U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, delivered the following opening remarks during today’s hearing to consider Trump nominee Howard Lutnick to be Secretary of Commerce. Watch the hearing live here.

Ranking Member Cantwell’s Opening Remarks as Delivered:

Mr. Lutnick, welcome today. We look forward to hearing your testimony. Welcome to your family. And as Senator Cruz said, you have a very compelling story. As I expressed when I met you, your resiliency as an individual is truly amazing.

The Secretary of Commerce has a vital responsibility in a very broad mission agency with lots of complex issues that affect many sectors of the economy. That's the challenge here.

And as my colleague just mentioned, one of those top of the list is the Bureau of Industry and Security, which implements export control on dual-use technology for both commercial and military or proliferation applications.

So this responsibility just got a lot bigger yesterday when we saw an announcement from China that took $600 billion out of the valuation of a leading American company overnight.

The issue of export controls and this organization, BIS, within the Department of Commerce, is going to be a very big issue for you.

I want to say that I very much appreciate the former Commerce Secretary, Secretary Raimondo. I think she really was a standout in implementing the policies that Senator Cruz just mentioned, but also in trying to build consensus among the private sector on how to deal with these export issues. I hope you will follow that lead.

But in addition to this AI challenge that we face, the President, in his January 20, 2025, memorandum on America First trade policy directs you, the Secretary of Commerce, to work with the Secretary of State on the review of those export controls and to advise on modifications in light of developments with strategic adversaries and geopolitical rivals. So an additional if you will, nod to the President of saying that Howard Lutnick is the guy that has to determine these export control issues.

Vital agreements between the Department of Commerce and the private sector to ensure a vital advanced semiconductor manufacturing sector returns to the United States as soon as possible is a big priority for this Committee. I'm glad to hear that Chairman Cruz mentioned it because states like Texas, Ohio, Arizona, New York and many others on the applications of grants through the Department of Commerce are counting on that continued support to make sure that this agenda gets done. That we are bringing the manufacturing supply chain of semiconductors and semiconductor advanced chips back to the United States as fast as possible. So we'll look forward to hearing your comments on that.

You'll also oversee the National Telecommunications and Information Administration charged by Congress to manage spectrum sharing across all government agencies. The two people to my left, Senator Klobuchar and Senator Thune, can't think of two bigger leaders on the 5G 6G. How is it going to get done and when's it going to get done? But you will be tasked with that very difficult challenge of negotiating between NTIA and DOD and our international efforts at the World Radio [Conference].

You'll also oversee the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 60% of the Commerce budget. I'll never forget, in a hearing Mr. Chairman, when then Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown said, ‘I'm the Secretary of Commerce. I oversee maritime and shipping and transportation and technology and telecom. But I guarantee you, if a member of Congress is calling me, he's calling me about fish.’ Okay, and that says it all. Amen to that, as my colleague just said.

So the point is, no matter all the busyness that you're now given by the President of the United States on these very important issues…and I would say, in my opinion, this isn't the Secretary of Commerce of 20 years ago. No demeaning of the roles that they played for either of the Administrations, but the Secretary of Commerce today is now part of critical consensus building in a foot race of competition with China and determining what those rules are going to be. And I don't believe that you can get there without the consensus body building that we did on CHIPS and Science. That exercise helped us. A lot of people might have thought we were just trying to pass an initiative. I wasn't. I was trying to respond to our nation's competitive challenge, and I would have done anything to work together to make sure that that happened.

And so you'll be in charge of all of these things. Oh, and my colleague the Chairman, he mentioned space, I guarantee you there's a lot of work to be done in space. And you'll be called to provide a leadership with the new Space Office within the Department of Commerce.

You're going to be the decision maker on a lot of rules, which leads me to this next point.

I'm going to have a lot of questions about your involvement in the private sector. In the private sector, I'm sure you played by the rules. We'll ask you those questions.

But the question is, you're going to be on the other side of the table now, you're going to be the rule maker.

So I'm going to want to understand the issues of Tether, the issues of 1:1, the issues of how we set rules because I think the President also gave you a new responsibility as it relates to the crypto rules. And I'm a fan of blockchain technology and crypto. I'm a little more on the CFTC side than I am on the SEC side, but in general, I believe that markets need rules, and I believe that people in your position are going to have to play an even larger leadership role. So those are the questions I'll be asking.