Menendez, Matsui, Barragán, and Carter Introduce Legislation Compelling FCC to Re-Establish Communications Equity and Diversity Council

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Congressmembers Rob Menendez, Doris Matsui (CA-07), Nanette Barragán (CA-44), and Troy Carter, Sr. (LA-02) introduced the Communications Equity and Diversity Council Act, which would compel the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to re-establish the Communications Equity and Diversity Council (CEDC). Iterations of the CEDC operated under Democratic and Republican Administrations since 2003, worked to make the communications sector more equitable and reduce digital discrimination until Trump FCC Chair Brendan Carr arbitrarily disbanded it in January 2025.

"The termination of the Communications Equity and Diversity Council is one of the most damaging and ill-advised decisions made by Chairman Carr," said Congressman Menendez. "Ensuring equal access and the inclusion of all Americans in shaping our digital future remains more essential than ever. The legislation we are introducing today will compel the Trump Administration and Chairman Carr to re-establish the CEDC so it can continue its important work of ensuring all communities thrive in our growing digital economy."

"The FCC should be focused on closing the digital divide, not shutting out the voices that help guide its mission," said Congresswoman Matsui. "For years, under both Democratic and Republican leadership, the Communications Equity and Diversity Council helped the Commission identify ways to expand access to broadband and media services for everyone. Chairman Carr's decision to dismantle the Council was a step backward. That's why I am proud to co-lead this bill to codify the CEDC and make clear that communities too often left out of these decisions deserve a seat at the table."

"Communications policies and emerging technologies should bring people together and expand opportunities-not leave people behind," said Congresswoman Barragán. "The Communications Equity and Diversity Council ensured that the FCC heard directly from civil rights leaders, industry experts, and community advocates working to close the digital divide. I'm proud to join Representatives Menendez, Matsui, and Carter in introducing legislation that will restore and protect this council after the Trump Administration made the misguided decision to dismantle it. If we want communications policies that work for everyone, the communities most affected by the digital divide must have a seat at the table."

"As communications services become ever more central to how Americans work, learn, and connect with one another, we must ensure that opportunity in the digital age reaches every community," said Congressman Carter, Sr. "By elevating diverse voices and expanding opportunities for historically underserved communities, this bill will help strengthen competition, support small businesses, and promote a communications landscape that truly serves the public interest. I'm proud to support this effort to make our communications ecosystem more inclusive, innovative, and accessible for everyone."

"Representative Menendez's Communications Equity and Diversity Council Acthelps right one of the wrongs of Federal Communications Commission Chair Carr's attacks on programs that even mention diversity and equity," said Alejandra Montoya-Boyer, Vice President, The Leadership Conference Center for Civil Rights and Technology. "Before Chair Carr cut the Communications Diversity Council, the body helped level the playing field for everyday essentials-everything from getting people connected to the internet to training individuals how to use emerging technology to their benefit. At a time when our everyday lives are increasingly intertwined with technology, our leaders must ensure that these tools expand opportunity for all of us, no matter who we are, where we're from, or how much money we have."

"Public Knowledge supports the efforts of the Communications Equity and Diversity Council Act, which would restore the important work of the CEDC at the Federal Communications Commission after it was dismantled in response to President Trump and FCC Chair Carr's broad efforts to invert the meaning and purpose of diversity, equity, and inclusion work in our communications ecosystem," said Alisa Valentin, Broadband Policy Director, Public Knowledge. "This legislation would help advance the FCC's mission of making communications available to all the people of the United States, without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex. It is particularly urgent as broadband remains unaffordable for millions of households, media continues to consolidate, and consumer protections are steadily eroded at the Commission."

"Innovation thrives when diverse voices and perspectives are part of the conversation. Hispanic Technology & Telecommunications Partnership (HTTP) supports the Communications Equity and Diversity Council Act because communications policy is strongest when it reflects the voices and needs of all communities," said JudeAnne Heath, Executive Director, Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership. "When people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives, including across communities and the political spectrum, are part of the conversation, our policies and our nation move forward together. Establishing the Council will create a constructive space for stakeholders to work together on expanding opportunity, encouraging small business participation, and strengthening the marketplace. By codifying the Communications Equity and Diversity Council, Congress would help institutionalize stakeholder input and ensure that FCC policy reflects the needs of all communities."

"Good governance depends on policymakers hearing from the people impacted by the policies. Reinstating and codifying the recently disbanded Communications Equity and Diversity Council at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is essential to good governance," said Angela Seifer, Executive Director, National Digital Inclusion Alliance. "The Council is an effective and proven structure for ensuring the FCC hears from the broad range of people and communities in our nation. NDIA supports the Communications Equity and Diversity Council Act and applauds Representative Menendez for introducing this bill to keep people at the center of the FCC's policies."

"The record of the CEDC is one of substantive, bipartisan policy work. Over its tenure, the Council delivered recommendations on preventing digital discrimination, reducing barriers to broadband deployment in underserved communities, accelerating entry of minority-owned businesses into the communications industries, and promoting digital workforce upskilling - work that reflected collaboration among telecommunications leaders, consumer advocates, civil rights organizations, and local government officials," said Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council CEO Robert E. Branson. "Establishing the CEDC by statute is sound institutional design, consistent with the approach Representative Menendez successfully advanced for the FCC's Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council. Statutory codification is not a partisan position - it ensures that advisory bodies capable of producing durable policy recommendations are not subject to elimination by a single administrative decision. MMTC urges Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to support this legislation and restore a forum that serves all Americans by ensuring underserved communities have a meaningful voice at the FCC."

"The CEDC Act will help to ensure that all people are able to benefit from access to essential communication services," said Olivia Wein, Senior Attorney, National Consumer Law Center. "The Act provides the FCC with recommendations from underrepresented voices on a range of important communications topics including, deployment, affordability, digital discrimination, access to capital, small business mentoring, employment upskilling, ownership diversity and procurement opportunities."

The mission of the FCC's CEDC was to make recommendations to the FCC on advancing equity in the provision of and access to digital communication services and products for all people of the United States, without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, or disability. In carrying out this mission, the CEDC researched and made recommendations to the Commission on how to accelerate the deployment of high-speed Internet access in all communities by reducing and/or removing regulatory barriers to infrastructure and investment, and by making recommendations on how to strengthen existing broadband networks and develop new ones. The CEDC further aimed to provide recommendations to the Commission on how to ensure that disadvantaged communities are not denied the wide range of opportunities made possible by next-generation networks.

CEDC members consisted of representatives from public interest organizations, consumer protection groups, telecommunications industry, government agencies, and academic institutions.

The Communications Equity and Diversity Council Act would compel the FCC to restore and codify the CEDC to protect it from future harmful political interference. The CEDC - consisting of not fewer than 30 members - will make recommendations to the FCC, including:

• Advancing equity in access to communication services;
• Assisting historically underserved individuals to benefit from communication services;
• Accelerating the deployment to all communities of affordable and reliable communication services; and
• Helping small businesses, including those owned by historically underserved individuals, into industries relating to communication services; and promoting; a diversity of voices, localism, economic competition, technological advancement, and the public interest, convenience, and necessity.

This legislation is supported by the Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership (HTTP), Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC), the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), Public Knowledge, the National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients), and the Hispanic Federation.

As a member of House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, Congressman Menendez has been a leader on digital equity, previously leading efforts to restore funding from the Digital Equity Act, and has worked to hold the Trump FCC accountable for actions detrimental to the American public.

To read the full text of the bill, please click here.

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