Fundamentally, this position remains vacant because the companies that are lawfully subject to oversight by the FCC don't want a watchdog.

Unfortunately, I missed your second hearing. I had a stroke, and it means a lot that you are back here so that I can fully participate in now your third hearing.

I hope that there is a serious conversation today about your dedication and qualifications, and especially the dire need to fill the FCC.

We heard extensive testimony on the need for the FCC to craft rules preventing digital discrimination on broadband access.

I cannot support a nominee who would put rural broadband access on the back burner.

The record shows that Gigi Sohn is a dedicated public servant who is qualified and ready to be confirmed.

The cost to the American public for this vacancy has been extreme.

I am pleased to see that Southwest is taking its commitment to customers seriously, providing reimbursements and refunds, points and direct delivery.

When the rules are changed so that a State cannot even compete something is broken.

We need a multi-pronged approach.

I am disappointed to hear that the voices of staff on the frontlines of Southwest Airlines operations, including pilots, flight attendants, and customer service representatives, have not been a priority.

So, Southwest, in addition to the change that you just laid out to me with creating a process to hear from more frontline employees, has Southwest also changed its management structure to ensure that that is included?

It is an honor to be able to serve alongside you, and welcome to our first Subcommittee of Oversight hearing.

We do not have the water that they do down in that beautiful part of America.

These issues that we cover in the Natural Resources Committee at large, and especially the oversight that we do in this Committee, are of great personal concern to me and to the communities that I represent.

I hope that they are not just left out say, oh, well, that is the cost of doing business, because it turns out in America, you know, connectivity is a problem.

It is absolutely critical that our workers, our unions, and our communities have a strong voice in every aspect of how we plan those local, regional, and national economies.

I don't think anyone in this room wants to return to an era when we had rivers on fire, when smelters were poisoning children and communities across the country.