A group of lawmakers recently introduced legislation designed to aid in securing the nation’s telecommunications supply chain.
Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Ranking Member Greg Walden (R-OR) have joined Reps. Doris Matsui (D-CA) and Brett Guthrie (R-KY) in introducing the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act (HR 4459).
The measure will be considered at the Communications and Technology Subcommittee hearing on supply chain security and spectrum legislation.
The bill prohibits the use of federal funds to purchase communications equipment or services from any company posing a national security risk to American communications networks while requiring the FCC to establish the Secure and Trusted Communications Reimbursement Program to assist small communications providers with costs of removing prohibited equipment or services from their networks.
“America’s wireless future depends on our networks being secure from malicious foreign interference,” the lawmakers noted in a joint statement. “Our telecommunications companies rely heavily on equipment manufactured and provided by foreign companies that, in some cases, as with companies such as Huawei and its affiliates, can pose a significant threat to commercial and security interests.”
The legislators said the measure would protect communications networks from foreign adversaries by helping small and rural wireless providers identify suspect network equipment and replace it with more secure equipment.