Ranking Member Huffman Blasts GOP’s Big Tech Handout

Ranking Member Huffman Blasts GOP's Big Tech Handout

"While working Americans face an affordability crisis, Republicans prioritize special favors for the wealthiest corporations on Earth."

Washington, D.C. - Today, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) took to the House Floor to oppose Republicans' "Undersea Cable Protection Act of 2025," which hands tech giants like Meta and Amazon special exemptions and millions of dollars in savings to run cables through America's National Marine Sanctuaries for free, skipping safety checks and ignoring the Tribes and communities who depend on these protected waters.

"So, what do we have on the Floor this week? You guessed it - another corporate handout, this time to the biggest tech oligarchs in the world. These folks have shown that if you've got enough money, if you're willing to bend the knee, you can pretty much get anything you want these days under MAGA Republican governance," Ranking Member Huffman said on the House Floor.

"My district is home to one of our nation's iconic marine sanctuaries. I can say without hesitation that my constituents don't want to see these industrial activities rip through our sensitive kelp forests that support fisheries and tourism. No project in these places should happen without very careful study, without mitigation, and most importantly, without paying their fair share. This bill would let tech executives treat these national treasures off our coast like some kind of industrial sacrifice zone, without even paying a cent for the use of these resources.

"While working American families are facing an affordability crisis, our Republican friends prioritize special favors like this for the wealthiest corporations on the planet - companies that could easily afford to follow the rules and pay a fair market rate for access to these places. This sets a terrible precedent. We're witnessing the wholesale commercialization of America's natural inheritance, one sweetheart deal at a time.

"Today it's cables in sanctuaries. Tomorrow, it's mining in a national monument. Next week, drilling in national seashores. Where does this corporate favoritism end? If my colleagues want to modernize telecommunications, we can do that the right way. Let's invest in broadband infrastructure. Let's address transmission issues. We can incentivize clean, local renewable energy. We can end President Trump's crazy war on clean energy. And sure, maybe we can have a few fiber optic cables running through marine sanctuaries. But let's do it through proper analysis and siting. Let's be careful in these very special places. We don't need this bill to enable any of these shared objectives to move forward. Let us not create sacrifice zones in America's national marine sanctuaries," Huffman said.

Background

What H.R. 261, the Undersea Cable Protection Act of 2025, does:

• Waives All Fees for Mega Corporations: Unlike other agencies that collect rent from companies and people that use public lands, this Republican bill forces American taxpayers to subsidize Big Tech. It eliminates the fair market fees and rents NOAA can charge for the use of these resources, gifting corporations millions of dollars per cable per year - money that should be going back to the American people and into the economy, not billionaires' pockets.
• Lets Big Tech Skip Environmental Reviews: Telecommunications companies are supposed to get special use permits that ensure what they do won't harm sanctuaries. But this bill gives them a free pass, clearing the way for Big Tech to destroy fragile resources like corals, kelp forests, and historic shipwrecks. NOAA would also lose authority to conduct sanctuary-specific environmental assessments and gather public input from affected Tribes, scientists, divers, fishers, and other sanctuary users whose livelihoods depend on these waters.
• Eliminates Key Protections: The legislation strikes requirements for 5-year permit renewals and removes the mandate that activities must not damage sanctuary resources, opening the door to new, destructive, activities with fewer restrictions and less accountability.
• Silences Tribal Voices: The bill eliminates required consultation with coastal Tribes who have treaty rights and co-management responsibilities in many sanctuaries, undermining established government-to-government relationships.
• Creates Regulatory Chaos: The bill fails to specify which other state or Federal agency permits would qualify or how coordination would work, creating regulatory uncertainty and loopholes exclusively for Big Tech.

Coastal communities are already suffering the consequences of when Big Tech has been allowed to bypass environmental protections. Meta's cable installation off Oregon failed catastrophically - over 1,000 feet of steel pipe and 6,500 gallons of drilling fluid now sit on the seafloor. The company paid less than $400,000 and walked away, leaving their equipment and mess behind. H.R. 261 would virtually guarantee they never have to answer for that kind of damage again.

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