Communications and Technology Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Capabilities

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Richard Hudson (NC-09), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, led a hearing titled Where Are We?: Examining Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Capabilities in the United States.

“The Global Positioning System, known as GPS, has been the source of PNT for the United States for decades,” said Chairman Hudson. “Put simply, a catastrophic failure of GPS as a result of adversary spoofing or jamming would be devastating to our economy. The development and adoption of complementary PNT services is a bipartisan priority.”

Watch the full hearing here.

Below are key excerpts from today’s hearing:

Congressman Gus Bilirakis (FL-12): “I've heard from countless businesses and stakeholders about the need for a GPS redundant system, which is necessary for both safety and the most effective use of GPS technology. [...] We must ensure that the potential of these public safety initiatives is top of mind as we investigate policy changes. My first question is for Mr. Grossman. How can we make sure resilient and complementary PNT are integrated into autonomous systems?” Mr. Grossman: “It is critical when we're evaluating these complementary solutions that there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Each use case is going to have different requirements. [Some] particular technologies are focused for autonomous vehicles and transportation. And that's very exciting. But there are other complementary solutions that are going to be better suited for the military, others that might be better for agriculture.”

Congressman Buddy Carter (GA-01): “This is obviously a very important subject matter that we need to be paying particular attention to for a number of different reasons. We all understand that positioning, navigation and timing is more than just a technical issue. It is an issue about national security, our financial systems, electrical grid, agriculture, ports, and emergency response, and it touches all facets of our society and of our lives. We have to make sure that jamming and spoofing, the cyber threats, the growing concerns of adversaries, and the capabilities of adversaries—like China and Russia—are under control.”

Congresswoman Erin Houchin (IN-09): “GPS is one of the great American success stories. It is the invisible infrastructure underneath our entire economy—the financial transactions that clear every morning, the air traffic control that keeps us safe, moves millions of packages every day, and the precision agriculture that helps farmers keep up with increasing demand. [...] Back in the Indiana State Senate, I worked to get broadband access to the unserved corners of the State of Indiana, and I'm still working on that today. As I've worked to connect rural Indiana, one thing that has become impossible to miss is that the same farmers we’re trying to get online are already completely dependent upon GPS, and right now that signal has no backup.”