Unanimous Consent Request--H.R. 1108

Floor Speech

My concern is that the spectrum study, which the Senator has acknowledged, will not be done until September 30. There is no reasonable explanation as to why we would not be able to extend until September 30 the auction capabilities that are available at the present time.

However, there is an appeals process which is very important to the Department of Defense, and every time we have a discussion about the process moving forward, the risk of an appeals process modifying or being changed is incorporated or at least is being proposed.

For those of us who are very concerned about the ability to protect the very clear and important portions of the spectrum that the Department of Defense utilizes, it is important that there be no modifications to any appeals process between now and September 30. Until such time as we have that available to us, it is simply not appropriate, I believe, to allow for an existing modification or new legislation to be proposed that does not take that into account.

Once again, I don't want to see this lapse either--I would love to see it moved on--but I cannot think of a reason we would not be able to extend the existing auction capabilities of the FCC, the NTIA, and so forth and still protect the spectrum capabilities of the Department of Defense until September 30, at which time the complete report will be available. Until such time, I believe that it would be inappropriate to, once again, have the risk of modifications to any appeals process and any additional legislation that might be included in a further extension.

Therefore, with all due respect, I must object.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source