Two possible candidates to lead Republicans on the House Commerce Committee next year distanced themselves from Ranking Member Joe Barton, R-Texas, after Barton came under fire for remarks on the BP oil spill Thursday. Barton was “out of line,” said Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., one of three House Communications Subcommittee members thought to be eying the top Republican job on the Commerce Committee (CD May 27 p2). Another contender, Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan, said most Republicans were “on a different page” than Barton on BP putting aside $20 billion for oil spill damages, Roll Call reported Thursday. Barton needs to secure a waiver from the House Steering Committee to keep his post, due to a House GOP caucus rule limiting Republicans to three two-year terms at the top of committees, whether the party is in the majority or minority. Boehner and other House Republicans slammed Barton late Thursday after Barton apologized to BP for a White House “shakedown” of BP. Barton later apologized for the apology. “Congressman Barton’s statements this morning were wrong,” said Boehner, Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., and Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., in a joint statement. Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., who has stated he wants the Commerce Committee job, didn’t comment.
Adam Bender
Adam Bender, Deputy Managing Editor for Privacy Daily. Bender leads a team of journalists and reports on state privacy legislation, rulemaking and litigation. In previous roles at Communications Daily, he covered telecom and internet policy in the states, Congress and at the FCC. He has won awards for his reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), Specialized Information Publishers Association (SIPA) and the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW). Bender studied print journalism at American University and is the author of multiple dystopian sci-fi novels. Keep up to date with Bender by reading his blog and following him on social media including Bluesky, Mastodon and LinkedIn.
Congressional staff meetings on updating the Telecom Act starting this week will be closed to the public. “They will be invitation only and will not be open to the public or the press,” said a spokeswoman for Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va. Commerce Committee leaders from both parties said Friday they will kick off a series of “staff-led stakeholder sessions” on June 25. The committees said they plan to publicly release participant lists and submitted statements. Discussions will include staff for bipartisan leaders of the House and Senate’s Commerce Committee and Communications Subcommittee, and unspecified other interested parties. “A diverse group of stakeholders will be invited to participate in each session,” the committees said. “The list of participants will vary for each subject.” The first set of sessions “will address broadband regulation and FCC authority, with a focus on protecting consumers and promoting broadband investment,” the committees said. Later meetings will address spectrum policy and broadband deployment and adoption, they said. It’s not unusual for Hill staff briefings to be closed, and Congress isn’t subject to the same degree of transparency rules as the FCC, said Public Knowledge spokesman Art Brodsky. It would be more a problem if any members of Congress were involved at the meetings, he said. “Free Press believes that the meetings should be transparent and open to the public,” said Policy Counsel Aparna Sridhar. “The Communications Act has not been updated since 1996, and consumers could benefit from a wide array of reforms. The only way that the public can be a part of the conversation is if the conversation is open to the public.” “Free Press believes that the meetings should be transparent and open to the public,” said policy counsel Aparna Sridhar. “The Communications Act has not been updated since 1996, and consumers could benefit from a wide array of reforms. The only way that the public can be a part of the conversation is if the conversation is open to the public."
Public safety resistance to a D-block auction only seemed to intensify after Democrats and Republicans endorsed the approach at a House Communications Subcommittee hearing Thursday. It’s unclear how a nationwide, interoperable public safety network would otherwise be funded, subcommittee members said. Legislators also backed bipartisan 911 legislation that includes language to stop states from misusing 911 funds.
Senate legislation to streamline spectrum relocation for federal users makes minor tweaks to a House bill by Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash. The bipartisan Senate bill (S-3490) was introduced late Tuesday by Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Roger Wicker, R-Miss. Both bills aim to establish a more orderly process for transitioning federal users off bands that would be reviewed by a three-member technical panel reporting to the FCC and NTIA.
Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., is worried that a draft public safety bill by Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., allows the FCC to condition use of the D-block, he said late Monday. A bipartisan draft of the Waxman bill surfaced Monday (CD June 15 p1). The House Communications Subcommittee plans a hearing Thursday. “I am still concerned that the draft still allows the FCC to impose conditions of what entities can bid on the spectrum while Republicans want no conditions,” said Stearns, ranking member of the Communications Subcommittee. But National Emergency Number Association CEO Brian Fontes called the draft bill a key step forward. “The draft legislation underscores the importance of a national wireless public safety broadband network and a clear demonstration of a commitment to fund both the construction and maintenance of the network,” he said. The subcommittee announced as invited witnesses FCC Public Safety Bureau Chief Jamie Barnett; Charles Dowd, New York City Police deputy chief; Jonathan Moore, a director at the International Association of Fire Fighters; Steve Zipperstein, Verizon Wireless’s general counsel; Joseph Hanley, technology vice president for Telephone and Data Systems; NENA’s Fontes; Dale Hatfield, an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado; and Coleman Bazelon, a principal of the Brattle Group.
Recent Supreme Court cases haven’t displaced antitrust law in telecom and other highly regulated industries, Verizon Senior Vice President John Thorne said at a hearing Tuesday of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy. But an FTC official and others urged Congress to use legislation to clarify the meaning of the high court’s 2003 Trinko and 2007 Credit Suisse decisions. Democratic and Republican subcommittee members said they were troubled by the rulings, but Republicans seemed hesitant to back legislative action. House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., told us a legislative fix is unlikely.
Draft public safety legislation by House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., envisions $11 billion for the construction and operation of a nationwide, interoperable public safety network. A draft we obtained Monday would fund the network using proceeds from auctions of the 700 MHz D-block and other spectrum, with additional money from the U.S. Treasury. Public safety groups have opposed that approach, favoring legislation to directly allocate the D-Block to public safety (CD June 8 p1). The House Communications Subcommittee plans to discuss the bill at a hearing Thursday.
A hearing on Internet accessibility legislation exploded into a political brawl after Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., lashed out at CEA President Gary Shapiro. Testifying Thursday to the House Communications Subcommittee, Shapiro had said Markey’s bill (HR-3101) could kill start-up consumer electronics manufacturers by requiring them to make all products accessible to people with any disability. Republicans defended the CEA executive and scolded Markey. Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., tried to steer the discussion back toward areas of agreement.
Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, wants to use the appropriations process to stop the FCC from acting on Chairman Julius Genachowski’s “third way” broadband regulation proposal. At a hearing Wednesday of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services, Culberson said he would offer an amendment to FCC budget legislation prohibiting the agency from using any federal funds to “regulate the Internet,” including for reclassifying broadband transport under Title II of the Communications Act. Subcommittee Chairman Jose Serrano, D-N.Y., said he doesn’t support the amendment and won’t work with Culberson to refine it.
Legislation blocking the FCC from reclassifying broadband “is not going to be a Democratic initiative,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. In a conference call with bloggers Tuesday, she dismissed some Democrats’ objections to FCC reclassification of broadband transport under Title II of the Communications Act. Meanwhile, House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., told us he hopes to address colleagues’ concerns by having net neutrality legislation this year.