[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 30 (Tuesday, February 14, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S372-S373]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Nominations

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, today, our colleagues on the Commerce 
Committee will hear from someone they already know very well. Our 
Democratic colleagues have scheduled yet another hearing for a radical 
nominee they have already twice failed to get through the Senate. Now, 
the far left is betting the third time will be a charm.
  The problem is Gigi Sohn is no more qualified to be installed on the 
FCC than she was back in 2021 or 2022.
  The Federal Communications Commission is an important and sensitive 
regulatory body. It is charged with regulating a huge amount of our 
communications with each other as American citizens: our radio and 
television, our cable and satellite, our broadband internet. They are 
unelected people who exercise enormous power in areas that directly 
intersect with the American people's First Amendment rights and free 
speech and free expression.
  The country needs our FCC Commissioners to be thoughtful, sober, 
nonpartisan referees, not activists and ideologues who want to bend our 
airwaves to their agenda.
  This nominee, Ms. Sohn, has spent her entire career proving she is 
totally--totally--unsuited to this sensitive job. She is a hardcore 
liberal activist who has literally said the FCC should consider 
revoking the broadcast licenses at news stations that she disagreed 
with. That is completely disqualifying and then some. This is America. 
We don't pull journalists and broadcasters off the air because 
unelected bureaucrats disagree with them.
  And this only scratches the surface. She has a record of siding with 
criminals over law enforcement. She has deep, longstanding ties to a 
radical organization that opposes law enforcement's lawful access to 
data and information--an organization connected to, among other people, 
the leaker, liar, and fugitive Edward Snowden.
  Among the strongest supporters of her nomination are groups who have 
called American cops ``agents of white supremacy.'' The same people who 
want to defund the police, who oppose laws against online sex 
trafficking--they want this woman in this position of power. And they 
want it badly.
  The Fraternal Order of Police wrote our colleagues Senator Cruz and 
Senator Cantwell to explain that putting Gigi Sohn on the FCC would be 
a disaster for law and order. They said confirming this person would 
``show a complete disregard for the hard-working men and women of law 
enforcement.''
  And even unrelated to her radical views, this nominee is also swamped 
with serious ethical questions. Seven years ago, when she was advising 
a past FCC Chairman, the Commission was closing in on a bipartisan deal 
she thought was too moderate. So she leaked nonpublic information in 
order to gin up outrage from the radical left, pressure the 
Commissioners, and tank the compromise.
  In another instance, she was a board member of an organization that 
stole copyrighted content and illegally put it online.
  Every American who watches sports on TV knows that familiar 
disclaimer--that you can't rebroadcast television programs without 
express written consent. Well, this nominee helped run an entire 
organization whose very mission--very mission--was violating copyright 
law in that sort of way.
  And it gets even worse. Ms. Sohn's organization was supposed to pay a

[[Page S373]]

huge fine to the broadcasters, over $30 million. But at just the same 
time that she was nominated by the President to regulate and oversee 
these broadcasters, they all magically reached a new settlement that 
just so happened to reduce the fine by 98 percent--from $32 million to 
a few hundred thousand dollars, just like that.
  When Senators have asked for more details about these questionable 
settlements, she has been less than forthcoming. The fact pattern makes 
one wonder if she thought she could start cashing in favors from the 
people she is supposed to regulate before she even got the job.
  Oh, and by the way, this nominee made personal cash contributions to 
the campaigns of multiple current sitting Senators while her own 
nomination was pending before them. She sent money to four Democratic 
Senators even as a pending nominee--a pending nominee--before the 
Senate.
  The latest reappearance of this nomination is a case study in 
President Biden's refusal to pivot, moderate, or find common ground. 
They are tripling down on extremism that even a Democratic Senate has 
already rejected twice. I urge our colleagues on the Commerce Committee 
to push for answers.
  The Senate must say no to a radical activist controlling our 
airwaves. And the American people should ask why--why--the Biden 
administration is this desperate to control what citizens can see, 
hear, think, and say.