Differences Emerge in Bills Sponsored by Candidates to Chair House Commerce Committee

Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, was the only candidate for the chairmanship who co-sponsored the Informed P2P User Act, HR-1319 in 2009, requiring a file-sharing program to provide “conspicuous notice” before installation that it allowed other computers to search and copy files and obtain consent from the owner. He also was the only co-sponsor of the Digital Media Consumers’ Rights Act of 2005, HR-1201, by Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., prohibiting the sale of mislabeled digital music products. Barton was the sole sponsor of the Warning, Alert, and Response Network Act of 2006 to adopt technical requirements for commercial mobile service alerts (HR-6351) and the 21st Century Emergency Communications Act of 2006 to require interoperability of all Department of Homeland Security communications systems (HR-6349).

Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., took the lead on net neutrality legislation back in 2005, when he and Boucher were the only sponsors of a bill declaring that the Internet was not a service under the Communications Act and prohibiting the FCC from regulating it (HR-214). Stearns also was the only sponsor of a bill to ban restrictions on newspapers’ owning radio and television stations (HR-1622 in 2005) and to tighten videogame decency rules (HR-5912 in 2006).

Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., was the only co-sponsor on three 2005 bills to ban Internet taxes (HR-1684, 1685 and 4862). He also was the only co-sponsor of a 2005 bill to ban Internet gambling (HR-4411). Upton was the only cosponsor of two video decency bills (HR-6120 in 2006 and HR-1531 in 2007). He joined Boucher and four other Democrats as the sponsors of the Community Broadband Act of 2007 (HR-3281) to prohibit state and local governments from banning public providers of advanced communications.

Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill. was the only co-sponsor of bills to exempt universal service contributions from the Balanced Budget Act of 1986 (HR-2533 in 2005 and HR-278 in 2007); to ensure that IP-enabled voice service customers could call 911 (HR-2418 in 2005); to exempt aliens from immigration caps on specialty occupations who earned graduate degrees or did medical residencies in the U.S. (HR-5744); and to set up a National Alert System for emergencies (HR-5785).

Barton and Stearns were the only candidates who co-sponsored the Universal Service Reform, Accountability and Efficiency Act of 2008 to restrict universal-service support to voice communications (HR 6356). They also were the sponsor and the only co-sponsor of legislation to require the FCC to publish specific regulation language and set specific time periods for comments, replies and deadlines for comments (HR-2183 in 2009) and a bill to set confidentiality standards for companies that buy or sell on the Internet (HR-2221 in 2009).

Stearns and Upton were the sole candidates who co-sponsored legislation that took a softer approach toward net neutrality. It would have allowed the FCC regulations on the Internet under narrow conditions of market failure, if they were the least restrictive necessary (HR-2221 in 2009). Upton was the only candidate to co-sponsor a Stearns bill to require companies to notify consumers of data breaches (HR-4127 in 2006).

Shimkus and Upton were the only candidates to co-sponsor bills to ban Internet gambling (HR-4777 in 2006) and to extend federal penalties on pimping to purchasers of commercial sex activities (HR-2012 in 2005).

Barton, Shimkus and Upton co-sponsored a bill to require schools and libraries getting universal service support to ban social networking and obscene content (HR-1120 in 2007). Shimkus co-sponsored a similar bill, HR-5319, in 2006.

The four joined forces on several initiatives. Barton’s three rivals co-sponsored his HR-5252 in 2006, to require communications service providers to contribute to the universal service fund and providing financial assistance to deploy rural broadband. It also would have revamped the video franchising process, limiting franchises to five to 15 years and prohibiting state and local governments from regulating direct broadcast satellite services. The bill also would have declared IP-enabled video service interstate and subject only to federal regulations, banned Internet taxes, established an Internet consumer bill of rights and increased tenfold the maximum forfeiture penalties for violations of the Communications Act. Rep. Upton’s opponents all co-sponsored his HR-310 in 2005 to increase penalties for violating broadcast decency standards to $500,000 for each violation.

All four signed on to legislation which would have amended the Communications Act of 1934 to expand the responsibility of telecom carriers to keep subscriber calling records confidential (HR-4943 in 2006). They also sponsored a resolution expressing the sense of Congress that it was responsible for determining whether the FCC could regulate broadband (H. Con. Res. 311 in 2010); a bill to ban Internet taxes (HR-743 in 2007); and one to prohibit FCC regulations requiring broadcasters to give equal time for opposing viewpoints (HR- 2905 in 2007). They also co-sponsored or voted for bills to ease restrictions on electronic surveillance (HR-5440 in 2008) and ban the unauthorized collection of computer data or removing or installing unauthorized software (HR 964 in 2007).