FCC process bill HR-3309 “would disable the FCC, not reform...

benefiting the communications sector. Members won’t vote until Tuesday on HR-3309 and a separate bill (HR-3310) to consolidate many FCC reports. “Independent experts have told us [HR-3309] would tie the [FCC] in knots and subject it to endless legal challenges,” Waxman said. The Democrat suggested a separate bill on one provision of the bill he supports -- allowing more than two commissioners to meet behind closed doors. The Republicans “rejected this suggestion, which dooms the entire package and raises serious questions about why we are doing this bill at all,” Waxman said. Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., countered that HR-3309 merely “asks the FCC to go through a process similar to what we've gone through in crafting it, and to implement some of the reforms that the House itself adopted just last year.” The bill “does not change the public interest standard that the FCC uses to approve or deny a merger,” Walden said. “If the FCC determines that a merger of two media companies is against the public interest, it can deny it.” Walden doesn’t anticipate litigation over the bill because the bill draws from executive orders and requires the FCC to implement the bill through rulemaking, he said. Democrats are expected to support HR-3310 to consolidate FCC reports, after the committee accepts an amendment (CD Feb 6 p1). Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., urged approval. “By looking at the marketplace as a whole rather than in traditional silos, the FCC and the American public will be better informed about existing competition and any barriers” to job creation, Upton said. The markup is scheduled to resume at 10 a.m. in Room 2123, Rayburn Building.