U.S. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) and U.S. Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX) led several other Republicans in urging congressional leaders to address the funding shortfall for the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program.
“If not funded appropriately before the end of the year, whether through our stand-alone Supporting National Security with Spectrum Act or in a legislative package, the shortfall will threaten our national security and pose a serious risk of broadband and cellular outages for all Americans,” wrote the lawmakers in a Nov. 15 letter sent to leadership in both houses of Congress.
The Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act, which was signed into law in 2020, is designed to remove communications equipment or services that pose a national security risk from U.S. networks. Known as the “Rip-and-Replace” program, it was initially allocated $1.9 billion for disposal of Huawei or ZTE communications equipment, according to the letter.
However, the required funding levels have exceeded the appropriated amount and the program now faces a $3.08 billion shortfall, wrote the nine lawmakers, who also included U.S. Reps. Bob Latta (R-OH) and Dusty Johnson (R-SD), as well as U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS).
“It is estimated that there are over 6,000 sites across the United States in need of this funding,” the Republicans wrote. “Without it, Chinese equipment will continue to pose a significant national security risk to the United States and our communication networks.”
Additionally, they said, several recipients of previously deployed funding would have to shut down their networks, leaving many rural and remote areas of the country without access to basic broadband services.
To address the issue, the lawmakers introduced the Supporting National Security with Spectrum Act, H.R. 9340/S.4049, to fully fund the Rip-and-Replace program. The legislation would be fully paid for by re-auctioning specific AWS-3 licenses returned to the Federal Communications Commission, they wrote, noting that it’s estimated that these bands are worth $3.3 billion.
“It is our duty to ensure programs of national security importance are adequately and responsibly funded,” wrote Sen. Daines, Rep. Pfluger, and their colleagues. “We look forward to working with you in this effort and urge you to ensure the Rip-and-Replace program is fully funded before the end of the year.”