST setting----
    Mr. Guthrie. OK. Thanks. I just have a few seconds, so I 
don't want to interrupt and be rude. I just want to----
    Ms. Raimondo. Not at all.
    Mr. Guthrie [continuing]. Ask another question.
    So, staying away from all the very technical stuff, 
spectrum. No, I am kidding. I am trying to learn more about 
that myself. I am working with my friend from California, Doris 
Matsui, in spectrum.
    So the Commerce Department has the responsibility for 
Federal spectrum. And so how can we make spectrum more 
efficient, or what are you guys looking at or beginning to work 
on, how we could make Federal Government spectrum more 
efficient so we can free it up for the private sector? And that 
leads in to winning 5G.
    So, if you could talk about spectrum and strategies for 5G, 
particularly over China.
    Ms. Raimondo. Yes. Again, it is a really big deal. So we 
control all government-owned spectrum. And, to be very candid, 
I think NTIA needs to--I am looking for a leader who can really 
lead and step up our efforts in that regard to make sure that 
we get as much of the government-owned spectrum as we need and 
make it available to the private market, because that will be 
necessary to speed the rate of 5G and all the innovation that 
goes along with it.
    So we are looking at a--the President wants us to do a 
governmentwide, agencywide spectrum strategy so we look across 
the whole government and get as much of it as we can.
    Mr. Guthrie. Thanks. And that is important. I know the 
previous administration, even President Obama's administration, 
focused on spectrum, and it is just so difficult to do. It just 
takes drive to get it done. And so I encourage you, and we want 
to work with you to do that.
    Also, just touching really quick--I have Mammoth Cave 
National Park. Abraham Lincoln--I know the chairwoman claims he 
is from Illinois, but he was born in Kentucky, so we have 
historic sites for people to visit.
    So what can you do--or elaborate on--I know my good friend 
Gus Bilirakis talked about it--on getting the tourism industry 
recovered? I have about a half a minute left, so I will just 
stop there and let you talk about tourism and bringing it back.
    Ms. Raimondo. Yes. So we have to do more. We are about to 
invest $750 million to all States so they can take advantage of 
that money for marketing and job development. As I said, I 
would love to work with you to find ways to fund Brand USA.
    I will just tell you, I have spent a lot of time helping to 
get, like, the cruises being able to cruise again, airlines--we 
just--we have to lean into it, because people are struggling.
    Mr. Guthrie. Thank you.
    And my time has expired. Thank you very much, and I yield 
back.
    Ms. Schakowsky. You don't want to get in a fight about 
Abraham Lincoln, now, do you? OK.
    Mr. Guthrie. He was born in Kentucky, so--anyway.
    Ms. Schakowsky. OK. No problem.
    So, next, I yield to Representative Trahan for 5 minutes 
for her questions.
    Mrs. Trahan. Thank you, Madam Chair.
    And thank you, Madam Secretary. It is great to have you 
leading Commerce. We all look forward to working with you.
    I am proud to represent Merrimack Valley in Massachusetts. 
It is home to several leaders in the U.S. semiconductor market. 
These companies focus on research and development, chip 
design--the portion of the semiconductor supply chain where, 
according to the Semiconductor Industry Association, the U.S. 
represents over 65 percent of the global market.
    When it comes to material manufacturing, weight for 
fabrication, assembly, and packaging, however, the U.S. 
represents less than 12 percent.
    So, Secretary Raimondo, the United States still has an 
advantage in basic sciences, product design, R&D, which all 
serve as the basis for manufacturing innovation. Why hasn't 
this advantage translated into similar advantages in domestic 
manufacturing?
    And can you specifically speak to why Federal funding is 
needed to strengthen the manufacturing portion of the 
semiconductor supply chain?
    Ms. Raimondo. Yes. By the way, my whole family is from 
Lawrence, Massachusetts.
    Mrs. Trahan. Oh, perfect. I can't wait to host you.
    Ms. Raimondo. So I think the thing is, we just--
manufacturing moved to countries that had cheaper labor. You 
know, there was a rush to move to Asia, where labor was less 
expensive. And all of a sudden--not all of a sudden, but over 
the past 20 years--we, as you say, we now only produce 12 
percent of global supply. We used to produce 37 percent of 
global supply. And so we need to make this stuff in America so 
we are not as dependent on other countries.
    The scale of these investments is such that the Federal 
Government is the only entity big enough to incentivize this. 
The President proposes a $50 billion investment. What we are 
going to have to do is use that $50 billion to unlock another 
$100-plus billion of private capital. So we at Commerce are 
going to really look to do public-private partnerships. And we 
want to use our 50 to incentivize the private sector to do, you 
know, twice that.
    As I said before, China's plan is $200 billion in the next 
5 years. So, you know, if we are going to compete, we need the 
Federal Government to compete at that scale.
    Mrs. Trahan. Well, thank you for that.
    I mean, it is clear that over the decades, you know, 
semiconductor technology has also become increasingly complex, 
requiring high-skilled laborers with advanced degrees. 
Fortunately, the University of Massachusetts Lowell can support 
some of the semiconductor talent pipeline in northeast 
Massachusetts by combining the accessibility of a public 
institution with leading research centers. But, with 
approximately 4,500 students graduating annually, UMass Lowell 
simply can't meet the demand, both regionally and nationally, 
in this high-skilled market.
    And so I am wondering, what role should the Department of 
Commerce and private industry play in strengthening the talent 
pipeline for the semiconductor market? How can we ensure a 
diverse workforce? And is there a role for apprenticeships?
    Ms. Raimondo. Yes. So I have got religion on this topic. I 
led in this area as Governor. Yes, yes, yes. The Department of 
Commerce has to play a central role, because business has to 
play a central role, because business has to tell us, you know, 
what skills are required so that we can train folks to have 
those, you know, necessary skills.
    And it has to be, like, an everything--it can be no one 
thing. In other words, community colleges are great; 
apprenticeships are great; frankly, high schools are great; 
job-training initiatives provided by nonprofits are great. It 
has to be an all-of-the-above if we are going to meet the needs 
and also not leave women and people of color out just because 
these are technical jobs.
    We have to go out of our way to make sure we train women, 
people of color, people who have been traditionally left out. 
Because these are good jobs, don't require a 4-year college 
degree. And it is just as important to national security as 
anything else we are talking about.
    Mrs. Trahan. Well, thank you, Secretary.
    You know, the COVID-19 pandemic certainly highlighted the 
need to strengthen critical supply chains, and I am grateful 
for your leadership as we move forward. And, truly, please 
accept my open invitation to visit the Merrimack Valley, and I 
would love to meet your family.
    Ms. Schakowsky. The gentlelady yields back.
    And now I recognize Representative Bucshon for 5 minutes of 
questions.
    Mr. Bucshon. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. I apologize that 
I am traveling in my district.
    But, Secretary, thank you for appearing before the 
subcommittee today.
    And, in your testimony, you highlight that the Department 
of Commerce fiscal year '22 requests $142 million for the 
Bureau of Industry and Security, or BIS, and its important work 
analyzing exclusion requests of imported steel and aluminum 
products, even though I notice that the administration still 
has not named an agency head at BIS.
    As a cochair of the Congressional Aluminum Caucus, I would 
like to call your attention to a rule change related to 
exclusion process that the Department published last December 
that deserves reexamination, particularly relating to the 
provisions around the general approved exclusion, or GAE, 
mechanism.
    I understand the aluminum steel stakeholders have raised 
serious concerns about GAE. Will you commit to examining the 
current exclusion process and assessing its impact on the 
domestic aluminum and steel industries and specifically to 
reexamining that GAE mechanism?
    Ms. Raimondo. Yes, I will commit to looking at it, working 
with you.
    After the 232 tariffs, the volume of exclusion requests 
went through the roof. We have gotten a lot better. We put a 
portal up. It is more streamlined; it is more transparent. But 
I am sure we could do better still, and so I would be happy to, 
you know, look into that with you.
    Mr. Bucshon. Yes. I mean, I know there is a lot of 
aluminum-foil-type products that are coming from China and 
other places flooding in the U.S. market.
    In addition to the recent rule changes with Section 232, I 
understand your agency along with others are going to engage in 
bilateral talks with the European Union on Section 232 
remedies. Does your agency plan on gathering relevant industry 
and stakeholder input on the impacts of any possible changes to 
Section 232 remedies proposed or made in those negotiations?
    Ms. Raimondo. Yes, absolutely. We will do broad stakeholder 
engagement. In fact, we already are--and if you have anyone in 
your district or consumers or producers that you want us to 
consult with, I would be happy to do that.
    Mr. Bucshon. That is great.
    And, last Congress, I authored the Advancing New and 
Advanced Materials Study Act, which was eventually signed into 
law. The goal of the law is to identify and mitigate risk to 
the supply chains of advanced materials.
    Your testimony highlights some of the recent actions taken 
to support [inaudible] inadequate access to semiconductors in 
the U.S. And I know you have discussed this quite a bit, but I 
just want to be another one to put it on the radar screen.
    As we look at the entire microelectronic sector, are there 
any other specific components or technologies that are used by 
a wide variety of industries throughout the economy that see 
similar levels of offshore production as the semiconductors 
that your agency is monitoring?
    Ms. Raimondo. Pharmaceuticals, certainly. You know, the 
pharmaceutical supply chain has gone overseas substantially. 
Certain critical minerals. Certain critical metals. Batteries, 
you know, power supply. There are many areas, actually, that 
are important and that we have allowed to all go overseas.
    Mr. Bucshon. Yes. I think that has been a decades-long 
issue. And it is really critically important, I think, 
particularly rare-earth metals and others that we all know 
about.
    Are there any active steps that you and Commerce can do to 
take and increase our resiliency and prevent shortages, similar 
to what we have seen with the semiconductors?
    Ms. Raimondo. I think the important thing, which we are 
doing in concert with other agencies, is continuous monitoring.
    So, like, for example, today I was talking to Tom Vilsack, 
who said that our food supply is in good shape in America, 
except we have to do it more sustainably; otherwise, 10, 20 
years from now, we will be in the same problem as we are with 
some of these other things.
    So we are setting up a continuous monitoring so that we 
don't, you know, wake up one day and realize, you know, we have 
a problem that has been, as you say, in the making for a long 
time.
    Mr. Bucshon. Well, I do think that is important, and I 
appreciate that answer. Because I think one of the things that 
we have done poorly in the Federal Government, both in Congress 
and in agencies across administrations of either party, is 
really look ahead and not just be reactive but be proactive and 
look at this situation. And I think that is kind of where we 
got with the semiconductor, you know, the chip situation.
    And I think that we need to do a better job, and you have 
outlined how you may do that. So I thank you very much for 
that.
    And, Madam Chairwoman, I yield back.
    Ms. Schakowsky. Thank you.
    The gentleman yields back.
    And now I recognize Congressman Jerry McNerney for 5 
minutes of questions.
    Mr. McNerney. Well, I thank the chairwoman.
    Secretary Raimondo, in your written testimony you discussed 
the importance of funding to upgrade the Department of 
Commerce's own cybersecurity posture. Why is this important, 
and how will it be used to protect the Department against the 
growing cyber threats?
    Ms. Raimondo. Yes. Thank you.
    So, listen, we are as vulnerable--the public sector is as 
vulnerable as the private sector. And the President's budget 
includes $107 million for cyber upgrades at the Department of 
Commerce, which will enable us to employ a whole-of-Commerce 
approach to have more mature cybersecurity practices.
    We, unfortunately, were a target in SolarWinds. It was 
significant. And so we need to make these investments to 
upgrade and harden our systems.
    Mr. McNerney. Well, thank you. It is needed.
    When it comes to the telecommunications supply chain, why 
is it important that we make sure that our Nation is 
competitive rather than relying on foreign suppliers?
    Ms. Raimondo. Huawei, which is a Chinese company, is all 
throughout our network, and, you know, that presents a real 
national security risk.
    So it is important that we have American companies or, as 
you say, trusted vendors, you know, maybe European or allied 
companies, that we could trust, so China and other countries 
can't get a backdoor into our network and diminish our national 
security.
    Mr. McNerney. OK.
    Well, I, along with my colleague on this committee, 
Congresswoman Clarke, have introduced the Digital Equity Act. 
Our bill would establish two Federal grant programs to address 
the gaps in broadband adoption and promote digital literary 
skills. This includes a grant program for States to adopt, to 
develop, and implement digital equity plans, and the other 
would be a competitive grant.
    Would you support legislation such as the Digital Equity 
Act that promotes closing gaps in broadband adoption and 
promotes digital skills and digital literacy?
    Ms. Raimondo. Yes. I don't know your bill specifically, so 
I would like to, you know, get familiar with it before 
committing to that particular piece of legislation, but 100 
percent committed to the goal. President Biden has said over 
and over, we need to close the digital divide. Every single 
American deserves access to high-speed, affordable broadband.
    And I strongly support digital literacy. I lived it as 
Governor during COVID. It was really quite heartbreaking to see 
how many people didn't have broadband, computers, weren't 
digitally literate. And so, absolutely, I would love to work 
with you on it.
    Mr. McNerney. Well, thank you.
    Madam Secretary, given my past work to permanently 
authorize the Minority Business Development Agency and to 
secure funding for the agency, I was pleased to see the 
President's budget requested $70 million for that.
    Following up on Mr. Rush's question, aside from the 
addition of the Assistant Secretary for the MBDA, can you 
expand on how increasing funding will be used to enable the 
agency to help more businesses get started within disadvantaged 
communities?
    Ms. Raimondo. Yes. Look, so the President is asking for 22 
million more dollars. We need every bit of that. That will 
allow us to reach more minority-owned businesses. So that will 
be tens of millions of dollars more of grants for small 
minority businesses and also the staff that is necessary in 
order to execute on that.
    Mr. McNerney. Well, I am covering a lot of territory here. 
Artificial intelligence presents certain opportunities and 
challenges, and our local communities are the ones who are 
going to have to deal with the fallout and the opportunity 
here. So I want to make sure that our communities have some 
amount of Federal protection from what might happen.
    The city of Stockton, which is in my district, was the 
first city to develop an AI strategy to help deal with some of 
these strategies and issues.
    Would you work with me to find ways that the Federal 
Government can help communities across the country be more 
resilient in the age of artificial intelligence, including ways 
to empower communities to better prepare their workforce for 
future job opportunities and helping them leverage their assets 
to attract AI investment?
    Ms. Raimondo. Absolutely. I would look forward to it.
    Mr. McNerney. Very good.
    All right. I yield back.
    Ms. Schakowsky. The gentleman yields back.
    And I now recognize Congressman Dunn for 5 minutes of 
questions.
    Mr. Dunn. Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
    Secretary Raimondo, let me thank you for joining us today. 
I know everybody appreciates your time.
    Operation Warp Speed demonstrated to the world, I think, 
the true capabilities of the American private sector in terms 
of immediate innovation. And if our government, you know, gives 
the private sector the tools and then just kind of stays out of 
the way, U.S. companies can and will quickly rise to the 
occasion and solve many of our most pressing problems. And that 
was the secret super sauce that won World War II, and it is the 
same thing that led us to lead the world in building the 
vaccines that are defeating the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.
    Addressing the vulnerabilities in our critical supply 
chains will be the next great challenge as we continue our 
transition in this post-COVID world. And the White House, as 
has been mentioned before today, just this morning released a 
report entitled the 100-day supply-chain review report, which 
paints a startling picture of the future if we do not act 
swiftly. You know, it notes that our share of global 
semiconductor production will fall to just 10 percent by 2030 
and the Asian market controlling 83 percent. With six new 
semiconductor facilities under construction, four of them are 
in Communist China.
    So this, combined with the imminent danger of us falling 
behind the Chinese Government in development of artificial-
intelligence capabilities, presents a threat that we all must 
work to address right now.
    So my questions, Madam Secretary: One, what can the 
Department of Commerce do to ensure that public-private 
partnerships take a cohesive approach to artificial-
intelligence technology, doesn't fragment the industry and 
thereby stifle rapid innovation and development of these 
technologies in the United States?
    And, two, is the Biden administration concerned by the 
collaboration of American Big Tech companies on the artificial-
intelligence research areas currently taking place inside 
China, such as that by Google and others?
    And, finally--finally--a somewhat more parochial question 
but well within your purview as Secretary of Commerce. As you 
may know, Hurricane Michael devastated my district, the 
panhandle of Florida, in October of 2018. And on June 6, 2019, 
a supplemental appropriations bill was signed into law by then-
President Trump, which included money to help the Florida Gulf 
Coast seafood industry, which was severely impacted by that 
storm. And despite the Florida Fish and Wildlife submitting a 
spend plan for those moneys in August last year, 2020, there 
still has been no funding obligated from NOAA to date.
    And I know you don't have the answer at the top of your 
head, but I ask that your office get back in touch with my 
office with an update as to when we can expect these funds to 
be in the hands of our devastated Florida commercial fishermen, 
who provide, by the way, everybody in the Beltway and New York 
City or wherever up the East Coast, all of your diners with the 
bulk of your seafood.
    So, Madam Secretary, I give you those three questions. 
Thank you.
    Ms. Raimondo. Thank you, Congressman. That is a lot of 
territory. I will do my best in the minute I have.
    The last one is the easiest. Absolutely, I will have my 
staff follow up with your staff to get the status of the NOAA 
funding after Hurricane Michael. I will tell you, I feel for 
you, having been the Governor of the Ocean State. We struggled 
a lot with hurricanes. So I will get you a good answer to that.
    Mr. Dunn. Thank you.
    Ms. Raimondo. With respect to your comments about the 
private sector and Operation Warp Speed, I do agree, in that 
America was first in the world because of the innovation in our 
private sector. Also, the good collaboration with the public 
sector was necessary. And that is the model that we will use to 
work on the semiconductor supply chains.
    The whole thing will be a public-private partnership. We 
are viewing our job and the $50 billion to be, kind of, 
unlocking and incentivizing the private sector and private 
investors and companies to match our investment or more than 
match it.
    We are just trying to stimulate the innovation, but it is 
going to be, you know, primarily private-sector-led, you know, 
with the support of the public sector.
    Mr. Dunn. Thank you very much, Madam Secretary. I am 
greatly appreciative of your time.
    Madam Chair, I yield back.
    Ms. Schakowsky. The gentleman yields back.
    And now I recognize the Honorable Tony Cardenas for 5 
minutes for his questions.
    Mr. Cardenas. Thank you, Madam Chair and Ranking Member 
Bilirakis, for having this very important discussion with our 
Secretary Raimondo.
    Welcome to the committee, Madam Secretary. And we 
appreciate all the insight you have been giving us and all the 
information that you are going to get back to us on. So thank 
you so much for all your diligence and your efforts as our 
Secretary of Commerce.
    But I just wanted to remind everybody who is watching, all 
those seven viewers from the public, that this discussion today 
is all about the American people. It is about security for the 
American people. It is about jobs, for the jobs of today and 
tomorrow for our children and grandchildren and people who are 
trying to provide for their families today.
    And this discussion is probably--I am very pleased to see, 
this is probably the least bipartisan dialogue that I have seen 
in the 8 years that I have been in Congress. So, to me, this is 
a very, very proud moment, to see Democrats and Republicans 
come together and talk about all the important issues that are 
facing our individual districts, our States, our entire 
country, and also reminding everybody that, when we get it 
right, we do wonderful, amazing things not only for the 
American people but for the world.
    I come to Congress as a husband, as a father, now as a 
grandfather, but before that I was an engineer, and then I was 
a businessman. So I have been able to see from a large, large 
company like Hewlett-Packard in the technical field with my 
electrical engineering degree. They gave me an opportunity to 
participate in that and to see, at that time, in the 1980s, we 
were dominant in the world. We were so respected. We were so 
appreciated. And there was probably not a fine technical 
product on the planet that didn't have American innovation in 
it. But that is changing, unfortunately.
    But we should not despair, and I don't think we should give 
up, because I look at your budget, Madam Secretary. You are 
talking [audio malfunction] actually going to address many of 
the things that my Republican and Democrat colleagues have been 
talking about today, which is that public-private partnership. 
Those Federal grants and to be able to have those, quote, 
``bureaucrats,'' but in a good way, be able to administer those 
things and get them out to businesses, small and large, so that 
we can actually innovate and then show the world that we are 
the innovation capital of the world.
    And when we are the innovation capital of the world, when 
it comes to artificial intelligence, when it comes to 
cybersecurity and things of that nature, the world is in good 
hands, in American hands.
    So, with that, there is much that has already been covered 
by my colleagues, but one thing that I would like to point out 
is that, having been a small business myself and having been 
the son of Mexican immigrants, being a minority business owner 
does come with its challenges.
    And, in your budget, you are talking about expanding 
something and creating a permanent Assistant Secretary for the 
Minority Business Development Agency within the Department of 
Commerce. Can you please expand on how critical that is not 
only to minority businesses but to those businesses that feed 
those huge businesses that are not minority businesses? Please.
    Ms. Raimondo. Thank you, by the way. Thank you for your 
comments and your question.
    So, as you know all too well, access to capital for 
entrepreneurs of color has been and continues to be a barrier 
for success for these small-business owners. The same is true 
for women, by the way. You know, access to capital can be kind 
of based on networks and clubs and relationships, and people of 
color and minority businesses have been left out.
    And so what the President calls for is a Presidentially 
appointed, Senate-confirmed Assistant Secretary of Commerce for 
the Minority Business Development Agency, which I think is very 
important. It will strengthen the authorities of the MBDA 
leadership to carry out its core mission and, you know, to 
create offices within the MBDA and in the regional hubs.
    So I think that this is really important. It will elevate 
the mission of MBDA, elevate the standing of MBDA. And, 
importantly, the President calls for $22 million extra of 
funding, which just means we can do more to provide capital and 
access to capital for entrepreneurs of color.
    Mr. Cardenas. Yes. Well, thank you. I think it is fair and 
appropriate, the way President Biden has put in his budget to 
actually make it Senate-confirmed, which means this is not 
partisan, this is not about just looking at it from one lens. 
It is about allowing us to be able to look at it for what it is 
and appoint the right person who is going to have a fair and 
honest way of dealing with this issue about growing American 
businesses. For God's sake, the largest businesses in the 
country started off as small businesses.
    And the last thing I am going to say: I want to thank you 
for also mentioning women businesses, because it is women and 
minority businesses that need that just fair, fair access to 
capital, just that fair playing field, and then we are going to 
see our economy just skyrocket for the better.
    So my time has expired, Madam Chairwoman, and I yield back.
    Ms. Schakowsky. The gentleman yields back.
    And now it is my pleasure to yield to Representative Lesko 
for 5 minutes of questions.
    Mrs. Lesko. Thank you, Madam Chair.
    And thank you, Madam Secretary, for joining us today.
    I look forward to reading the report that I think was just 
released today about semiconductor manufacturing and how the 
U.S. is going to be involved in that.
    But I wanted you to be aware that my district in Arizona, 
Congressional District 8, will be the home of the new Taiwan 
Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. And then, of course, we 
already have Intel in Arizona, but they are investing another 
$20 billion to expand their semiconductor manufacturing in the 
State of Arizona.
    And my question is, what role does the Commerce Department 
play in increasing the number of advanced chip makers in the 
United States? And what plans do you have in place, what 
incentives and so on and so forth?
    Ms. Raimondo. Thank you for your question. I know your 
Governor quite well. We worked very well together when I was 
Governor.
    And you are correct. Intel, TSMC, this is a great thing for 
Arizona. And it is the example of how we are going to do this. 
So hopefully the Congress does appropriate the $50 billion that 
the President is requesting, and that money will be used to 
provide incentives to companies like TSMC, like Intel, like 
others to build more factories in America. We think that is 
enough money to incentivize the establishment of six or seven 
more manufacturing operations like the ones you are talking 
about.
    I will tell you, that will all be done in collaboration 
with States. So, in every one of these examples, you know, 
probably the Governor or mayor or congressional delegation will 
have to work with us, the Department of Commerce, because the 
State will have to put some skin in the game, the Department of 
Commerce and the Feds will put skin in the game, and then the 
private sector will do the same thing. And that is how we are 
envisioning doing this.
    Mrs. Lesko. Thank you, Madam Secretary.
    My next question revolves around critical minerals. The 
more I learn, the more I realize how much of our critical 
minerals that are needed for, let's say, electric vehicles or 
offshore windmills or whatever are processed or made in China.
    And so what role does the Commerce Department have in 
making sure that the United States is more involved in mining 
and acquiring critical minerals?
    Ms. Raimondo. Yes. So I share your concern. I think there 
is reason to be concerned. Today, the administration released 
our 100-day report on critical supply chains. Department of 
Commerce is primarily focused with semiconductors, lumber, and 
steel, and Jennifer Granholm at the Department of Energy is 
primarily focused on the critical minerals, along with Deb 
Haaland at Interior. So I don't want to pretend I am an expert, 
except to say that we are all working around the table on 
shoring up supply chains.
    And you are exactly right. I mean, so many of these 
critical minerals are inputs into things like semiconductors 
and batteries. And we have a plan to shore up domestic supply 
chains.
    Mrs. Lesko. Thank you, Madam Secretary.
    My last question is: In May 2019, President Trump signed 
Executive Order 13873 on securing the information and 
communications technology and services supply chain. The 
Department of Commerce is responsible for implementing this 
Executive order and put out an interim final rule in March.
    My question is--I have three questions: How are you 
implementing the Executive order within your department? Who is 
responsible for that implementation? And did you intend on 
publishing a final rule? Or do you, I mean.
    Ms. Raimondo. Since I have 20 seconds and that is 
complicated, the answer is, we are deep into the 
implementation, and with your permission I would love to follow 
up with you separately and in writing with, you know, the 
answers to your questions.
    Mrs. Lesko. Thank you, Madam Secretary.
    And I yield back.
    Ms. Schakowsky. The gentlelady yields back.
    And now I recognize Darren Soto for 5 minutes for his 
questions.
    Mr. Soto. Thank you, Madam Chair.
    President Biden has pitched this battle of economic 
prosperity in the 21st century as one between democracies and 
authoritarian governments. And, as President Biden heads to the 
G7 summit to work on fair rules on international taxation, 
trade, and cybersecurity, we see major challenges, right? China 
spying through telecommunications; a pandemic that has exposed 
our need to develop personal protective equipment at home; a 
microchip shortage; supply-chain issues. We have also seen 
continuous Russian cyber attacks, so cybersecurity is a key 
part of it.
    These are great challenges. So was COVID, though. And yet, 
with the CARES Act and the American Rescue Plan, our Nation has 
developed the best vaccines in the world. We are leading in 
vaccinations and coming back stronger than any Nation across 
the globe. So we know, in America, we can and we must win this 
manufacturing race too.
    It starts with developing and bringing back jobs at home, 
and that is what the American Jobs Plan is all about: $50 
billion to support production of critical goods and industrial 
capacity for automotive, machinery, energy, and aerospace 
industries; $50 billion for semiconductor manufacturing and 
research--we see that with the bipartisan CHIPS Act; $14 
billion for NIST to invest in basic investments in research and 
development, manufacturing, and training.
    And we already see the first parts of the American Jobs 
Plan set to pass the Senate as soon as this week, the $52 
billion for the semiconductor industry. There is a section 
included in the Endless Frontier Act being debated by the 
Senate this week. This is great news.
    And we must come together in this committee to support the 
American Jobs Plan. We need to put our money where our mouth is 
and invest in the American people so we can upgrade our 
infrastructure, our manufacturing capacity, and build back 
better. And our constituents are ready.
    And, Madam Secretary, I have great news for you. In central 
Florida, we are a leader in aerospace and space manufacturing 
in East Orlando and Cape Canaveral on the Space Coast. In 
Osceola County, where I sit here today in Kissimmee, Florida, 
we have begun microchip and semiconductor manufacturing with 
SkyWater Technology, one of the largest domestic chip 
manufacturers in the country, at our BRIDG facility in NeoCity. 
President Biden, in fact, held up a SkyWater semiconductor 
wafer during his recent meeting with domestic manufacturers.
    So I want to take a moment to invite you to NeoCity in 
central Florida. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that 
your predecessor, Secretary Ross, came last year, and we 
appreciate him, in a bipartisan fashion, showing an interest in 
these key, trusted foundries in central Florida.
    So it would be great to hear a little bit more on the 
domestic microchip shortage and how the American Jobs Plan can 
boost domestic chip manufacturing in facilities like NeoCity.
    Ms. Raimondo. So, first of all, thank you for your comments 
and for your support of the President's jobs plan. I was at 
that meeting where the President held up the wafer, and so I 
understand how important that is, and I would love to come 
down.
    As we have been talking about and as you just indicated, we 
have allowed ourselves to get into a very vulnerable spot with 
semiconductors. We have gone from producing 37 percent of 
global production to 12 percent. And, if we don't make changes, 
that 12 percent will go down to 10 percent. At the same time, 
China has gone in the other direction. And, actually, they are 
consuming about the same number of semiconductor chips as we 
are.
    So this requires urgent action. It requires you all to pass 
everything you just said--you know, the $50 billion of 
appropriation so we can get to work. That money will come to 
Commerce, and we will invest it to stimulate the creation of 
more manufacturing operations in America like the one you have 
in Florida. We need more of it. We need more supply so we can 
create jobs and secure our national security.
    Mr. Soto. And, Madam Secretary, aerospace and space 
manufacturing, how key is it for domestic chip manufacturing to 
flourish again?
    Ms. Raimondo. Extremely. It is all related. It is all 
related. It is vital to economic and national security and 
jobs, job creation.
    Mr. Soto. Well, we look forward to hosting you down in 
sunny central Florida soon.
    And I yield back.
    Ms. Schakowsky. The gentleman yields back.
    And now I recognize Congressman Pence for his 5 minutes of 
questions.
    Mr. Pence. Thank you, Chair Schakowsky and Ranking Member 
Bilirakis, for holding this hearing.
    And thank you, Secretary Raimondo, for joining us today for 
the 2022 budget request.
    Before I get started, Madam Secretary, I wanted to mention 
that you and Chair Pallone were discussing all the Italians 
that you have in your area, and I want to point out that all 
these Italian women in my family married us Irish guys. So you 
can do with that whatever you think, OK?
    I will move on to something a little more serious. 
Historically, the Hoosier State has been a leader in American 
manufacturing. In 1919, Clessie Cummins founded Cummins Engine 
Company in Columbus, Indiana. I have lived in Columbus my 
entire life, and nearly every family, my own included, has some 
connection to the company that helped build and grow Columbus, 
Indiana. This is exactly what we mean when we discuss ``company 
towns.''
    Today, manufacturing accounts for almost 17 percent of our 
workforce and contributes over $100 billion to the State 
economy annually. We are proud to have two cutting-edge 
international automotive manufacturing plants in Indiana's 
Sixth District, Honda in Greensburg and Toyota in Columbus. 
Across the State, medical manufacturers like Hillrom in 
Batesville, Cook Group, and Eli Lilly take advantage of the 
State's longstanding manufacturing expertise.
    Unfortunately, good-paying manufacturing jobs have been 
shipped overseas, leaving Hoosiers with fewer options to 
provide for their families. Exactly why I got into Congress. 
Aggressive behavior and unfair practices from countries like 
China have devastated opportunities for domestic manufacturing, 
creating a heavy reliance on automotive regimes for critical 
supply-chain materials.
    As we have discussed repeatedly today, the semiconductor 
chip shortage is a serious threat impacting workers in my 
district right now. Just last week, an auto manufacturing plant 
in northeast Indiana started a 2-week furlough as a direct 
result of the chip shortage. This is just the latest example of 
how relying on foreign supply chains can jeopardize our 
economic security.
    Secretary Raimondo, in Indiana, foreign direct investment 
fuels innovation and enhances our ability to attract investment 
from around the world. Over 870 international companies employ 
more than 200,000 Hoosiers, 56 percent of which are in the 
manufacturing sector.
    Earlier this year, I introduced the bipartisan Global 
Investment in American Jobs Act with Chairman Bobby Rush that 
seeks to make the U.S. more competitive for foreign capital 
investment. Madam Secretary, will you commit today to working 
with us to advance this legislation?
    Ms. Raimondo. Yes, I will. Absolutely. Foreign direct 
investment matters. It creates jobs, as you said. In fact, 
right now, this week, I am in the process of hosting the 
SelectUSA Summit, which is all designed to attract foreign 
direct investment into America. So I would look forward to 
doing that.
    By the way, you said exactly the reason you got into 
Congress was to get these jobs back. That is exactly why I took 
this job when Biden called me, because my whole family grew up 
in manufacturing, and my dad used to say, ``It is not just a 
job, it is a really good job.'' It is a dignified job, to spend 
your day all day making something and seeing it at the end of 
the day. And, by the way, it is a job you can get without a 4-
year college degree.
    Mr. Pence. Uh-huh.
    Ms. Raimondo. So that is why I got into this business, this 
job. And I would look forward to working with you.
    As a footnote, my husband is Irish, and I am pretty sure he 
married me because of my cooking, so I think he probably made a 
good move.
    Mr. Pence. Absolutely not a surprise to me, Madam 
Secretary. Well, thank you for your perspective.
    And, Madam Chair, I yield back.
    Ms. Schakowsky. The gentleman yields back.
    And now, Kathleen Rice, you are recognized for 5 minutes of 
questions.
    Miss Rice. Thank you so much, Madam Chair.
    And, as always, Madam Secretary, it is so great to see you.
    I would first like to touch on the 232 tariffs quickly. In 
2020, I wrote a letter to the DHS Inspector General asking to 
investigate discrepancies between the total amount of tariffs 
paid by the beverage industry and the amount received by the 
Treasury.
    The beverage industry paid a total of $582 million in 232 
tariffs between March of 2018 and the end of 2019, but CBP had 
only collected about $81 million of that total. So, while the 
broader IG audit is ongoing, they have provided a preliminary 
response confirming this discrepancy and have referred the 
matter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for further 
investigation.
    So, through the end of 2020, that number grew to $848 
million in tariffs paid by the beverage industry versus $88 
million collected.
    So I am concerned by the lack of transparency around how 
the 232 aluminum tariff is being applied and that the revenue 
generated by the tariff is not being remitted to the Treasury, 
clearly.
    So I just wanted to bring this--I am sure you are aware of 
this--wanted to bring it to your intention if not, but also ask 
if you would commit to working with aluminum end users and 
consult with your partners in the other Federal agencies 
investigating the situation as you review the 232 tariffs?
    Ms. Raimondo. Yes, absolutely. I promise you I will do that 
and, you know, get with the Department of the Treasury and 
other departments to figure out where the money has gone.
    Miss Rice. Great. Thank you so much.
    I am also so excited and I really am looking forward to 
working with you on offshore wind development. We have been 
pushing for the Department of the Interior to designate WEAs in 
the New York Bight area, and they just came out with that about 
a month and a half ago. And so we are thrilled to be able to, 
you know, begin the process of doing offshore wind development 
on Long Island--well, really from Montauk, the end of Long 
Island, all the way up through Cape May, New Jersey, my 
district being right in the center of that. So I am thrilled to 
be able to do that.
    Just one final question. NOAA is currently working with the 
National Center for Atmospheric Research, NCAR, to build 
advanced radar technology known as airborne phased-array radar 
that can be mounted on a plane and flown into storms to provide 
early forecasting for hurricanes. This radar will more fully 
anticipate changes in the ferocity of a hurricane before it 
strikes land and can be used to predict other severe weather 
events.
    This technology is particularly important to my district on 
Long Island, where we seem to suffer once-in-100-year storms 
every year. You know, we are very susceptible to these types of 
storms, and it would allow us to prepare for these events and 
save lives.
    In January, the National Science Foundation rejected a 5-
year, $70 million funding application by NCAR to fully develop 
this radar technology. Now, work had already begun on this 
radar, and, since it has already begun, does NOAA have the 
capacity to redesignate existing funds to avoid delays in 
deploying this technology, number one?
    And, number two, what would be the ROI for developing this 
technology during severe weather events?
    Ms. Raimondo. Yes. I need to get back to you on the answer 
of, specifically, does NOAA have that authority, and I promise 
you I will do that.
    I will say, I think your last question was basically, how 
important is this? You cut out a little bit. But the answer is: 
Very. I mean, over 18 NOAA service products have explicit 
dependence on TDR, and it has been documented that it improves 
the performance of the NOAA products by up to 17 percent.
    So I think this is very important. And we should follow up 
to see if I can be helpful to you.
    Miss Rice. That would be great. Thank you so much.
    And I just want to thank you so much for your time today. 
You know, one of my colleagues remarked before about how 
bipartisan this hearing is today, and I think that is in large 
part due to you, your knowledge on all the matters that we are 
discussing here today, you understanding how important it is. 
You have run a State that has had, you know, frontline 
problems, you know, in dealing with these issues. And I, for 
one, am just so grateful for your time here today and your 
willingness, you know, as you have said to all of our members, 
whether they are Republicans or Democrats, to work with all of 
us.
    So I want to thank you so much for that bipartisan spirit. 
Thank you for your time.
    And I yield back the balance of my time, Madam Chair.
    Ms. Raimondo. That was much too generous and kind, but I 
appreciate it. And I do want to work with all of you, because 
national security, manufacturing, we have to get together on 
these issues.
    Ms. Schakowsky. Well, I associate myself with the remarks 
of my colleague, Madam Secretary, so we appreciate you very 
much.
    And I am happy to call on Representative Latta now for his 
5 minutes.
    Mr. Latta. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I really 
appreciate today's hearing.
    And, Madam Secretary, thanks very much for being with us 
today. It has been a very, very interesting hearing today and, 
also, the questions from both Republicans and Democrats on the 
committee.
    Madam Secretary, one of my top priorities in Congress is 
getting broadband to unserved and underserved communities, 
which is why I have led efforts in the House to fix our 
Nation's broadband maps. Accurate maps will get resources to 
areas that need internet access the most.
    Secretary, now that Congress provided the FCC with $98 
million to produce accurate broadband maps, what role will the 
NTIA map, currently being funded at $7.5 million annually, play 
going forward?
    Ms. Raimondo. Thank you.
    So, first, I would say we share your goal, and I applaud 
you for working on it. The President has been clear that we 
have to have everyone having broadband.
    Secondly, NTIA will rely on the maps that the FCC produces, 
and it is incredibly important that they are granular and 
accurate so that we don't waste our money overbuilding. We want 
to make sure that what we are doing is spending the money to 
get broadband to places that are unserved, and so the maps will 
allow us to know how to pinpoint our efforts.
    And then NTIA is in charge of overseeing the broadband 
allocations from Congress in order to build the technology and 
fiber in places that currently have no broadband.
    Mr. Latta. Well, it is absolutely essential to get to these 
unserved areas. It has always been a concern of mine that, if 
we go out and overbuild, especially with the proposal that is 
out there, in the underserved areas--and what is being proposed 
is that maybe 58 percent of American households right now could 
be considered to be unserved and not underserved--I think it is 
going to hurt our rural areas.
    Let me just follow up on this. Do you think it makes sense 
to continue funding the mapping efforts at NTIA as well as the 
FCC?
    Ms. Raimondo. I do. I do, because I think, as I said, it is 
just so important to have granular, highly detailed, accurate 
maps so that we know where the unserved places are, whether 
they be rural, Tribal, urban, and, frankly, so we don't waste 
money overbuilding and we put the money to the unserved.
    Mr. Latta. Let me ask this. The Department of Commerce 
plays an increasing role in maintaining U.S. leadership in 
emerging technologies. As you are aware, last Congress, we 
passed the American COMPETE Act that tasked you with looking at 
different areas of technological advancement. Included in that 
legislation are two bills that I offered, the SMART IoT Act and 
also the Unmanned Delivery Services Act.
    Relatedly, the unmanned delivery services are already being 
used to deliver goods across the country, including in my 
district through a program at Bowling Green State University 
which is highly used and highly successful.
    As our country's commerce shifts to these new technological 
models, what is DOC doing to stay in front of these changes and 
removing roadblocks that may exist for their deployment?
    Ms. Raimondo. Yes. Thank you.
    So the President's budget calls for increases in funding to 
NIST, much of which is for research and development around 
cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, 5G.
    The Department of Commerce is blessed with some of the best 
scientists in the world and technical folks, and it is 
important, like you said, that we make the investments in R&D 
so that we can stay ahead and also do that in collaboration 
with industry.
    Mr. Latta. In my last 47 seconds here, you know, as we look 
at the new IoT technologies, it is important that the 
government is a partner, not a hindrance, to American 
inventors.
    What, in your view, can Congress do to enhance IoT 
technology and ensure that future cutting-edge technologies are 
given the right environment to develop?
    Ms. Raimondo. Well, we can protect intellectual property, 
which is so important to stimulate innovation, through our 
USPTO. We can make these investments in basic research and 
development. We can provide loans and grants to manufacturing 
companies and tech companies and then also set the standards to 
allow for flourishing of these new technologies.
    Mr. Latta. Well, thank you very much, Madam Secretary.
    And, Madam Chair, my time has expired, and I yield back. 
Thank you very much.
    Ms. Schakowsky. The gentleman yields back.
    And now I recognize my dear colleague from Illinois, 
Congresswoman Robin Kelly.
    Ms. Kelly. Thank you, Madam Chair, so much.
    And thank you, Secretary Raimondo, for testifying before 
the committee today.
    Small and medium-size enterprises are the bedrock of our 
industrial base, employing about 43 percent of all 
manufacturing workers in the United States. They play an 
instrumental role in producing critical products essential to 
our economy: fabricated metal products, machinery, electrical 
equipment, appliances, computers, and plastics.
    Our manufacturing sector can only be successful if these 
small and medium-size enterprises are successful. Madam 
Secretary, how will the American Jobs Plan ensure that small 
and medium-size enterprises grow and thrive?
    And, also, how do you plan to uplift the Minority Business 
Development Agency so communities of color and underserved 
communities are able to come out of this pandemic stronger than 
before?
    Ms. Raimondo. Thank you.
    So, as you say, you know, most manufacturers in America are 
small and medium-size, and, sadly, we have lost about 25 
percent of them in the past 20 years.
    The President's budget calls for a quadrupling of the 
funding for the MEP program, Manufacturing Extension 
Partnership. The MEP is specifically designed to work with 
small and medium-size enterprises, manufacturers.
    Last year, MEP centers interacted with over 28,000 
manufacturers. And I know from my time as Governor in Rhode 
Island, they provide technical assistance, sometimes workforce 
training, to small companies. And it is exactly what you are 
talking about. It is a lifeline so they can innovate as small 
businesses.
    So I hope that you will, you know, honor the President's 
request, because that will be money that goes right into your 
community, into these small and medium-size manufacturers.
    On the Minority Business Development Agency, as we have 
been talking about today, we need to do more. You know, it is 
not OK that it has been underfunded, undervalued, kind of--I 
don't know--just not elevated to the place it needs to be. It 
is the only agency in the entire Federal Government that 
provides support and grants to minority-owned businesses above 
a million dollars in revenue.
    We need to do more. I promise we will. And I would just 
strongly urge you to invest the additional money that the 
President is calling for and elevate it so that we can do that 
important work.
    Ms. Kelly. You can definitely count on that.
    We are in the midst of a new industrial revolution, the 
advanced manufacturing era, in which digital technologies are 
applied to manufacturing process to improve productivity, 
flexibility, and quality. But many small and medium-size 
businesses may lack the resources and technical expertise 
needed to adopt advanced manufacturing practices.
    How do we ensure that small and medium-size enterprises do 
have the expertise and the resources needed to adapt to 
advancement in the manufacturing sector?
    Ms. Raimondo. Such a good question, because, by the way, we 
have learned during the pandemic that businesses that were 
technically capable and digitally, you know, capable, they were 
able to stay in business and adapt and grow, and businesses 
that weren't, which were mostly small businesses, they went out 
of business or struggled. And I saw that as Governor. We put a 
lot of our CARES Act money into providing technical assistance 
to small businesses.
    So, again, back to the MEP program, that is exactly what we 
will do with the money. The President calls for a quadrupling 
of the money, calls to fund the program at $275 million. It 
will be for exactly this: technical assistance for small 
manufacturers to become more technically, digitally capable so 
that they can have a chance to compete.
    Ms. Kelly. Uh-huh.
    And, really quickly, the average salary for an employee in 
the manufacturing sector is nearly $6,000 higher than the 
average salary of employees in all other sectors, but 89 
percent of manufacturers, including businesses in my district, 
report that they cannot fill job openings. And many cite the 
skills gap and the aging workforce as a major contributing 
factor to the manufacturing labor shortage.
    How do we close this gap and ensure that we are filling 
these quality jobs?
    Ms. Raimondo. Train people, including women and people of 
color, in technical skills and then match them up with 
employers. Easy to say, harder to do.
    Ms. Kelly. Right.
    Well, I thank you, and I look forward to working together 
to strengthen our economy and foster the development of 
emerging technologies. Thank you for your testimony and being 
with us.
    I yield back.
    Ms. Schakowsky. The gentlewoman yields back.
    And now I recognize Representative Armstrong for his 5 
minutes.
    Mr. Armstrong. Thank you, Madam Chair.
    And thanks, Madam Secretary. I concur with my colleagues. I 
mean, you have been great today. Obviously, your background is 
fantastic as--I will skip the lawyer part, because I am one 
too, but as a Governor and all of this. And I really do 
appreciate your honesty and how you testify.
    The bad thing about going last is all the smart questions 
have been asked already, particularly on Privacy Shield. We 
started on those right away. The good part is, when people 
bring up tariffs, like Congresswoman Rice or whatever, it gives 
me a question.
    So we are, obviously, in North Dakota, we are on the 
northern border. And I know this isn't necessarily your 
purview, but there are a lot of businesses on both sides of 
that border that aren't going to survive another summer season 
and fall season. And we rely heavily on each other without 
getting some of these border issues open.
    So, as part of your directorate, if you have any sway with 
your friends north of the border to help us get some of our 
resorts and their resorts open so we can continue commerce 
across the other border that we don't talk about as much, I 
would really, really appreciate it.
    Ms. Raimondo. Yes. By the way, I was on the phone with your 
Governor yesterday, and we talked about this.
    I am doing everything I know how to do. I have talked to my 
counterpart in Canada. I absolutely share your concern. If you 
have other--if you have ideas for me, call me. I will do 
whatever I can.
    Mr. Armstrong. Thank you. I appreciate that.
    And then I have a question, because Congresswoman Lesko 
asked you--and it was about semiconductors and critical 
minerals, and you talked about shoring up the domestic supply 
chain. And I am wondering if you are talking about 
semiconductors or critical minerals or both.
    Ms. Raimondo. Both. I am sorry. Both.
    Mr. Armstrong. And so I agree with the semiconductor thing, 
but I am very interested in the critical minerals. I mean, we--
I want to talk a little bit about scaling up of coal miners, 
because you have talked about manufacturing. But, when you are 
talking about shoring up the domestic supply chain of critical 
minerals, can you just expound on that a little bit? Because we 
don't really produce any of them here right now.
    Ms. Raimondo. Yes. So, again, this is not my area of 
expertise.
    Mr. Armstrong. Yep.
    Ms. Raimondo. Secretary Granholm is the administration 
expert on this, and critical-mineral supply chain is in her 
purview.
    But, from what I understand from reading her report, there 
are some opportunities to do, you know, more mining in America 
for certain critical minerals, and she is looking into ways to 
make that happen.
    Mr. Armstrong. Thank you.
    And a recent Federal interagency report identified western 
North Dakota as one of the four areas with the most traditional 
energy-related jobs. And, in your testimony, you highlight the 
Economic Development Administration's assistance to coal 
communities. And, I mean, it is designed to provide funding for 
economic diversification, job creation, capital investment--all 
things you know about both from your private sector and public 
sector. And the proposed Commerce budget is actually an 
increase of $50 million.
    I just want to point out that that aid has to be compared 
to the economic contribution of, like, the lignite energy 
industry in North Dakota. And one of the things I always try to 
explain, that, listen, we can talk about clean-energy jobs 
versus traditional energy jobs, and we have talked about 
offshore wind here today, and I am glad we are doing all of 
that. But 15 offshore wind energy jobs, wherever they exist, 
while good for the worker, don't scale up like--when we lose 
manufacturing, nothing else scales up in those communities like 
that. If we lose the coal industry in western North Dakota, the 
adverse effect is, I mean, schools and counties and roads and 
all of those things.
    So, as we continue down this path, and primarily using your 
view as Governor, do you have any--I mean, what can we do to 
protect the communities as we start transitioning?
    Listen, I don't want to litigate the climate stuff. We do 
that in a lot of other hearings on this committee. But, I mean, 
there are different things moving on. But we have to recognize 
that, when we do these things, this isn't just--you can't 
equate 100 jobs somewhere else with 900 jobs in Beulah, North 
Dakota. Because what happens if we lose those 900 jobs in 
Beulah is we lose Beulah.
    And so, I mean, just as you are doing this and moving 
forward through that, I hope you are cognizant of that, whether 
it is in your new role or your former Governor's role.
    You have 30 seconds to say whatever you want.
    Ms. Raimondo. So let me just say, I love it that you 
brought that up, and I love the way you talked about it, 
because it is more than a job, it is their whole community.
    And, you know, coal jobs are going to go away. And so what 
we need to do, through my department, the EDA, Economic 
Development Agency, is to get out there and help folks create 
jobs, attract other companies there, train people for other 
jobs, invest in infrastructure that puts people to work, and 
let people know they are not going to be forgotten.
    Mr. Armstrong. Well, thank you very much.
    I yield back.
    Ms. Schakowsky. The gentleman yields back.
    Now I am happy to welcome for her 5 minutes Congresswoman 
Lizzie Fletcher.
    Thanks for your patience.
    Mrs. Fletcher. Thank you so much, Chairwoman Schakowsky. 
Thanks to you and Ranking Member Bilirakis for convening 
today's hearing. I agree with all of my colleagues that it has 
been really interesting, very bipartisan. And, of course, that 
is thanks to your leadership and thanks to Secretary Raimondo.
    I am so glad to hear your testimony to the subcommittee 
today on the Department's goals, and I really appreciated the 
opportunity to visit with you one-on-one a couple weeks ago on 
some of these issues. And I very much look forward to working 
with you in your efforts promoting commerce, trade, job 
creation, all the things that we are talking about today.
    And, as Congressman Armstrong noted, one of the things 
about going last is that several of my colleagues have already 
touched on issues of great importance in my district, including 
manufacturing, cybersecurity, the 232 tariffs, severe weather 
events, the Minority Business Development Agency, which I 
really--I agree with my colleagues and I really encourage 
improving and strengthening its reach.
    But with my time, as we wrap up, I kind of want to go back 
to something you started with and focus a little bit on the 
supply-chain issues. Because, over the past year, we have seen 
supply chains fail across many industries, from lumber to PPE, 
to food, to semiconductor chips--lots of the things we have 
been talking about here today.
    I am hearing a lot, as you might imagine, of concerns about 
the high price of lumber and the lumber shortage here. Houston, 
according to the National Association of Home Builders, was 
actually the number one among U.S. metro areas for single-
family construction permits, issuing nearly 50,000 construction 
permits in 2020 alone. So, as you can imagine, it is an issue 
of concern here.
    I am also hearing about the chip shortage from people 
across my district, because it has such huge implications for 
all kinds of things that perhaps we didn't realize before.
    And a lot of these issues that we are facing come from the 
rise of this just-in-time manufacturing, right, in which the 
components and products are delivered only when required, and 
even the smallest supply-chain disruptions, like the shortage 
of a $5 chip, can derail the entire industry and just wreak 
havoc on the economy.
    So, you know, identifying and managing these 
vulnerabilities in our increasingly complex global supply 
chains is vital, or we risk repeating a lot of the problems we 
have seen over the last year.
    So I know we talked about the President's plan a little 
bit, and I would love to hear from you, you know, what you 
think Congress can do to help address the issues and also 
whether manufacturers and companies in the U.S. have 
effectively identified and managed the risks to their supply 
chains.
    Ms. Raimondo. I am sorry. Could you just say that last bit 
again, please?
    Mrs. Fletcher. Sure, yes. Just can you talk about whether, 
in your view, manufacturers and other companies in the U.S. 
have effectively identified and managed risks to their supply 
chains?
    Ms. Raimondo. Got it. OK.
    So, first, on lumber, because I didn't realize what you 
said about Houston, but it makes sense to me. And, obviously, 
the U.S. housing sector is a critical part of our economy. It 
matters to every American who owns a home or wants to own a 
home. And the supply chain is very disrupted.
    In that instance, I think a lot of it is due to COVID, 
because COVID created a huge demand for people to own homes. 
And, as I said before, there has been a lot of consolidation in 
sawmills, and a lot of them closed during COVID. And we are 
working really hard with the sawmill industry to see if we can 
get them to crank up again so that we can meet the increased 
demand.
    But I hear you on that one.
    I think that what we need to do a better job of--and the 
administration, under the President's leadership, is focused on 
this--is continuous monitoring of supply chains. We have 
learned the really hard way what happens if you don't monitor 
supply chains. All of a sudden, the majority of your 
pharmaceuticals aren't made in America, the majority of your 
semiconductors aren't made in America, the majority of your 
batteries that are necessary for power supply aren't made in 
America.
    So, no, I don't think the private sector has done enough, 
but, candidly, nor have we. And so what we can do is work 
together to do the monitoring and then make also the 
investments to, you know, redevelop our supply-chain base in 
America.
    Mrs. Fletcher. Well, I appreciate that. And I think, to the 
extent that there are things we can do to be helpful in 
convening people and bringing people together, I think it is 
vitally important. We have seen it across industries.
    And I just really thank you for your attention to these 
issues and the other things that you are doing. Obviously, we 
have covered a lot of ground today, but I just join all of my 
colleagues in their excitement about what you bring to this 
position and what you are bringing to our country. So thank you 
so much for all of your work, and look forward to working with 
you into the future.
    With that, Chairwoman Schakowsky, I will yield back.
    Ms. Schakowsky. The gentlewoman yields back.
    And now we have two individuals who have waived on to our 
subcommittee because they were anxious to participate. First is 
Congressman Joyce.
    You are recognized for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Joyce. Thank you, Chair Schakowsky and Ranking Member 
Bilirakis, for allowing me to waive on to today's Consumer 
Protection and Commerce Subcommittee hearing, and to our 
witness for appearing with us today.
    Secretary Raimondo, earlier today I introduced the 
Advancing Gig Economy Act, which would require the Department 
of Commerce to conduct a study so Congress can better 
understand the impact of both State and Federal agencies, and 
what that impact is, over the gig economy, which includes new-
age companies that you know clearly about, such as Uber and 
Etsy, Airbnb, these companies that utilize technology and 
individual workers to provide a variety of services.
    During your testimony, you mentioned that a priority for 
the Biden administration is to spur technical innovation. Would 
you support this legislation to help strengthen the gig economy 
by investigating the impact of State and Federal legislation on 
its development?
    Ms. Raimondo. Thank you. I will certainly look forward to 
reviewing it and working with you on it.
    The gig economy is growing. All the companies that you just 
said rely upon it. As Governor, I did a lot of work to regulate 
the gig economy but also to, you know, enable these companies 
to flourish.
    I think studying it is a fantastic idea, because it is 
growing and has broad implications. And, you know, I will look 
at it and would invite you to chat with me about it further.
    Mr. Joyce. Thank you. I would certainly welcome that 
discussion, and thank you for encouraging it.
    I believe that a holistic approach at the Federal level 
will be more beneficial than allowing States to potentially 
pass harmful legislation hindering this growing economic sector 
that you clearly recognize. Can you elaborate on the steps that 
you are going to take to ensure that the gig economy will 
continue to thrive?
    Ms. Raimondo. I think, as you said earlier and as it sounds 
like your bill contemplates, studying it is important. I know 
Secretary Walsh at the Department of Labor is doing a lot of 
work on this.
    What we need to do is encourage the growth of these 
businesses and also make sure that they provide decent jobs for 
people in the gig economy--decent wages, decent benefits, good 
working conditions. And so, you know, that is the balance that 
we have to strike.
    Mr. Joyce. Madam Secretary, returning to some earlier line 
of questioning, we recognize that President Biden recently 
announced a task force to address short-term supply-chain 
discontinuities, understanding that there is an emphasis on 
critical minerals and critical materials.
    The announcement states, ``China accounts for an outsized 
share of the world's refining capacity, meaning that even if 
the United States were to diversify our sources of critical 
minerals or increase domestic extraction, we still would be 
reliant on China for processing before use in end-product 
manufacturing.''
    China controls between 80 to 90 percent of the world's 
critical minerals, and there is no question in my mind that the 
administration needs to improve coordination across government 
to expedite permits to mine, process, and recycle critical 
minerals right here at home, thus decreasing our reliance on 
China.
    What are you as Commerce Secretary doing or will do to 
improve the permitting process so that we can domestically 
produce critical minerals and reduce our reliance on China?
    Ms. Raimondo. So, first, I would say I share the concern. 
Secondly, I, you know, applaud President Biden's leadership on 
this issue. He is very focused on supply chains. He has done an 
Executive order on it. In only 100 days, we have authored these 
reports, which have concrete action. So the President is keenly 
aware of this and directing us to do everything that we can do.
    I understand the frustration as it relates to permitting. I 
am not sure that there is a role, really, for the Department of 
Commerce other than to, you know, be a convener and an advocate 
for the business community to make sure that processes aren't 
overly bureaucratic.
    Mr. Joyce. Thank you. We share that concern about the 
overbureaucratic implementation that really slows down our 
ability to mine and process and recycle these critical 
elements, these critical minerals here at home.
    My time has expired. Once again, thank you for allowing me 
to waive on, Madam Chair.
    And thank you, Secretary, for being present with us here 
today.
    Ms. Schakowsky. The gentleman yields back. Yes, we welcome 
you at our hearing.
    And now, last but definitely not least, Doris Matsui from 
California, you are recognized for 5 minutes, the last 5 
minutes of questioning.
    Ms. Matsui. OK. Well, thank you very much, Madam Chair.
    And, Madam Secretary, thank you very much for being here 
for a long session.
    I know many items have been discussed because here I am, 
the last one, but I really have to emphasize, as you know, for 
the supply chain, the importance of the CHIPS Act. I joined 
Congressman McCaul of Texas to introduce the act, which would 
help the semiconductor shortage by increasing American 
manufacturing capacity.
    I included the CHIPS Act as an amendment to last year's 
NDAA and recently met with President Biden about the urgent 
need to fund the programs authorized by this bill. I was 
pleased to see the President's budget incorporate the American 
Jobs Plan, which includes $50 billion to implement the CHIPS 
Act. The Senate is moving forward, I believe, with CHIPS 
funding as part of the Endless Frontier Act, and I think it is 
crucial that the House keep pace.
    As we work towards our economic recovery from the pandemic, 
it is vital that we seize every opportunity to create American 
jobs and secure this technology that is crucial for innovations 
in 5G networks, healthcare, and computing.
    Madam Secretary, how has the high cost of semiconductor 
fabrication plants hindered manufacturing in the U.S.? And do 
you believe that the grant program in the CHIPS Act can help 
support construction of new semiconductor fabs in America?
    Ms. Raimondo. So, first, I have to say thank you, thank 
you, thank you to you for your leadership on the CHIPS Act. And 
I absolutely, wholeheartedly agree with you that the House 
needs to keep pace. Hopefully, as we speak the Senate is, you 
know, getting the Endless Frontier, which includes CHIPS, 
across the finish line. And, again, thank you for your 
leadership, and I do really hope the House follows suit.
    And if there is anything I can do--I say this to the 
chairwoman, to you--that I can do to talk to Members, educate 
Members, allay concerns, you have got my number, because I want 
to help.
    Ms. Matsui. Well, thank you very much, Madam Secretary.
    I am going to switch gears here.
    Despite its invaluable contributions to our economy and 
communities, the ocean faces unprecedented threats from the 
effects of climate change, overfishing, and ocean plastic 
pollution.
    For this reason, I sent a bicameral letter to the Commerce 
Department in support of the U.S. joining the High Level Panel 
for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, also known as the Ocean Panel. 
Given NOAA's mission of science, service, and stewardship of 
our ocean, I believe that the agency will be a key partner in 
the implementation of such efforts.
    Madam Secretary, will the Commerce Department and NOAA work 
with President Biden to send a letter of inquiry to Norwegian 
Prime Minister Erna Solberg to start the process of the U.S. 
exploring membership in the Ocean Panel?
    Ms. Raimondo. I will have to consult with the White House 
and get back to you on that and talk to you, but it seems like 
a worthy goal.
    I will just say parenthetically, until a couple months ago 
I was the Governor of the Ocean State--it is tiny, but 400 
miles of coastline--and agree strongly that we have to consider 
oceans in our work around climate change.
    But I promise I will get back to you with a ``yes'' or 
``no'' answer on that.
    Ms. Matsui. OK. That would be just great, Madam Secretary.
    The American Jobs Plan includes billions in funding for the 
transition to clean transportation and American manufacturing. 
These investments will retain American competitiveness in 
building the vehicles of the future while helping the just 
economic transition of auto workers into the green economy.
    For this reason, I lead a yearly appropriations letter with 
over 50 of my colleagues to secure robust funding for clean 
transportation technologies, including manufacturing.
    Madam Secretary, can you expand on how American 
manufacturing investments in the FY 2022 Commerce Department 
budget and the American Jobs Plan will help American 
competitiveness in the global EV market?
    Ms. Raimondo. Thank you.
    Ms. Matsui. And I have about 35 seconds. You do.
    Ms. Raimondo. So the big investments that we are calling 
for--you know, the $14 billion in NIST over 10 years, the 
quadrupling of MEP--all of this will go into manufacturing, 
including what you are talking about.
    And it is just, as we have said so many times today, we 
have to make this stuff in America.
    Ms. Matsui. Right. Right.
    Ms. Raimondo. It is not OK that we are totally reliant on 
other countries.
    So I think the bad news is, we have fallen behind. The good 
news is, if we catch up now, it will create a lot of good jobs 
for Americans.
    Ms. Matsui. No, you are absolutely right.
    My time has run out now. Thank you very much for 
testifying, and I will certainly be working with you on some of 
these items.
    Ms. Raimondo. I look forward to it.
    Ms. Matsui. I yield back. Thank you.
    Ms. Schakowsky. So, Madam Secretary, this is the moment 
where I say thank you, but I am not sure I can say thank you 
enough.
    I think that, on both sides of the aisle, all members of 
this subcommittee really appreciated and were very impressed 
with your handling of all the many different questions. We 
talked at the very beginning about the wide scope, but it seems 
like you have gotten those many different topics under--with 
great ability to be able to speak to them and answer the 
questions.
    And I also want to second what Kathleen Rice said. Almost 
to a person, you said, ``I am happy to work with you on this,'' 
``I am happy to get back to you on this.'' And so it was really 
a wonderful hearing and, I think, was a good example of 
bipartisanship.
    And, with that, I want to ask the ranking member, Mr. 
Bilirakis--I am sure you might want to comment on that as well.
    Mr. Bilirakis. Madam Chair, I agree. It was a very 
informative hearing.
    And I thank you so very much, Madam Secretary. And I am 
looking forward to working with you on all of these issues that 
are vital to our economy.
    So I appreciate the opportunity, Madam Chair, and I will 
yield back.
    Ms. Schakowsky. And stamina is also a good thing.
    Mr. Bilirakis. That is right. You are right. That is for 
sure. She went the whole nine innings, the whole nine innings.
    Ms. Schakowsky. Exactly.
    Before I officially adjourn this hearing, I just want to 
remind Members that, pursuant to committee rules, you have 10 
days to submit additional questions for the record to be 
answered by our witness as soon as possible.
    And I ask our witness to respond promptly to any questions 
that you may receive.
    And, at this time, the subcommittee--where is my--the 
subcommittee is adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at 4:36 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
    [Material submitted for inclusion in the record follows:]
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