JUDICIARY COMMITTEE GOING FORWARD WITH REVIEW OF TAUZIN-DINGELL
House Judiciary Committee May 22 will go ahead with review of competing data regulation bills, but panel is still waiting for go-ahead from House Speaker Hastert (R-Ill.) to share formal jurisdiction over movement of bill by House Commerce Committee Chmn. Tauzin (R-La.) and ranking Member Dingell (D-Mich.), Judiciary staffer said. Judiciary Committee Chmn. Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) recently asked Hastert for “sequential referral” of Tauzin-Dingell bill (HR-1542), which Commerce Committee this week referred to full House for consideration (CD May 10 p1). Judiciary also will discuss merits of bills (HR-1697 and HR-1698) introduced by Reps. Conyers (D-Mich.) and Cannon (R-Utah), which would ensure that antitrust laws aren’t superceded by Telecom Act (CD May 4 p1), officials said.
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After more than 8 hours of debate, Commerce Committee voted 32-23 late Wed. in favor of Tauzin-Dingell. Opponents reiterated their dismay with the bill, which they claim will harm competition and undermine competitive provisions of Act. “This is a bill that should never have seen the light of day, and its difficult passage out [of] Committee shows we are hardly alone in that opinion,” said Steve Mossbrook, U.S. Internet Service Providers Alliance advisory board member. AT&T blasted pace that Tauzin moved bill, which Vp-Federal Govt. Affairs Len Cali described as “abbreviated process that required a rush to judgment.” He said that hasty review of bill “left members little time fully to understand its implications for competition and the economy. That’s exactly what the Bells had counted on.”
Supporters of bill vowed to step up efforts to educate uncommitted members and consumers on purported benefits of HR-1542 (CD May 9 p2), which would enable Bell company provision of high- speed Internet services across in-region interLATA boundaries. Commerce Committee spokesman Ken Johnson said supporters of HR- 1542 are not swayed by suggestion vote margin is sign of trouble. “Opponents of bill threw everything at us including the kitchen sink,” he said. “We now know the extent of what our opponents will do to distort and mislead members about our legislation. I promise we'll be better prepared when the bill goes to the House floor.”
USTA Interim Pres. Gary Lytle said HR-1542 “is the best solution to ensure that old regulations do not get in the way of the innovation and deployment of new technologies, and that all carriers compete under the same set of rules.”
Committee approved version of bill that Tauzin had submitted as an amendment in form of substitute. Tauzin changed version passed at subcommittee level by including language addressing FCC line sharing order. It would require incumbents to provide competitive carriers with access to network elements previously mandated by FCC, while preserving exception to FCC line-sharing order, thereby enabling ILECs to refuse provisioning CLECs with “unbundled access to the high frequency portion of the loop at a local terminal.”