Cruz Vows Redl Hold After Senate Commerce Vote to Advance NTIA Nominee

Commerce also voted Wednesday to advance a modified version of the American Vision for Safer Transportation Through Advancement of Revolutionary Technologies (AV Start) Act (S-1885), though Sens. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., and Todd Young, R-Ind., said they will continue to press for the self-driving vehicle legislation to cover trucks and other large commercial vehicles.

“We're not currently there” on negotiations to resolve concerns about Redl's position on the IANA transition, Cruz told Senate Commerce. He cited Redl's answers to IANA-related questions during a June Senate Commerce hearing (see 1706080046) as being “in considerable tension and indeed in direct conflict with” the public positions of President Donald Trump and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. Trump's presidential campaign backed a push last year by congressional Republicans to delay the transition (see 1609210070). Ross told Senate Commerce during his January confirmation hearing he saw “no realistic way” for the U.S. to roll back the switchover (see 1701180069).

Cruz said “we've made enough progress” to where he wouldn't object to Senate Commerce advancing the nominee, but “I'm going to continue to have concerns and not be willing to allow it to proceed to the floor unless and until we can resolve the outstanding issues.” Cruz said there appeared to have been a deal Tuesday that would have allowed him to not object to a floor vote, but those assurances fell through. “I'm hopeful that we will” be able to resolve those concerns based on existing progress, Cruz said. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, said he also remains concerned about Redl's IANA position and vowed to “continue to work on these issues.”

Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., characterized the unsuccessful agreement on Redl, in place as late as 7 p.m. Tuesday, as a “verbal agreement” on IANA-related assurances that “Cruz was insisting on that Redl and Wilbur Ross agreed to.” Later Tuesday night, there was “no longer a deal” and there were questions about “how this is transmitted, is it in writing and that sort of thing,” Thune told reporters. A telecom lobbyist said Cruz had sought copies of emails that Redl exchanged with then-NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling during the oversight handoff process, along with other information

Other lobbyists said Cruz might have sought an agreement on how NTIA under Redl would set U.S. government policy positions toward ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee. “I would think Cruz would be satisfied” that governance changes ICANN instituted in connection with the IANA oversight handover would mean “if the U.S. takes an engaged role in ICANN, it could essentially veto anything” it found objectionable in proposed GAC advice, one internet governance lobbyist said.

“We've known all along that even if we got [Redl] out of the committee,” there could be barriers ahead of a floor vote if Cruz still harbored objections, Thune told reporters. The level of threat that Cruz's hold actually poses to Redl's prospects now “depends on how hard Cruz wants to fight” Republican leadership and the White House, one communications sector lobbyist said. Cruz “may want to have another filibuster-type moment on the Senate floor where he can talk for hours on end and get as much publicity on his concerns as he wants,” said R Street Institute Tech Policy Manager Tom Struble.

Industry groups urged swift confirmation, including the Telecommunications Industry Association, USTelecom, Wireless Infrastructure Association and WifiForward.

Autonomous Vehicle Progress

The committee advanced the AV Start Act with more than two-dozen amendments, including requirements for the Department of Transportation to collaborate with manufacturers on cybersecurity rules and language that would reduce the number of exemptions auto manufacturers can claim from existing motor vehicle safety standards. DOT would be required to review and evaluate safety performance of exempted autonomous vehicles (AVs) before allowing an increase in vehicles on the road. Other amendments would make mandatory safety evaluation reports submitted by all AV manufacturers and would set requirements for available consumer information on capabilities and limitations at point of sale.

Thune told reporters he aims to bring S-1885 up for a floor vote this year, perhaps slotting it between consideration of the federal government's FY 2018 budget resolution and Senate Republicans' work on a tax law revamp. “I suspect that this will be a bill that will take some floor time,” he said. “It would be nice if we could pass it by unanimous consent, but I think that’s unrealistic” given the prospects for further amendments at the full Senate level, Thune said. S-1885 differs from the Safely Ensuring Lives Future Deployment and Research in Vehicle Evolution Act (HR-3388), which the House unanimously passed earlier this month (see 1709060035).

Inhofe offered and then withdrew an amendment that would have added self-driving trucks to S-1885, amid a perceived lack of committee support. Thune and Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., didn't include self-driving cars in S-1885 as part of a compromise (see 1709280056). “Without this amendment, many motor vehicles, including delivery trucks, emergency vehicles and tractor-trailers, would be excluded,” Inhofe said: “Treating cars and trucks differently” will ultimately “hinder efforts to develop and adopt newer and safer technology.” Young criticized Senate Democrats for pushing for exclusion of self-driving trucks, saying they weren't included “on account of labor market concerns.” The controversy “is about perceived job losses” in the trucking industry that would result from proliferation of self-driving trucks, Young said.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., offered and then withdrew an amendment that would have required a driver to be present in every self-driving vehicle to manually override controls in emergencies. “We're still many years away from having” sufficient infrastructure for self-driving vehicles to effectively operate throughout the U.S., Blumenthal said. Thune and Senate Commerce ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla., opposed Blumenthal's proposed amendment. “The headline tomorrow would read, ‘Senate mandates drivers in driverless cars,’” Thune said: “I don’t think that’s the headline we want coming out of this” markup. Blumenthal offered to work with the leaders to narrow the amendment in the hope of attaching it.

Commerce also cleared the nomination of Walter Copan to be National Institute of Standards and Technology director. His confirmation hearing was last week (see 1709270068). The committee advanced the National Suicide Hotline Improvement Act (S-1015) but postponed a vote on the Amateur Radio Parity Act (S-1534). S-1015 would direct the FCC to work to designate a new national three-digit dialing code in the style of 911 for use as a mental health crisis and suicide prevention hotline. S-1534 would direct the FCC to extend its rule relating to reasonable accommodation of amateur service communications to include private land use restrictions (see 1707130039).