Pickering Sees Quick Movement on House Telecom Bill
House Commerce Committee Vice-Chmn. Pickering (R- Miss.) speculated Wed. that the House could be done with comprehensive telecom legislation by the end of the year but that action on a Senate counterpart would take longer. Before it tackles telecom reform, Pickering said, the House Commerce Committee would try to move leftover bills that weren’t enacted last year, including those on broadcast decency, junk faxes and spyware.
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The House could be finished with telecom reform legislation in 6 to 8 months, Pickering said, but the completed legislation probably wouldn’t be on the President’s desk until mid-2006. “We will act this Congress,” Pickering told reporters after an FCBA event. Pickering’s guess on completion of telecom legislation is similar to comments made by Sen. Sununu (R-N.H.) in Dec. Sununu also predicted a mid-2006 completion of the act.
The House Commerce Committee will hold its first telecom-related hearing within a few weeks, Pickering said. The Committee should be able to build from House hearings on telecom reform conducted over the past few years, he said. Members generally have an idea of what they want to accomplish in regard to telecom competition and Internet protocol (IP) issues, he said. Any legislation would need to be flexible to adjust to changing technologies, Pickering said. One proposal is to create a new title in the Telecom Act that would “in essence be a broadband title.” Pickering said he was willing to consider such a change, but also emphasized he had some reservations about it.
The Committee will need to focus on universal service fund and intercarrier compensation issues, Pickering said, which will surely be addressed in Senate legislation. Pickering said Committee Chmn. Barton (R-Tex.) will also focus on the E-rate program, which has been under investigation by the Oversight & Investigations Subcommittee over allegations of fraud and abuse. When examining USF issues, Pickering said, the House will likely try to promote efficient, competitively neutral technologies.
House Telecom Subcommittee Chmn. Upton (R-Mich.) reintroduced broadcast decency legislation Tues. The bill is the same as what the House overwhelmingly approved last year but which stalled in the Senate. The bill would raise maximum FCC fines for indecent broadcasts from $32,500 to $500,000 for each violation. It would also: (1) Allow the FCC to fine artists up to $500,000 for violations. (2) Establish a “3-strikes” rule that would require the FCC to conduct a license revocation hearing after 3 violations. (3) Create a 180-day “shot clock” for the FCC to review and adjudicate an indecency complaint. Barton, Committee ranking Democrat Dingell (Mich.) and Telecom Subcommittee ranking Democrat Markey (Mass.) are also co-sponsors.
Some of the provisions, especially the 3-strikes rule and the fines on artists, were controversial in the Senate, which failed to enact the bill. The bill was also stalled after Sen. Dorgan (D-N.D.) successfully added a media ownership amendment that was unacceptable to many Senate Republicans. Sen. Brownback (R-Kan.) will reintroduce legislation soon, according to his spokesman. The bill raises FCC fines only to $325,000 per incident and doesn’t address 3-strikes or fines on artists.
Junk fax legislation would loosen requirements on business to collect written approval before sending faxes to established customers. Groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Assn. of Realtors. and the American Society of Association Executives have said the FCC’s fax requirements are too onerous. The FCC currently has a stay on the rules.