[VIDEO]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation delivered the following opening statement at today’s Executive Session to consider nine bills, including the National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization Act of 2026 and the Regional Ocean Partnerships Reauthorization Act of 2026:
“Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for the hard work on this markup. I want to start the meeting this morning by congratulating NASA and the entire Artemis team, especially astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen.
“From the launch to the splashdown, the Artemis II mission was extraordinarily successful. Not only did the mission succeed on a technical level, meeting all of its key objectives, but it also succeeded in uniting our nation as we followed Artemis II around the moon, and as the crew went farther from our planet than anyone has ever before. And perhaps equally important, I believe we’ve inspired the next generation of astronauts, scientists and engineers who…will establish a sustained…presence on the Moon and lead us to Mars and beyond.
“So, Mr. Chairman, I enjoyed being with you and other members, as we were able to ask the crew questions last week. As you were from Houston with the [NASA] Administrator, and I was in Seattle. What a great experience!
“So returning to Earth, we are considering several bills here and six Coast Guard promotions. I want to take a moment to address what happened a few weeks ago. We certainly want to work together in a great bipartisan fashion to make sure committee amendments are considered.
“We are holding today’s markup on World Quantum Day. So it’s very appropriate that this morning we have legislation from myself, Senator Young and 16 co-sponsors to authorize the National Quantum Initiative across the full research to application spectrum. It will strengthen research and accelerate applications and expand initiatives, including NASA’s research activities. And it will establish three new NIST quantum centers and create [new] NSF multidisciplinary centers for quantum research and education and new quantum test beds. I don’t know if my colleague is here yet, but appreciate working with him.
“I’m also grateful to Senators Wicker, Blunt Rochester and Markey for leading the Regional Ocean Partnerships Reauthorization Act of 2026. I’m co-sponsoring this bill that will reauthorize NOAA’s Regional Ocean Partnerships through fiscal year 2031. Coastal ocean management and conservation issues frequently cross boundaries requiring coordination from federal, state, tribes and local governments. This bill ensures that these essential partnerships, including the West Coast Ocean Alliance, continue to thrive.
“We will also consider aviation bills, and I know that great progress was made last night between the Duckworth and Cruz teams on aviation. So appreciate everybody working late into the night, and I’m sure you’ll have and Senator Duckworth will have more to say on that. I certainly appreciate…the aims of the Duckworth legislation and everyone working so diligently to try to resolve that issue.
“The Mental Health [in] Aviation Act, also sponsored by Senator Duckworth, Senator Hoeven, Fischer, Hickenlooper, Klobuchar, Curtis, Moran, Kim, Moreno, Sullivan and Baldwin, seeks to build improvements to FAA’s aeromedical process in the FAA Reauthorization Act. Importantly, the bill would require the FAA to update regulations and issue guidance to encourage and destigmatize disclosure of treatment for mental health conditions. And this legislation would authorize funding to bolster the aviation medical examiner workforce.
“We also are considering the SAFEGUARDS Act of 2025 with Senators Moran, Sheehy, Capito, Hickenlooper, Rosen and Young, which would set aside some passenger security revenue for aviation security technology purposes in the TSA budget. Since the National Lab at the state of Washington, PNNL, takes the lead on national security issues and does most of the technology development in this area, I’m glad to see that people are focused on next-generation technology in aviation security. And while we do have some issues that we still see with the legislation, happy to move it today and keep working with my colleague on that. TSA is very important. And Mr. Chairman, we’d like to see that TSA funding.
“[We consider] two bills related to satellites. First, [the] Secure Space Act of 2025, with Senators Fischer and Luján, would amend the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019 to ensure the [FCC] cannot grant satellite licenses to companies that pose a national security threat. And the Satellite Cybersecurity Act of 2025 from Senator Peters to help small businesses strengthen cybersecurity through their satellite systems, by directing the Department of Commerce to create a publicly accessible clearinghouse [containing] best practices.
“Also on the markup are three bills that aim to protect children. The No Fentanyl on Social Media Act from Senators Husted, Klobuchar and Blunt Rochester…directs the FTC to submit a report to Congress on how minors access fentanyl through social media platforms. Fentanyl is taking too many lives in the United States of America. In 2021, Brillion Lynch, a young woman from Bellevue, Washington, lost her life to fentanyl poisoning just one week after she celebrated her 18th birthday. Brillion met her dealer through Snapchat and messaged with him over Instagram. No parent should have to find their child dead of a drug overdose, and studying…access to fentanyl, I believe, will help us address this problem.
“The Alex Gates Safety Act of 2025 from Senators Curtis and Klobuchar would improve gate safety at places like schools, parks and recreational areas, and directs the CPSC to adopt voluntary industry standards as a final consumer product safety standard for large manual gates. These kinds of gates have become detached, fallen and crushed children, and this bill directs the Consumer Product Safety Commission to undertake a national campaign to promote awareness and educate the public about these manual gates.
“And finally, the Stop the Scroll Act from Senators Britt and Fetterman would require social media platforms to display a mental health warning label from the Surgeon General to users under 18. This warning label will make clear [that] social media is associated with significant mental health harms. It has…a clear warning label from them. Social media platforms must display the warning label to minors at least once each day the minor accesses the platform, and once again, three hours after continued use.
“So appreciate this legislative agenda, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for people working together to get to where we are at this moment.”
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