Leading Republicans on the House Oversight Committee are putting pressure on the Biden administration to stop using communications equipment made in China close to sensitive US military installations. This is a sign of what the influential committee might do if the GOP takes back the House in November.
Reps. Glenn Grothman, the top Republican on the panel’s national security subcommittee, and Rep. James Comer, the ranking member, are requesting a classified briefing from the Pentagon on the military’s network security and its capacity to defend against potential threats from foreign espionage posed by the equipment. According to letters written on Tuesday and exclusively obtained by AWN, the Federal Communications Commission is also being asked to advise the committee on its as-of-yet unfinished effort to remove the equipment.
The Huawei-made technology installed atop cell towers close to US military bases in the rural Midwest was ultimately found to be capable of intercepting and disrupting some highly restricted Defense Department communications, including those used by US Strategic Command, which is in charge of the nation’s nuclear weapons. This conclusion followed a protracted FBI investigation that began under the Obama administration.
Many smaller telecommunications firms around the nation utilise Huawei equipment, and in 2020, Congress approved $1.9 billion to fund a campaign by the FCC to “tear and replace” it due to concerns that it could be used to spy on Americans. However, two years later, none of that equipment has been taken down, and rural telecom providers are still awaiting reimbursement from the federal government.
The two legislators wrote to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin saying “Committee Republicans are worried that Huawei cellular infrastructure near military facilities could pose a major danger to Department network and operational security.” Because Huawei equipment has not been taken out of US networks, there are concerns that it may have access to Department networks and give the CCP a considerable informational advantage.
Both briefings are being requested by the MPs by October 25.
Uncertainty exists regarding the intelligence community’s assessment of whether data was truly captured and transferred from these towers back to Beijing. Technically speaking, according to those acquainted with the situation, it’s quite challenging to demonstrate that a particular bundle of data was stolen and moved abroad.
Any attempts to spie on the US are categorically denied by the Chinese authorities. In a response to AWN, Huawei further disputed that any communications frequency allotted to the Defense Department could be used by its equipment.
Top intelligence officials have, however, openly expressed concern about China’s use of a number of technologies to acquire information and influence a variety of targets within the United States.
At an intelligence conference in Georgia earlier this month, Michael Orlando, the National Counterintelligence and Security Agency’s acting director, said, “The services continue to gather on our secret material.” “However, we’ve also observed them target every government organisation that lacks access to secret material. They are focusing on all facets of our economy, as we can see.
He stated, “We’re witnessing a whole array of methods that [China] has deployed as part of their government’s overall drive to acquire American technology, expertise, and data.
Administrations in both countries have struggled for years with how to deal with the alleged risk posed by Huawei equipment.
The FCC mandated that telecom companies that receive federal subsidies to provide cell service to remote areas, such as the provider near US military assets in the Midwest, “rip and replace” their Huawei and ZTE hardware. This directive came after the results of the counterintelligence investigation were briefed to the Trump White House in 2019.
But those pieces of technology have been in place for the past three years, infuriating some national security hawks who believe they pose an intolerable risk.
“Given that we know the CCP employs this company’s technology for extensive surveillance operations, the fact that Huawei communications equipment remains in the United States is a concern to our national security,” Comer said in a statement. “The FCC must move rapidly to handle this national security nightmare. Congress has authorised money to remove Huawei technology from the cellular network.”
The issue is finance, according to the FCC and some of the businesses affected by “rip and replace”: The program’s expected cost has increased from initial projections of roughly $2 billion to $5.6 billion since it was launched in 2019.
The commission is prepared to ban all future telecom equipment made by Huawei and ZTE from the American market in an expanding crackdown against perceived national security risks from China, according to previous reports from AWN, even as the rip and replace programme struggles to allocate sufficient reimbursement funds.
According to a person familiar with the situation, a vote on the measure’s approval is anticipated by mid-November.
An FCC representative who was contacted for comment confirmed the existence of the plan and informed AWN that, if accepted, it would modernise agency regulations pertaining to its list of providers regarded to pose an unacceptable risk to national security.
Before they can be marketed in the US, all electronics that have the ability to transmit radio frequencies must go through an FCC authorization process. The well-established procedure aims to prevent products from entering the US market that could cause harmful signal interference. However, the individual claimed that under the proposed regulation, the FCC will for the first time consider a national security interest when approving equipment.
