Capitol Hill

event Tuesday on Capitol Hill. A USF bill may be passable on a bipartisan basis, said Ranking Member Cliff Stearns, R-Fla. Both legislators reaffirmed support for the FCC broadband plan, but Stearns said he has concerns about how the FCC sees its role in spurring the marketplace. The House Communications Subcommittee may postpone their broadband plan hearing Thursday because several members are “weary” from the health care debate and are pushing leadership to give them an early recess Wednesday night, said Boucher. If that happens, the hearing will be postponed until April when Congress returns, he said. In the “very near future,” the chairman hopes to mark up a bill by himself and Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., which is backed by rural and urban broadband providers, Boucher said. He hasn’t introduced the legislation yet. The Boucher-Terry bill “goes beyond” what the commission is proposing, he said. The broadband plan only suggests transitioning USF to broadband, a concept that’s consistent with what Boucher is proposing, he said. The plan’s similarities to legislation are not coincidence, he added. “We've been coordinating with the commission over the course of the last year … and the core recommendation that we made is that we have this transition of the high-cost fund from supporting basic telephone service to supporting broadband.” Stearns believes bipartisan legislation is possible on USF, privacy and spectrum, he said. “It’s just a question … of finding the time to do it,” because legislators are “in campaign mode now,” he said. Stearns reaffirmed general support for the broadband plan, saying he was particularly glad it didn’t recommend making network neutrality rules. But the Republican doesn’t plan to give the FCC a free pass at his subcommittee’s hearing: “I'm just going to caution the commissioners to think in terms of allowing the market as much as possible to work.” The Senate Commerce Committee canceled its broadband plan hearing Tuesday. The committee didn’t comment on the reasons by our deadline, or announce a new time for the hearing. Hill sources said there was a dispute between parties on an unrelated matter that ended all Senate committee hearings that afternoon. Under Senate rules, the majority must get the minority’s consent before any hearing can be held. Genachowski believes the plan “will deliver extremely significant benefits over time, as broadband is harnessed for job creation and new investment,” he said in testimony prepared for the hearing. The plan is “non-ideological and nonpartisan,” he said. It’s also “fiscally prudent,” because it recognizes “the overwhelming primacy of private investment in achieving our national broadband goals,” and suggests spectrum auctions “that could generate billions in revenue, exceeding any funding or investments that the plan suggests for Congressional consideration,” he said.