Over Democratic objections, the House Rules Committee was expected to approve for a floor vote the resolution of disapproval to overturn the FCC net neutrality order. The committee vote, which was set to occur after our deadline late Monday, sets up a floor vote by the full House later this week. President Barack Obama’s administration “strongly opposes” House Joint Resolution 37, “which would undermine a fundamental part of the Nation’s Internet and innovation strategy -- an enforceable and effective policy for keeping the Internet free and open,” the Office of Management and Budget said. The net neutrality order “resulted from a process that brought together parties on all sides of this issue -- from consumer groups to technology companies to broadband providers -- to enable their voices to be heard,” OMB said in a written statement Monday evening. It “reflected a constructive effort to build a consensus around what safeguards and protections were reasonable and necessary to ensure that the Internet continues to attract investment and to spur innovation” and disapproving it would “raise questions as to whether innovation on the Internet will be allowed to flourish, consumers will be protected from abuses, and the democratic spirit of the Internet will remain intact,” the office said. For the first time, the administration confirmed publicly that Obama’s aides would recommend he veto the resolution of disapproval, if it came to his desk to be signed. Rules Committee Democrats think the Congressional Review Act measure is a “total waste of time,” said a spokesman for Ranking Member Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y. “Instead of working with [Democrats] to focus on legislation to create jobs and promote economic recovery, [Republicans] are continuing to pursue politically motivated distractions that have no chance of becoming law,” the spokesman said in a written statement. “Even if they succeed at pushing this bill which allows for zero minority input through the House, it has long odds in the Senate and the administration is sure to veto it. The Courts are reviewing the legal questions around the Open Internet Order and will decide the matter, not this time-wasting effort against openness and transparency on the Internet.”
The FCC should determine if the wireless market will still function in the wake of AT&T buying T-Mobile, said House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore. Speaking at the Newseum at an event hosted by Politico and the Telecommunications Industry Association, Walden urged the agency to conduct a market-power analysis in its review of the deal. He warned the commission not to abuse its review authority by getting the parties to agree to conditions.
The House Communications Subcommittee unanimously approved draft legislation to speed unused broadband funds back to the U.S. Treasury, in a voice vote Friday morning. The combined hearing and markup lasted only about 45 minutes. Democrats questioned the need for the bill by House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., but they didn’t oppose it. NTIA and RUS heads said the bill’s goals are consistent with existing policies at the agencies.
Capitol Hill is taking notice of GPS interference issues potentially raised by the LightSquared network. House Communications Ranking Member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., told us Friday that concerns raised by the GPS community “are serious and need to be addressed before any build-out of the proposed network by LightSquared.” At an FCC budget hearing last week in the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government (CD March 31 p1), Ranking Member Jose Serrano, D-N.Y., and Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., and Kevin Yoder, R-Kan., also flagged potential interference to GPS. LightSquared is reviewing the interference potential through an FCC-required working group that includes wireless, GPS and federal interests. That group is supposed to present a final report to the agency by June 15.
Republicans want to cut FCC spending below the agency’s FY 2012 request of $354.2 million, they said at a hearing Wednesday of the House Appropriations subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government. It’s still important to find cost savings at the FCC, even if the agency offsets its costs by releasing new spectrum, said Subcommittee Chairman Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo. Committee members also needled FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski on many specific issues, including data roaming, potential interference to GPS by LightSquared, and alleged privacy violations by Google.
Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., will soon reintroduce her Universal Service Fund revamp bill, she said at a conference Tuesday of the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition. The bill will return “in the coming weeks,” the Communications Subcommittee member said. The bill would update the Lifeline and Link-Up programs to subsidize broadband for low-income people. Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., has said he also plans to reintroduce his comprehensive USF legislation from last year. Matsui expects Congress to spend a “considerable amount of time” on the proposed AT&T/T-Mobile merger, and she expects Walden will have hearings, she said. Congress has a “duty” to “thoroughly examine” what impact the merger will have on the marketplace, Matsui said. Spectrum and USF reform may be on the way, too, though the subcommittee has focused on net neutrality, she said. Matsui reiterated that she “strongly” supports the FCC’s net neutrality order.
House leaders plan a floor vote on net neutrality next week, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., told us during a news briefing. Cantor expects to have “the ability to bring to the floor” next week the resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act to overturn the FCC’s controversial December order, he said. The resolution was approved two weeks ago by the Commerce Committee. Cantor said he didn’t know how many Democrats would support the measure. Also at the briefing, Cantor said he doesn’t want another short-term Continuing Resolution and hopes to find agreement with the Senate on a 6-month CR for fiscal year 2011. House Republicans don’t want to shut down the government, but they do want to cut spending, Cantor said. The current CR expires April 8.
A recent audit that criticized the FCC for not following federal guidelines on tracking public spending (CD March 28 p11) “may come up” when Chairman Julius Genachowski testifies before a House appropriations subcommittee, said a spokesman for Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo. The chairman of the subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government “is aware of the situation,” her spokesman said. Managers at both the FCC and the Universal Service Administrative Co. were recently ordered to “update and reinforce” rules for entering expenses into the federal accounting system, after outside auditors labeled the commission’s accounting system “a significant deficiency."
NTIA has no problem with a developing bill to speed the return of unused broadband stimulus funds to the U.S. Treasury, NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling said at a conference Tuesday of the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition. Strickling and Rural Utility Service Administrator Jonathan Adelstein plan to testify at Friday’s hearing on the bill before the House Communications Subcommittee. In an earlier panel Tuesday, Democratic Hill staffers questioned the need for legislation.
Democrats dismissed GOP alarm bells over the frequency of White House visits by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski (CD March 25 p3) . House Oversight Committee Darrell Issa, R-Calif., alleged last week that Genachowski made 81 visits between January 2009 and November 2010, timed near events in the FCC’s net neutrality rulemaking. But in a memo released Monday, Democratic committee staff said Genachowski actually visited the White House 35 times, and many meetings didn’t relate to net neutrality. “Any way you cut it, the claim that Genachowski visited the White House 81 times is a mischaracterization,” they said. Democratic committee staff discovered 76 scheduled White House visits, but said Genachowski didn’t attend 41 of them. Of the remaining 35 events, 17 “are completely unrelated to net neutrality,” including Genachowski’s swearing-in ceremony and 2009’s White House turkey pardoning. Democratic committee staff said it was wrong of Issa to compare Genachowski’s number of visits with that of Cabinet secretaries. Issa said Genachowski’s alleged 81 visits equal the combined number by the secretaries of State, Defense, Energy, Treasury and Homeland Security, but, unlike Genachowski, cabinet secretaries are allowed to skip the usual White House visit registration system, the Democrats said. “The Secretaries attend literally hundreds of meetings with the President and his staff,” the Democrats said. Genachowski had more matters than net neutrality to discuss, added the Democratic committee staff. “The depth and breadth of the agency’s work is substantial, and in any given week, the FCC has numerous high-stakes matters to address,” the Democratic committee staff said in the memo. Oversight Committee Ranking Member Elijah Cummings, D-Md., has no plans at this time to weigh in himself, a spokeswoman said. Issa’s office declined to comment.