At Thursday's Senate Commerce Committee hearing, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) spoke about the goals of Trump Commerce Department nominees should they be confirmed, and warned about the impact of long-term tariffs.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Science and Transportation will come to order. Today we will consider the
00:03nomination of Paul DeBar to serve as Deputy Secretary of Commerce. Mr. DeBar
00:08congratulations on your nomination. We look forward to hearing about your
00:12professional experience and your vision for supporting and complementing
00:16Secretary Lutnik's leadership of the department. As Deputy Secretary, Mr.
00:22Mr. DeBar will serve as the second-in-command at the department. He will
00:26oversee daily operations and help tackle a wide array of issues, from fixing
00:31Biden's failed BEAD program, which connected not a single American to high
00:37speed internet, to countering climate alarmism at NOAA. These are not small
00:43tasks. Mr. DeBar has an impressive background. After graduating from the
00:49United States Naval Academy, he served as a nuclear submarine officer for six years.
00:55He then earned an MBA from Columbia University, before going to work for J.P.
01:00Morgan for nearly two decades. There, he oversaw more than $400 billion in energy
01:07investments spanning oil, gas, nuclear, solar, wind, and geothermal energy. During the
01:15first Trump administration, Mr. DeBar was unanimously confirmed as the fourth
01:21undersecretary for science at the Department of Energy. In that role, he managed a
01:27workforce of tens of thousands of personnel across more than 100 sites with a
01:32$14.5 billion budget. He oversaw the majority of U.S. national laboratories at a
01:39time when they faced a growing threat of Chinese espionage. He implemented the
01:45national quantum initiative act and sought to spur the development of next
01:49generation energy storage technologies. Following his tenure at the Department of
01:55Energy, Mr. DeBar co-founded Bohr Quantum Technology, a pioneering cybersecurity
02:01company developing quantum networking systems. If confirmed, he'll draw on his
02:08technical expertise and entrepreneurial experience to tackle complex challenges at the
02:13intersection of science, government, and industry. I will note that he has the
02:19explicit support of five former cabinet secretaries from both Republican and
02:25Democratic administrations. This nomination comes as the Department of
02:30Commerce works to preserve access to the Gulf for oil and gas exploration, expand
02:36commercial access to mid-band spectrum, and maintain U.S. leadership in artificial
02:42intelligence, quantum, commercial space, and advanced manufacturing. It also comes
02:49amid a public trade battle. President Trump is rightfully standing up to China and
02:54working to reshore industries vital to our national security. But we should be
02:59mindful that long-term tariffs on manufacturing inputs and other goods would
03:05function as a de facto tax increase on small businesses and the American middle class. My
03:11hope is that the Commerce Department leadership will work alongside the
03:17President to steer a course that addresses our supply chain vulnerabilities and
03:21restores dignity to the American worker, but aims for freer and fairer trade with
03:28our allies, not simply protectionism. There are two paths before us, one that uses tariffs
03:36strategically to secure better trade deals, incentivizing our trading partners to lower the
03:42tariffs they charge to American goods and services in exchange for lowering our own tariffs. The other
03:49path is a path that locks in place high tariffs indefinitely. I very much hope we are on the former
03:57path and not the latter. Just this week, Secretary Lutnik has touted an international trade deal now in its
04:04final stages. The President has also signed a proclamation offering relief to the auto industry following the
04:11results of a Commerce Department section 232 investigation into the import of
04:16automobiles and automobile parts. These are signals the administration wants to use
04:21its trade authorities to secure better deals for the American people. I am
04:26confident that Mr. DeBar, an experienced dealmaker himself, can assist in this effort. I hope
04:33he will outline for us today the path that he plans to take under the direction of the
04:38the President.