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We were able to get our legislation into the NDAA in the next managers amendment, the Virginia Democrat revealed Tuesday during a USTelecom event.

Trump administration support helped secure this development, according to Warner. Larry Kudlow, who heads the National Economic Council, has spent months talking about the merits of 5G virtualization technology.

U.S. policymakers have coalesced around trying to crack down on Huawei and ZTE over the last year. And on Tuesday, the FCC officially designated Huawei and ZTE as national security threats and barred U.S. subsidy funds from flowing to companies that use their gear. FCC commissioners first proposed designating the two companies as threats in November.

The funding battle: Still, Warner also noted bad news, saying that Senate appropriators led by Appropriations Chair Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) have dramatically, dramatically, cut back the amount of federal investment to the point that its almost minuscule.

Warner explained the latest language would only allocate $50 million for research and design and $25 million for international development, which he called "puny at best."

Whats needed now, according to Warner, is industry pressure to try to drive these funding numbers higher. He told the USTelecom webinar participants that lawmakers will need CEOs to weigh in.

Whats next: Senators are debating the chamber's version of the defense bill on the floor now, with a goal of passing it by the end of the week. And Warner hopes to restore a bigger boost of funding when the Senate and House eventually hash out the differences between their competing defense policy bills.

Weve gotta make sure this legislation ... not only gets passed but in any ultimate conference or any subsequent event that we push up these numbers to demonstrate that the United States is serious about taking this next leap forward, explained Warner, a former telecom executive and the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee.

What the U.S. does on 5G now, he said, will set a model for how policymakers approach artificial intelligence, quantum computing and a host of other tech policy issues central to competition with China.

Originally posted here:
Senators tussle over 5G investment in NDAA - Politico