Doyle Sees Chance Some House Republicans Will Support Save the Internet Act
There's still a good chance some House Republicans will support the Save the Internet Act net neutrality bill (HR-1644), said House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., on an episode of C-SPAN's The Communicators that was set to have been televised over the weekend. HR-1644 and Senate companion S-682, filed earlier this month, would add a new title to the Communications Act that would overturn the FCC order rescinding its 2015 rules, retroactively restoring reclassification of broadband as a Communications Act Title II service (see 1903060077). House Communications Republicans railed against the bill during a legislative hearing last week, leading some lobbyists to predict a party-line vote on the measure at markup later this month (see 1903120078).
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“Once we get a chance” to talk with those GOP lawmakers not on the House Commerce Committee “and who haven't heard” all of the same net neutrality arguments, some of them will favor the measure, Doyle said: “A lot of them are going to hear from their constituents,” who “want them to vote for this” bill. Doyle said he and other HR-1644 supporters are working to address lawmakers' questions about the measure and want to “make sure that they understand that this is no longer a Title II bill.” HR-1644 would codify the FCC's forbearance from applying much of the language in Title II in broadband regulation, meaning it takes only “what I consider to be the best elements of” the section, including the general conduct standard, and puts it “into statute once and for all,” Doyle said.
“That's a compromise” that's a “different position” from the language in the Congressional Review Act resolution that last year aimed to undo the FCC's rescission order and “simply restored” the 2015 rules, Doyle said. The Senate passed that resolution 52-47. A discharge petition aimed at forcing a House vote on the measure fell short of the 218 minimum signatures (see 1901020046). Supporters are also emphasizing that the restoring the remaining Title II language for broadband regulation will mean a return of the “legal underpinnings” of the USF Lifeline and Connect America Fund programs, he said.
Doyle finds pro-5G arguments for T-Mobile's proposed buy of Sprint interesting. After House Communications' February hearing (see 1902130072), he's “still skeptical.” The two carriers “have a ways to go” to assure Congress and federal regulators “this is going to be something that's good for” consumers, he said. “I have yet to see a merger” between carriers “that didn't result in less jobs and less competition.” The House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee also examined the deal last week (see 1903120079).
House Communications will play a role on other tech policy issues, too, though the House Consumer Protection Subcommittee will have a primary role in writing privacy legislation, Doyle said. He raised concerns about whether Facebook has done enough to address its privacy problems, but lawmakers need to decide on a course of action “in a thoughtful way” rather than rushing to a decision. Doyle said doesn't support a proposal by 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., to break up Google, Facebook and Amazon in hopes of enabling smaller competitors (see 1903080034). “I don't think we're at a point where we need to break those companies up,” he said.