Duckworth, Portman File ICS Bill; Clyburn, Lawmakers Blast FCC for Actions Hurting Poor, Minorities
Sens. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, led Thursday filing of the Inmate Calling Technical Corrections Act, which would update rules for inmate calling services rate settings and clarify FCC authority to adjust the rules in the future. Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel, along with Capitol Hill Democrats and others, meanwhile, voiced concerns during a Thursday Voices for Internet Freedom Coalition event about FCC policy direction on ICS, net neutrality and changes to the USF Lifeline program.
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The bill is aimed at updating ICS rules given the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit's December ruling that largely overturned a 2016 FCC reconsideration order that adjusted rate caps. The court also dismissed as moot challenges to a 2013 ICS order that set interim interstate rate caps and a 2015 order setting permanent interstate and intrastate rate limits (see 1712210001). Duckworth said in a letter to Senate colleagues that her bill is “precisely targeted at clarifying existing law in light of the [D.C. Circuit] decision and to permit the FCC to use its traditional procedures and authority to address unjust and unreasonable rates.” Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., are also original co-sponsors of the measure, Duckworth's office said.
Clyburn lauded the introduction, during the event. The FCC's Republican majority needs to “hit the gas” on a ICS rules revamp even as it should “pump the brakes” on other actions, including implementing its order to rescind 2015 net neutrality rules and Lifeline changes, Clyburn said: “Things are not looking great at all” on issues affecting “economically poor” people and racial minorities, but “I am heartened” because of public outcry on those actions. Rosenworcel concentrated her criticisms on the FCC's recent Lifeline actions. The program is now “under assault,” including via its proposal to ban reseller participation in Lifeline (see 1711160021), she said. “What the agency has proposed to do with Lifeline is not reform, it's cruelty,” Rosenworcel said. Advocates “can't let this brutal proposal succeed.” A “properly run and modernized” Lifeline “can help expand” opportunities for internet connectivity,” she said.
Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis., said it's “outrageous to think” the FCC is “turning the misery” of inmates' families into a "money-making venture,” noting the connection between inmates staying in touch with loved ones while imprisoned and a lower rate of recidivism. Rollback of 2015 net neutrality rules, like FCC Lifeline program changes, is an additional way to “shame the poor, blame the poor and to shift all of the wealth of this country to the few,” Moore said. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said actions on net neutrality and other issues show the agency “doing everything it can to roll back years of progress” for the poor and minorities. “A lot of work needs to be done” to improve minorities' access to communications networks and the number of minority-owned communications sector companies “but [President Donald Trump's] administration is not addressing” those issues, Waters said.
Pai “is committed to transforming Lifeline into a program that can efficiently and effectively close the digital divide for low-income Americans, including those in rural areas and Tribal lands,” a spokeswoman emailed. “That’s why he led” Lifeline revamp efforts. “That’s why he continues to fight hard against waste, fraud, and abuse, so that this program can continue to connect low-income consumers to affordable broadband, not line the pockets of unscrupulous providers,” the spokeswoman said.