Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas blasted Republican witnesses at a committee hearing Thursday, saying they would be afraid to listen to “qualified Black women” like Vice President Kamala Harris if they testified.
The House Oversight and Accountability Committee held a hearing Thursday for lawmakers to discuss “the consequences of the Biden-Harris Administration's policy failures.” During the hearing, Crockett slammed Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr's testimony on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) broadband rollout, citing an article that discussed “limited successes” that didn't mention diversity at all. (Related article: Activists claim Black & Decker destroyed entire corporate 'diversity' initiative)
“The issue is this. You've testified many times on issues of diversity, equity and inclusion in broadband deployment. I don't know how many times you've mentioned DEI, but this is one of the issues that Project 2025 addresses,” Crockett said.
“But I have another Texas Tribune article that specifically mentions that internet providers are simultaneously hopeful and skeptical that federal funding will be enough to provide internet connectivity to the most underserved Texans,” Crockett continued. “Historically, other federal rural broadband funding programs have had limited success because many of the companies that promised to provide broadband grossly underestimated costs and ended up defaulting. There's nothing said about diversity. And my final point is…”
Carr then fired back at Crockett, asking if he understood why broadband costs had “drastically increased,” but Crockett contradicted the witness, saying this election was a “prime example” of why Republicans are “very afraid” of DEI.
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His testimonyCarr criticized the Biden-Harris administration for pushing ahead with a $42 billion initiative known as the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program (BEAD). Carr said Harris is behind the effort, which “pursues a climate change agenda, DEI requirements, a tech bias, price controls and preferential treatment for government-run networks,” even though it could “leave rural and other unconnected communities behind.”
“I'm not asking! My final comment is that this election is the best example of why you all are scared of diversity, equity and inclusion because we simply cannot have unqualified white men promoted. Instead, we must focus on the qualified black women on the other side,” Crockett concluded.
President Biden has pushed for major action on broadband internet, net neutrality, social media and artificial intelligence (AI) for the first time in November 2023.
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