Citing threats from China in particular, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has established a Council for National Security at the commission.
“The council will leverage the full range of the commission’s regulatory, investigatory and enforcement authorities to promote America’s national security and counter foreign adversaries, particularly the threats posed by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Chinese Communist Party (CCP),” his office said in the announcement.
His National Security Counsel Adam Chan will be its director. The council will include representatives from eight bureaus and offices within the FCC.
“Today, the country faces a persistent and constant threat from foreign adversaries, particularly the CCP,” Carr said in the statement. “These bad actors are always exploring ways to breach our networks, devices and technology ecosystem. It is more important than ever that the FCC remain vigilant and protect Americans and American companies from these threats. Because these threats now cut across a range of sectors that the FCC regulates, it is important that the FCC’s national security efforts pull resources from a variety of FCC organizations.”
He listed three goals: to reduce the dependence of the country’s technology and telecommunications sector trade and supply chains on foreign adversaries; to mitigate its vulnerabilities to cyberattacks, espionage and surveillance by foreign adversaries; and to “ensure the U.S. wins the strategic competition with China over critical technologies” such as 5G and 6G, AI, satellites and space, quantum computing, robotics and autonomous systems, and the Internet of Things.
Commissioner Anna Gomez in a statement said, “I support any effort to bring together expertise within the FCC, in partnership with other federal agencies and international partners, to strengthen our country’s defense against evolving security risks. I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure that politics does not interfere with our mission to safeguard our communications infrastructure, protect consumers and ensure the resilience of our nation’s networks against emerging threats.”
