[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 32 (Tuesday, February 18, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1000-S1001]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      NOMINATION OF HOWARD LUTNICK

  Mr. THUNE. Later today, the Senate will vote on the nomination of 
Howard Lutnick, President Trump's nominee to be Secretary of Commerce.
  The Secretary of Commerce has an important job. He or she is charged 
with promoting American industry at home and abroad and keeping our 
economy competitive, both now and into the future. I am glad President 
Trump has chosen an outcome-driven leader like Howard Lutnick for such 
an important post.
  Mr. Lutnick is a successful businessman who has spent four decades 
building up Cantor Fitzgerald, the firm that hired him after college. 
He is an inventor whose name appears on over 800 patents and patent 
applications around the world.
  He is someone who is not only passionate about business but who cares 
deeply about people. Howard Lutnick's greatest business achievement is 
not building his own success or building up a company; it is rebuilding 
Cantor Fitzgerald over the last 24 years because Cantor Fitzgerald 
occupied the 101st through 105th floors of the World Trade Center North 
Tower.
  On September 11, 2001, every single employee who was in the office 
died--658 people, including Howard's brother. It was unclear whether 
the firm could go on after losing two-thirds of its New York staff. So 
Howard Lutnick offered the surviving employees a choice. They could 
either go to 20 funerals a day for the next month or they could work 
harder than ever to rebuild a company to take care of the families of 
those who had died. They agreed to donate a quarter of their salaries 
to the 658 families of their colleagues with no limit and no 
expectation they would ever be paid back. Over the next 5 years, the 
firm and its employees gave those families $180 million.
  In 2008, Howard Lutnick made sure each employee got back double what 
they had given. To this day, each September 11 is Charity Day at Cantor 
Fitzgerald, meaning every dollar of revenue the firm makes that day is 
donated in memory of those that they lost on September 11, 2001.
  Mr. President, Howard Lutnick's story is inspiring. It is a lesson in 
resilience and determination and the American spirit. And it 
demonstrates the type of person Howard Lutnick is and the type of 
public servant that he will be. I know Mr. Lutnick is looking forward 
to taking on the challenges and seizing the opportunities the next few 
years will bring. As he said in his hearing, he believes ``America is 
in a place to teach the world and to show the world what leadership is 
like, what a great economy is like, what taking care of . . . Americans 
is like.''
  I think we can all agree that we have the capacity to do these 
things. We can continue to lead the world in innovation. We can 
continue to unlock new economic possibilities and new opportunities. 
And we can make life better for the American people.
  I am pleased that Mr. Lutnick will be bringing a get-it-done approach 
to the Department of Commerce.
  As a member of the Senate Commerce Committee who has worked on 
technology issues for many years, I am particularly pleased that Mr. 
Lutnick

[[Page S1001]]

intends to leverage America's leadership in the technologies that are 
shaping the future. He has pledged to get his Department moving on 
spectrum again, which is critical for next-generation technologies and 
competing with adversaries like China.
  In his first term, President Trump took spectrum seriously and opened 
up more megahertz for commercial use. But the Biden administration did 
little to nothing on spectrum. It merely released a National Spectrum 
Strategy that called for a number of studies but committed to freeing 
up zero megahertz of spectrum. I am glad the spectrum will get the 
attention it deserves in a Trump administration.
  Broadband expansion is another priority that will require action. The 
$42 billion BEAD program was created more than 3 years ago, yet it has 
still not connected a single household to the internet. Why? Because 
the Biden administration overloaded it with conditions that made it 
unworkable for a lot of telecoms. Things like climate conditions for 
subcontractors, rate regulation, and union labor requirements, none of 
which--none of which--I might add, were in the law. Mr. Lutnick has 
pledged to finally get this program off the ground and spend that money 
only on actual broadband infrastructure.
  As we compete to be the leader in artificial intelligence, Mr. 
Lutnick agrees that we should use the tried-and-true light-touch 
approach that has enabled the United States to lead in the digital era.
  Just last week, Vice President Vance spoke in Paris about the great 
potential of AI and the importance of American leadership in this new 
technology. I am glad that the Trump administration has committed to 
American leadership in AI and the Commerce Department will have a 
critical role to play in balancing accountability with AI's great 
possibilities.
  The job of the Commerce Secretary touches just about every industry 
in this country. Behind all those industries are Americans working hard 
to provide for their families, live their American dream, and make 
their contribution to America's future. Howard Lutnick understands 
this. I am confident that he will work every day to help American 
commerce thrive so that the American people can thrive.
  Mr. President, America has tremendous potential. I look forward to 
working with President Trump and with Howard Lutnick to continue to 
unlock it.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum 
call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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