[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 93 (Tuesday, June 4, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3173-S3174]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             STREAMLINE Act

  Madam President, just a few years ago, a lot of our current 
technology would have been unthinkable--watching a football game on 
your phone, using an app to see who is ringing the doorbell at your 
house while you are across town at work, ordering groceries using your 
computer, or, with voice-activated technologies like Alexa, putting 
groceries in your online cart without even having to click a button.

[[Page S3174]]

  But while the technological advances of the last couple of decades 
have been tremendous, there is a lot more to come. The 5G mobile 
broadband technology will deliver speeds that are 100 times faster than 
what today's technology can deliver. It will be vastly more responsive 
than 4G technology, and it will be able to connect 100 times the number 
of devices that can be connected with 4G.
  It is hard to imagine. After all, our devices today are pretty fast 
and responsive as it is, but 5G will be much, much faster. That means 
near-instant responsiveness from your phone and computer, but it means 
a lot more than that.
  So 5G will enable massive breakthroughs in healthcare, 
transportation, agriculture, and other key industries, and 5G will pave 
the way for automated vehicles, which have the potential to 
dramatically reduce traffic injuries and fatalities. It will facilitate 
surgical innovation and new ways to treat chronic illnesses and to heal 
injuries.
  It will allow precision agriculture to take off, empowering America's 
farmers and ranchers to make better decisions about field management 
and substantially increase their crop yields. The U.S. Department of 
Agriculture estimates that precision agriculture will reduce farmers' 
operational costs by up to $25 per acre and increase farmers' yields by 
up to 70 percent by the year 2050.
  The technology for 5G is already here, but it requires more than 
simply having the technology to make 5G a reality. In order to deploy 
5G, wireless providers need access to sufficient spectrum, and they 
need to be able to deploy the infrastructure needed to support the 
technology in a reasonable and timely manner.
  Last year, the President signed the bipartisan MOBILE NOW Act. It was 
legislation that I had introduced to help secure adequate spectrum for 
5G technology.
  Yesterday, along with Senator Schatz, I reintroduced the STREAMLINE 
Small Cell Deployment Act to address the other part of the 5G equation, 
and that is infrastructure. The 5G technology will require not just 
traditional cell phone towers but small antennas called small cells 
that can often be attached to existing infrastructure like utility 
poles or buildings.
  Everybody has seen the cell phone towers rising a couple hundred feet 
into the air. This is going to be a different type of technology.
  I was encouraged to see the Federal Communications Commission under 
Chairman Pai's leadership modernize its regulations on the approval for 
small cells, but more work can and should be done. That is where the 
STREAMLINE Act comes in.
  My STREAMLINE Act updates current law to better reflect emerging 
technology. It will expedite the deployment of small cells while 
respecting the role of State and local governments in making deployment 
decisions. Importantly, it will make it more affordable to bring 5G to 
rural areas by addressing the costs of small cell deployment.
  Too often, rural areas, like those in my home State of South Dakota, 
have lagged behind when it comes to getting the most modern broadband 
technology. It is important that we remove barriers to deployment in 
rural areas so that rural communities can have the same access to the 
benefits of 5G.
  In addition to fostering tremendous technological breakthroughs in 
everything from agriculture to energy, 5G has the potential to add $500 
billion to the economy and to create millions of new jobs. But in order 
to achieve those economic benefits, we need to stay at the head of the 
5G revolution.
  The United States lagged behind other countries in deploying 2G and 
3G technology, which had real economic consequences. Europe, for 
example, took the lead in 2G and cornered most of the market in sales 
of networking equipment and telecom hardware. As 4G emerged, however, 
the United States' wireless industry stepped forward, investing 
billions in 4G deployment. The government also took steps to support 
the wireless industry, freeing up spectrum and making it easier to 
deploy the necessary infrastructure.
  That is what we need to do again today. If we want to stay at the 
head of the race to 5G, the government needs to make sure that wireless 
companies have access to the necessary spectrum and the ability to 
efficiently deploy small cell infrastructure.
  While we pursue licensed spectrum for 5G, we must also be mindful of 
the critical role that unlicensed spectrum plays in the development of 
5G and throughout the communications landscape. Wi-Fi operating on 
unlicensed spectrum is responsible for a tremendous and growing amount 
of the data transmitted in our homes and offices and will play an 
increasing role in the future.
  Identifying spectrum resources, not just for the next few years, but 
for the next 10 years and beyond is essential if we are to retain 
American leadership. My MOBILE NOW Act was an important step forward in 
increasing access to both licensed and unlicensed spectrum, but there 
is more work to be done. While we have made good progress on securing 
low- and high-band spectrum, China and South Korea are far ahead of us 
in opening up mid-band spectrum for 5G.
  If we don't want to lose out to China and South Korea on 5G, we need 
to substantially increase the amount of mid-band spectrum available to 
U.S. companies. And, of course, we need to focus on streamlining the 
deployment of small cells through measures like the STREAMLINE Act, so 
that companies can get the necessary infrastructure for 5G in place. 
The STREAMLINE Act would substantially expedite the deployment of 5G 
technology, and I hope the Senate will take up my bill in the near 
future.
  Americans have always been innovators and pioneers. We have been on 
the cutting edge of more than one technological revolution, and we can 
lead the world again in 5G. I look forward to continuing to work to 
ensure that U.S. companies have the framework they need to carry 
America into the 5G future.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Scott of Florida). The Senator from Utah.