Barton Optimistic Telecom Bill Will Pass
Giving odds of 2 to 1, House Commerce Committee Chmn. Barton (R-Tex.) said he expects a slightly modified version of the House telecom bill to reach the President this year. In a conference call with reporters, Barton said the bill will gain strong bipartisan support thanks to support from Rep. Rush (D-Ill.). Rush signed on Mon. as co-sponsor when talks broke down between Barton and Ranking Member Dingell (D-Mich.) and Subcommittee Chmn. Markey (D-Mass.)
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
Loss of Dingell and Markey’s support is “not a positive sign,” Barton said. But he views Rush as a “late addition to a team struggling to make the playoffs, and we got a superstar who came in and we started winning,” he said. Rush said he was “motivated to clear up the logjam” to get his constituents access to competition. Earlier, he had pushed for anti-bias language in the bill; he said he is satisfied it stipulates stronger enforcement than he requested.
The bill will go to markup at the subcommittee level next week, then move to the full committee, Barton said: “The majority leader is already clearing floor time in May or June.” Committee staff has kept in close touch with the Senate Commerce Committee, now preparing its telecom bill, Telecom Subcommittee Chmn. Upton (R-Mich.) said: “My suspicion is that once we get a bill out of the subcommittee they're (Senate) not going to be too far behind.”
“My clear understanding is that it’s a priority” for Sen. Stevens (R-Alaska) and that the Senate committee is getting ready to move on a bill, Barton said: “We're pretty close in philosophy.” Upton said the House bill won’t address the Universal Service Fund, which Stevens has made clear is a priority for the Senate bill. “That’s a conferenceable issue,” Barton said.
Barton said he holds out hope he may be able to rebuild relations with Dingell and Markey, which he said broke down over “small policy differences.” He wants the committee to have a tradition of an “open, fair and bipartisan” process, he said: “There’s mutual agreement on both sides that some of the things we couldn’t find a way to get to a final agreement. Several times I thought we had it. He hopes he might win their support down the road, he said.
Barton downplayed the uproar over net neutrality; the issue will be moot in 3 years, he predicted. “Before we get too far down the road, we want to let the market sort itself out,” he said, declaring that the bill’s delegation of authority to the FCC strikes the right balance. The cable industry has been very “positive” during discussions, Barton said: “I think this bill at a minimum cable will accept and will support with varying degrees of enthusiasm.” - Anne Veigle