Graham zeroes in on 5G security

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Tuesday pressed the Trump administration to work with Congress on combatting security threats from 5G wireless technology, including stopping business with countries using Chinese technologies.

“You’ve got hardening our critical infrastructure here at home that is mostly private sector based,” Graham said, during a hearing of his committee on 5G national security threats. “Now we’ve got a developing technology called 5G that if China dominates this market, we may not be able to do normal business or function normally, and we are sitting around looking at each other.”

Graham added “we’ve got a bunch of bills being introduced, but it’s going to take administrative leadership, it’s going to take the Trump administration working with Congress, to deal with both problems.”

Graham promised to “restart the conversation” around securing critical technology against threats from countries such as China and vowed to offer foreign allies “a better alternative than what China has on the table” in regards to 5G, including options other than doing business with Chinese telecommunications company Huawei.

Following the hearing, Graham discussed the idea of not doing business with foreign governments that utilize Chinese technology in order to lower national security threats.

“It seems to me the policy of the United States is that the criteria we are asking foreign government to meet can never be met with the current China,” Graham told reporters. “Until China stops being a Communist dictatorship, we are not going to support working with a country that uses their technology.”