Legislative Solutions Must Be Targeted

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In his opening statement at today’s Senate Commerce Committee executive session, Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-Texas) outlined how Big Tech and the Radical Left are working to empower the administrative state to regulate AI in a fashion that will harm America’s entrepreneurs and innovators, and put the United States behind in the AI race against China. Sen. Cruz also highlighted the importance of a targeted approach to AI regulation, like the bipartisan TAKE IT DOWN Act, which presents a tailored solution to a real problem facing far too many Americans—the scourge of revenge and deepfake pornography. In addition, Sen. Cruz discussed legislation that he introduced, the Illegal Red Snapper Enforcement Act, which would protect the livelihoods of law-abiding Texas fishermen, and legislation he worked with Chairwoman Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) to help Texans predict and prepare for droughts and landslides.

Here are Sen. Cruz’s remarks as prepared for delivery:

“Earlier this month, at the Committee’s hearing on artificial intelligence and privacy, I described two roads diverging ahead of our nation. Down one path: the European model of government technocrats micro-managing AI businesses and industry. Down the other: entrepreneurial freedom and technological innovation.

“At the dawn of the tech age and inception of the internet, the United States chose the road less traveled. And that has made all the difference: it enabled the tech boom that led to America’s economy eclipsing the E.U.’s by nearly 50 percent within just three decades.

“This success and prosperity owes itself to entrepreneurs—their willingness to take risks to try to change the world. Essential to their success has been an American government that recognized the individual’s freedom to innovate and to take those risks.

“At the hearing, I warned of the administration’s executive actions—led then by Vice President Harris—and legislative proposals on AI that risk deviating from that historically proven path. Sadly, at today’s markup, the Committee fulfills that prophecy as it takes the first steps following the Europeans to heavy-handed AI regulation.

“Private individuals develop this amazing product—all without the government’s help. Today, we hear—without a trace of irony—that American AI can only be successful now with the government’s help!

“I think it’s worth reflecting on how we got to this point.

“Some wealthy and well-connected AI entrepreneurs and their corporate allies hype up AI inventions as uniquely powerful and dangerous. Of course, these existential dangers are all theoretical; we’ve never actually seen such damage from AI. Nevertheless, these companies say they need to be saved from themselves by the government because their products are so unsafe.

“Next, these companies systematically place former employees inside the government—both the executive branch and the Congress—to write frameworks and bills about how to ‘responsibly’ use their products.

“Then these companies dutifully applaud the government and lawmakers for their creating a new bureaucracy that will stop these powerful, risky tools from spreading disinformation, promoting bias, accelerating climate change, and even, the entire annihilation of the human race.

“Big Tech and Big Government get together to protect us rubes and plebes who cannot be trusted. In reality, what is happening here is a tale as old as time: regulatory capture.

“The biggest impact of overly broad AI regulation—predicated on absurd the exaggeration that would make Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov laugh—will be the riches bestowed on the consultant and contractor class. Congress will have unwittingly, or more to the point wittingly, protected large, powerful, incumbent companies from competition, while driving real innovation across the Pacific to China.

“China is actively working to get ahead of the U.S. through any means necessary in the race to develop AI and other critical emerging technologies. Just this week, the New York Times showcased how open-source AI is being used in China to catch up to the US. China also influences international standards setting organizations to get ahead, a problem Senators Warner and Blackburn seek to address through a sensible bill we will consider today—the Promoting U.S. Leadership in Standards Act. But China is just as happy to sit back and let the U.S. Congress do the work of handicapping the American AI industry for it.

“To avoid the U.S. losing this race with China before it has hardly begun, Congress should ensure AI legislation is incremental and targeted. There are likely some risks with AI that we can guard against now—such as cybersecurity vulnerabilities or a problem targeted by a bill introduced by Senator Klobuchar and me called the Take It Down Act. Our bill targets bad actors who use AI to create and publish fake, lifelike explicit images of real people. The Take It Down Act, which has a bipartisan group of 16 co-sponsors, would also require Big Tech to follow a notice-and-takedown process so that ordinary Americans who are victimized by these disturbing and non-consensual images can get them offline immediately. This bill is a tailored solution to a real problem, unlike many of the other AI-related bills on today’s markup.

“The Committee will consider several other important bills today as well.

“One such bill is my Illegal Red Snapper Enforcement Act, co-sponsored by Senators Tuberville and Britt. The bill would address a problem Gulf State fishermen face—cartel-backed Mexican gangs poaching lucrative red snapper in American waters, and then exporting their illegal catch to unwitting U.S. consumers. Our bill would require the development of new testing methods for law enforcement to identify and crack down on poached red snapper. This sensible legislation will help protect the livelihoods of law-abiding Texas fishermen.

“Turning to Chair Cantwell’s National Landslide Preparedness Reauthorization Act, I would like to thank the Chair for incorporating my amendments to improve water observing systems at the U.S. Geological Survey. Texans, and others across the country, rely on water observations from USGS to protect communities from flood and drought, both of which lead to slope destabilization and landslides. Even now, communities and farmers in South Texas are facing a devastating drought. The streamflow information my amendment requires will help predict and prepare for droughts and landslides.

“I hope we will have another markup when we return from August recess because there’s more work to be done. While I was pleased to see the Senate just approve Senator Blackburn’s Kids Online Safety Act, a major step forward, I think we need to go farther. Many states have begun blocking children from accessing social media, especially at school. Senator Schatz and I have a simple common-sense bill called the Kids Off Social Media Act that parents are demanding and that deserves committee consideration, bipartisan support, and to be signed into law.”

Thank you.

###