The Senate failed to close debate on the DISCLOSE Act, as expected (CD July 27 p8). S-3638 responds to the Supreme Court’s ruling on Citizen’s United. Splitting on party lines, senators voted 57-41, falling short of the 60 votes needed to end debate. The vote was “disappointing but not unexpected,” because Republicans were under great pressure to vote no, bill sponsor Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters. Democrats will hold another vote on the bill as soon as they can convince a Republican to support it, he said. Schumer is open to editing the bill to get the 60th vote, he said. He declined to guess when the vote would occur. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said he hoped the Senate will pass the bill before political advertising for the November election heats up. “This new law will not stifle anyone’s speech or their ability to advertise -- it merely requires them to do so out in the open,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said on the Senate floor. Big corporations should be required to stand by their ads, agreed Schumer. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters that the bill is a “transparent effort” by Democrats to “rig the November election.” The latest version of the Senate bill doesn’t contain lowest-unit-charge provisions that broadcasters opposed.
The Senate may hotline a disabilities communications bill in a unanimous consent vote as soon as Tuesday, a Senate staffer told us. The House was expected to pass its own version Monday night, industry officials said. The House considered HR-3101 in the afternoon, but postponed votes until after our deadline. Monday was the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Rural wireless carriers didn’t endorse but some may be open to Universal Service Fund overhaul legislation by House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., and Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb. The bill (HR-5828) is backed by major wireline associations, the cable industry and AT&T and Verizon (CD July 23 p1). Some expected a competitive bidding rule to alienate rural wireless carriers that compete for USF dollars as competitive eligible telecommunications carriers. Wireless CETCs have concerns, but believe Boucher and Terry listened hard to all stakeholders and came up with a “solid compromise,” said Rural Telecommunication Group General Counsel Carri Bennet.
The Senate Commerce Committee approved Thursday a spectrum bill to streamline relocation for federal users. By voice vote, the committee reported S-3490 to the full Senate with a substitute amendment by sponsor Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Roger Wicker, R-Miss. The legislation aims to set up a more orderly process for moving federal users off bands that would be reviewed by a three-member technical panel reporting to the FCC and the NTIA. At the markup, Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said the bill would ensure that relocation is open and transparent. But it may need further adjustments before it hits the Senate floor, he said. Sens. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and John Kerry, D-Mass., have concerns, but Warner and Wicker plan to work with them before the next vote, said Warner. The Wireless Broadband Coalition, representing AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Cisco and Qualcomm, welcomed approval by the committee. The bill “doesn’t make spectrum allocation decisions, but it does make future spectrum allocation decisions easier to implement,” said the coalition’s executive director, David Taylor. “Delays in the AWS spectrum relocation process have slowed broadband deployment. The WBC believes that Federal policy should seek to promote infrastructure investment and broadband deployment, not slow it down.” The Warner-Wicker bill will spur broadband deployment and investment and create jobs, and the coalition believes it “can and should be enacted into law this year.” The legislation “will make the spectrum relocation process more predictable and transparent, thereby producing a more efficient relocation process for all parties and advancing the broadband deployment goals we all share,” said CTIA President Steve Largent. “We hope the full Senate will act on S. 3490 as soon as possible.” The spectrum bill is similar to House legislation HR-3019 by Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., but it addresses some concerns that had been raised by the White House (CD June 17 p6). The House Commerce committee passed the Inslee bill in March.
Wireline telcos of all sizes plus the cable industry backed comprehensive Universal Service Fund legislation introduced Thursday by Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., of the House Communications Subcommittee and Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb. The sponsors are upbeat about winning FCC support and getting the long-gestating bill through Congress, they told reporters Thursday. The measure will rein in the size of the fund and spur broadband deployment, they said. The legislation will make USF “durable and sustainable in the long term,” said Boucher.
The FCC shouldn’t consider reclassification at its Sept. 16 open meeting, said House Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Cliff Stearns, R-Fla. At a Commerce Committee markup Wednesday, he urged House Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., to direct FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski not to take the issue up until at least October. “Given the behind-the-scenes that would have to take place at the commission, such a move would indicate that little or no analysis or consideration was given to the comment or reply comments that were filed on the issue during the comment period,” Stearns said. It would also be “disrespectful” to bicameral, bipartisan talks on the Hill, which seem to be leading to a “narrow, targeted bill.” With Congress recessing in August, legislators would only have “a few days to react upon our return in September.” Also at the hearing, Commerce Committee Ranking Member Joe Barton, R-Texas, slammed Tuesday’s FCC broadband deployment report (CD July 21 p1), which found that the U.S. isn’t deploying broadband in a “reasonable and timely” fashion. “The FCC seemed to ignore the developments that have actually happened in the marketplace,” Barton said.
Public safety would get the 700 MHz D-block under major new bills unveiled separately Tuesday by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and by Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and John McCain, R-Ariz. The latter bill is similar to a House one (HR-5081) introduced a few months ago by Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y. On a conference call with reporters, senior FCC officials welcomed the Rockefeller bill, even though it clashes with the National Broadband Plan’s recommendation that the band be sold at auction. An agency spokeswoman declined to comment on the McCain-Lieberman legislation.
Internet accessibility legislation cleared the House Commerce Committee by a unanimous voice vote Wednesday. The committee reported the bill (HR-3101) to the full House with amendments addressing industry concerns, expanding video description requirements, and establishing an annual $10 million fund to subsidize equipment for the deaf-blind. Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., reaffirmed he wants to see the bills on the House and Senate floors next week in time for the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Senate Commerce Committee passed its own version of the bill (S-3304) last week (CD July 16 p5).
Republican senators seeking to limit FCC power over the Internet plan to introduce Wednesday legislation designed to stop the FCC from applying common carrier regulations to broadband, said telecom industry officials. Under the Freedom for Consumer Choice (FCC) Act, the commission couldn’t regulate unless it first showed harm to consumers from a lack of competition and it weighed the possible costs of action against the benefits. Passing the legislation is a long shot in the current political climate, telecom industry analysts said.
Senate spectrum legislation introduced Monday would authorize incentive auctions to pay federal and commercial users that voluntarily give up unused frequencies and would require a national spectrum plan. The Spectrum Measurement and Policy Reform Act, sponsored by Sens. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., aims to update national spectrum planning, management and coordination activities. The legislation would give the the FCC and the NTIA $10 million over the next two fiscal years.