The GOP overcame Democratic opposition to FCC process reform proposals, approving two bills Wednesday in the House Communications Subcommittee. On a party line vote, the subcommittee voted 14-9 on HR-3309, which requires rulemaking shot clocks, cost-benefit analyses and a variety of other process changes. However, Democrats supported HR-3310, a bill that would consolidate many FCC reports and eliminate others. The subcommittee approved that bill by voice vote but said more work needs to be done before the next markup in the full committee.
The Senate could take up spectrum in an omnibus bill this year if the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction fails to reach a deal including spectrum, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said at a public safety press conference Tuesday. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and other lawmakers said they would support that approach. Schumer and other members of Congress urged the super committee to include D-block reallocation in its recommendations.
With the Thanksgiving deadline fast approaching for the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, observers are growing skeptical that the super committee will meet its goal of finding $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction. Democrats and Republicans on the special committee seem to agree spectrum auctions should be included, but they continue to disagree on larger, unrelated issues, Hill and industry officials said. Auctions could still make the cut in a smaller package to mitigate an automatic, across-the-board budget cut in January 2013 known as a sequester, telecom industry lobbyists said.
Congress should act on spectrum issues, said Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass. Kerry, a member of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, declined to comment on whether spectrum would be covered in the super committee’s final recommendations. “Congress needs to deal with the spectrum issue at some point in time,” Kerry told reporters Thursday afternoon. Emergency communications depends on granting the 700 MHz D-block to public safety, he said. “So at some point outside of this agreement I'd like to see us get somewhere on spectrum.” Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., hopes the super committee will act on spectrum, Rockefeller told reporters. He’s not sure yet about next steps if the super committee does not. President Barack “Obama wants to do it, [Senate] leadership wants to do it,” Rockefeller said. “The question is if we'll be allowed to.”
The legislative campaign against the FCC net neutrality order crumbled Thursday on Capitol Hill, as Senate Democrats rejected Republicans’ Congressional Review Act joint resolution of disapproval. The Senate voted 46-52 on a motion to proceed to SJ Res 6, with no Democrats voting for the joint resolution of disapproval. That means a vote won’t be held on SJ Res 6 itself. The FCC order takes effect Nov. 20. “The only thing [Republicans] can do at this point is allow the courts to handle” the issue, a House aide said.
No senator broke with party lines in floor debate Wednesday over the FCC’s net neutrality order scheduled to take effect Nov. 20. Republicans universally supported a joint resolution (SJ Res 6) to disapprove the December order under the Congressional Review Act. As expected (CD Nov 9 p4), Democrats lined up against disapproval. Republicans need the support of at least four Democrats when the Senate votes Thursday. The House passed an identical resolution in April, but the White House has threatened a veto if presented with the bill.
Democratic support appears thin in the Senate for a joint resolution of disapproval to void the FCC’s net neutrality rules from December. But with debate set to start Wednesday and a vote Thursday, many on the SJ Res 6 supporters’ hit list are keeping mum on how they will vote. Assuming all 47 Republicans unite behind the resolution, four Democratic votes are needed to pass it. The White House on Tuesday threatened a veto if it’s passed.
Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, urged support for SJ Res 6 to kill the FCC’s net neutrality order. The Senate is expected to debate the GOP measure on Wednesday, but the final vote may wait until Thursday, Senate and industry officials said. Snowe, a moderate Republican who sometimes votes with Democrats, said in a letter Monday to colleagues that she supports net neutrality but has “serious reservations” about the FCC’s methods. “The FCC’s rules, which appear to be a parceling together of fragmented provisions in the telecommunications statute, and last year’s DC Court’s Comcast decision bring into question the FCC’s ability to effectively and legally develop a solid foundation for establishing network neutrality protections,” Snowe said. Snowe said she believes Congress should update federal telecom laws to reflect current technology. Only four Democratic votes are needed to pass SJ Res 6 because the Congressional Review Act requires only a simple majority -- 51 votes -- and protects against filibusters. However, President Barack Obama has threatened a veto, and a two-thirds majority in the House and Senate would be required to override it.
Democratic and GOP staff should get back to work on spectrum legislation in the House Communications Subcommittee, said Ranking Member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif. Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., said Wednesday he’s waiting for the recommendations of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (CD Nov 3 p1). Eshoo told us she believes the subcommittee should push ahead now, so that the House is “absolutely ready to go.” She told us that “we're not quite there yet,” speaking after a separate hearing on Friday. (See story in this issue.) Eshoo doubts that the super committee “is going to be able to do a deep dive on a number of complex issues that are part of this,” she said. The House “should not be left out” of the spectrum discussion, she added.
Members from each side of the political aisle at a House Communications Subcommittee hearing on Friday voiced privacy concerns with a bill (HR-3035) to relax requirements on calls to cellphones now contained in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). But many agreed the 1991 law may need an update. The TCPA is the basis for many consumer complaints submitted to the FCC about unsolicited calls. HR-3035 is supported by the wireless industry, businesses and universities, but opposed by several consumer advocates and state attorneys general (CD Nov 4 p7). Sponsor Reps. Lee Terry, R-Neb., and Ed Towns, D-N.Y., said they're open to revising the bill.