Luján Named Chair of Commerce Subcommittee on Communications

Subcommittee oversees key New Mexico priorities including broadband access

Nambé, N.M. ­– Today, U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) was named Chair of the Senate Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband for the 117^th Congress.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a light on longstanding inequities when it comes to Internet connectivity and telecommunications access, especially in rural and Tribal communities. Leading the Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband will allow me, working with Chair Maria Cantwell, to set the agenda for how the Senate approaches these inequities, and it ensures that New Mexico will be front and center in these important policy conversations,” said Luján. “I’m humbled to have been named to Chair of the Communications Subcommittee, and I look forward to working with my Democratic and Republican colleagues to pass commonsense solutions that help the people of New Mexico.”

BACKGROUND:

The Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband has jurisdiction over matters relating to communications, including includes telephones, cell phones, the Internet, commercial and noncommercial television, cable, satellite broadcast, satellite communications, wireline and wireless broadband, radio, consumer electronic equipment associated with such services, and public safety communications. The subcommittee is also responsible for oversight of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) at the Department of Commerce, which is the federal agency primarily responsible for the management of government spectrum and advising the President on telecommunications policy.

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