The House is set to vote as soon as Tuesday night on a revised version of the NTIA Reauthorization Act (HR-4510) under suspension of the rules, the office of Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said Friday night. The House Commerce Committee-cleared measure would elevate the NTIA administrator from assistant secretary to undersecretary of Commerce. It also proposes other steps aimed at improving coordination of federal spectrum (see 2307270063). Chamber leaders pulled HR-4510 from consideration in early March amid objections from leaders of the House Armed Services Committee over the fight between NTIA and DOD about allowing 5G use of the 3.1-3.45 GHz band (see 2403060062). In addition, the House will consider the Senate-passed FAA Reauthorization Act (HR-3935) amid questions about whether backers of additional funding for the FCC’s affordable connectivity program and Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program will attempt to attach money for those initiatives to it. Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., and other senators unsuccessfully sought an amendment aimed at including $6 billion for ACP and $3.08 billion for rip and replace in HR-3935 (see 2405100046).

The American Privacy Rights Act is “an important bipartisan compromise” Congress can use as a foundation for passing a federal privacy law (see 2404160034), Senate Data Security Subcommittee Chairman John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., said Wednesday during a subcommittee hearing on protecting consumer data. Introduced by Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., APRA provides a strong federal standard with data minimization rules, Hickenlooper said, so companies aren’t collecting “everything they can.” He noted states aren’t waiting for Congress on privacy. Indeed,16 states, including Colorado, have passed or are in the process of approving privacy laws. Without a federal privacy law, the U.S. risks further ceding its authority to states and foreign governments, which is creating regulatory “headaches” for businesses, ranking member Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said.

The Senate’s bipartisan AI working group will “very soon” issue a policy “road map” with areas of consensus for committees to pursue legislation, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Wednesday. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., told us previously that committees are expected to lead legislative efforts (see 2401220047). Schumer and Rounds formed the working group with Sens. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and Todd Young, R-Ind. “AI is so complex, so rapidly evolving, so broad in impact that it will take all of us working together to maximize its potential and minimize its harms,” Schumer said on the floor Wednesday. The Senate leader said he was pleased to see President Joe Biden's Wednesday announcement about Microsoft’s $3.3 billion investment for a new AI center in Wisconsin. Microsoft President Brad Smith said the company "will use the power of AI to help advance the next generation of manufacturing companies, skills and jobs in Wisconsin and across the country. This is what a big company can do to build a strong foundation for every medium, small and start-up company and nonprofit everywhere.”

Reps. Ben Cline, R-Va., and Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, renewed concerns with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo about NTIA’s implementation of the $42.5 billion broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program. Their comments came during a Wednesday House Appropriations Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing. Cline faulted NTIA for previously rejecting the Virginia Office of Broadband’s BEAD Volume 2 application because that office “declined” to use the program to regulate broadband prices. Conservative groups previously latched onto the Virginia BEAD issue, which stemmed from NTIA’s requirements on participants offering a low-cost connectivity option (see 2403070065). “It’s been nearly five months since NTIA approved Louisiana’s [BEAD] plan, which was submitted at the same time as Virginia,” Cline said. “There are no outstanding issues,” so the Commerce Department should “commit to approving” Virginia’s application given it follows language in the authorizing 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act barring rate regulation. Raimondo declined to commit to approving the Virginia proposal but said NTIA approves state plans that comply with the rate regulation ban. “I will look in on Virginia” after the hearing, Raimondo said. “What I can promise you is we aren’t regulating” broadband prices. “We are not telling any state, including yours, ‘If you don’t provide [service] at X dollars, we’re not going to give you the money.’ But the statute requires us to have low-cost options” as a requirement for BEAD funding, she said. Gonzales noted prospective BEAD participants in his southwest Texas district worry “about their potential ability to participate” in the program “due to the large size of the [service] areas” and the low-cost option requirement. “My job in implementing this $42 billion is to make sure every American has access everywhere,” Raimondo told Gonzales. “We’re working very closely with” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) “using our maps to figure out who's not covered and providing subsidies to companies so that they” can cover rural areas.

The House Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee rescheduled a postponed Wednesday hearing on the FCC's FY 2025 federal funding request (see 2405030068) for May 16, the panel said Monday. The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. in 2359 Rayburn. The House Commerce Committee confirmed Monday a postponed Tuesday hearing on the FCC’s FY25 budget request would happen at “a later date.”

The House Appropriations and Commerce committees postponed a pair of hearings scheduled for this week on the FCC's FY 2025 funding request (see 2404300068), the panels' spokespersons separately confirmed Friday. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and the other four commissioners were set to testify at a Tuesday Communications hearing on the budget proposal. Rosenworcel was to appear at a Wednesday Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee panel. Neither of the committees announced makeup dates for the hearings Friday. Rosenworcel's brother, Brian Rosenworcel of the band Guster, announced the death of their father, Elliott, Thursday night. House Appropriations, Commerce and the FCC didn't comment on whether the hearings' delay was in response to the news.

Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., on Wednesday filed an amendment that would attach kids’ privacy legislation to the FAA reauthorization bill. He filed the amendment with lead Republican sponsor Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La. The Senate should pass the lawmakers' Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) with FAA reauthorization, said Markey: “Big Tech has contributed to the youth mental crisis, and it’s time Congress did something about it.”

Bipartisan legislation introduced Tuesday would eliminate algorithmic-targeted content for children younger than 17 and block users 13 and under from using platforms. Introduced by Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, the Kids Off Social Media Act would grant the FTC and state attorney general authority to enforce against violations. It would require schools to block and filter social media on federally funded networks. Sens. Peter Welch, D-Vt.; Ted Budd, R-N.C.; John Fetterman, D-Pa.; Angus King, I-Maine; and Mark Warner, D-Va.; are co-sponsors. “The growing evidence is clear: social media is making kids more depressed, more anxious, and more suicidal,” said Schatz. “This is an urgent health crisis, and Congress must act.” Cruz said he’s hopeful this bill, the Kids Online Safety Act and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) will “greatly reduce the physical and emotional dangers threatening many of America’s youth.”

House Commerce Committee GOP leaders said Wednesday they’ve opened an investigation into recent claims of pro-Democratic Party bias at NPR. Several congressional Republicans filed or are eyeing legislation aimed at ending NPR’s federal funding in response to the bias reports, including the Defund NPR Act (HR-8083) (see 2404190060). Past attempts at halting NPR's portion of CPB federal funding have failed, including a bid during the FY 2024 cycle by Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas (see 2311030069). The House Commerce Oversight Subcommittee summoned NPR CEO Katherine Maher to testify at a May 8 hearing. Panel leaders want her to respond by May 14 to a range of questions about the political viewpoint balance within the broadcasting network. House Commerce “has concerns about the direction in which NPR may be headed under past and present leadership,” said panel Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.), Communications Subcommittee Chairman Bob Latta (Ohio) and Oversight Chairman Morgan Griffith (Va.). in a Tuesday letter to Maher. “As a taxpayer funded, public radio organization, NPR should focus on fair and objective news reporting that both considers and reflects the views of the larger U.S. population and not just a niche audience.” Committee Republicans also “find it disconcerting that NPR’s coverage of major news in recent years has been so polarized as to preclude any need to uncover the truth,” the lawmakers said: “These have included news stories on matters of national security and importance,” including “the COVID-19 origins investigation” and scrutiny into the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop. “On each of these issues, NPR has been accused of approaching its news reporting with an extreme left-leaning lens,” the Republicans said. NPR didn’t comment.

The House on Monday passed legislation requiring that social media platforms report activity related to trafficking and criminal enticement of children. Sens. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Reps. Laurel Lee, R-Fla., and Susie Lee, D-Nev., introduced the Report Act. It requires that platforms flag activity for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Currently, companies must report child sexual abuse material only. The bill passed the Senate in December and now heads to President Joe Biden’s desk. The House approved the measure by voice vote. “Children are increasingly looking at screens, and the reality is that the internet and social media leave more innocent kids at risk of online exploitation,” Blackburn said in a statement. “Under this new law, big tech companies will now be required to report when children are being trafficked, groomed or enticed by predators.” The bill will ensure “tech companies are held accountable to report and remove child sex abuse material and to strengthen protection for kids online,” said Ossoff. NetChoice State & Federal Affairs Director Amy Bos called it an “important” piece of legislation “designed to help law enforcement more effectively stop online predators and provide additional support and resources for victims of these horrific crimes.”