Senate Commerce Finds Consensus on Call Completion, Sandy Act Legislation

S-827 “will help ensure the service level rural communities receive is equal to that of their urban counterparts,” NARUC President Travis Kavulla said. NARUC Telecom Committee Chairman Chris Nelson foresaw an “active role” for state commissions. “The state savings clause included in the bill will allow states to continue to exercise their authority to address intrastate call completion problems while providing the FCC tools to deal with problems on the interstate level,” Nelson said. It’s “another important milestone in seeking a resolution that has been a long time coming,” said NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield. “We are optimistic that this legislation can play an important role in putting an end to the issue once and for all.” The measure “complements the work being done at the FCC,” said WTA Vice President-Government Affairs Derrick Owens.

Thune said his staff had “come to an agreement” with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., the sponsor of S-827, to put together the substitute amendment the committee approved. The substitute tweaks the call completion bill to add in an exception about compliance with FCC service quality standards for a provider that within a year of enactment certifies as a safe harbor provider. Rep. David Young, R-Iowa, introduced the bipartisan companion HR-2566 in May, referred to the Communications Subcommittee with no further action.

“I think people are pretty shocked that in rural areas, we have significant problems with calls just dropping,” Klobuchar said during the markup, citing her coordination with co-sponsor Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., on the issue since 2010. “We worked hard to make sure this bill was not duplicative.”

Thune highlighted call completion problems in his opening statement. A constituent “who works from home has been working as a customer service representative for a company located outside of South Dakota” with “a fiber connection to her home, yet her company has noticed that she’s not answering a substantial number of calls that are being routed to her,” Thune said. “She’s not answering the calls because they’re not getting through to her home. The South Dakota phone company serving my constituent investigated the issue, and on the first day they checked, they found she did not receive 41 percent of the calls sent to her home number."

The Democrat-backed Sandy Act “recognizes the life-saving importance of repairing and restoring modern communications during natural disasters by adding mobile telephone, Internet access, and broadcasting to the Stafford Act’s list of essential services,” Thune said. "Winter storms, tornadoes, flooding, landslides, and fires can have devastating effects.” The House companion cleared the lower body with only two dissenting votes earlier this year, which Thune hopes “will pave the wave for enactment of this measure this Congress.”

Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., the Senate sponsor, secured approval for a substitute amendment. The substitute removes language Cantwell and other Senate Democrats originally included that would have said “Congress finds” that “severe weather and emergencies can have devastating effects on communities large and small, including rural areas and urban centers,” talking about the importance of communications services. It retains a modified “sense of Congress” section from the same part of the bill, which relays the sense that “the voluntary policies outlined in the Wireless Network Resiliency Cooperative Framework should be adhered to by all parties to aid consumers, 9-1-1 professionals, first responders, and local governments, in accessing communication services during times of emergency.”

Thune mentioned the importance of FirstNet oversight for Gustafson, the Commerce IG nominee, as he had during his questions for the record to her (see 1606100070). The IG role “has been vacant for over a year,” he said. "She has committed to meeting on a regular basis with committee staff once she has been confirmed, and I will be particularly interested in Ms. Gustafson’s activities as she conducts oversight of the FirstNet public safety broadband network, which is entering a critical phase of its development over the coming months.” The committee also approved the R&D-focused American Innovation and Competitiveness Act (S-3084) with various amendments. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., objected during that vote. “It does not contain corresponding offsets for that spending,” Fischer said.

Not on the markup agenda was the Kelsey Smith Act (S-2770), originally included but nixed Monday due to objections from the Smith family and further vetting of a revised measure text with law enforcement (see 1606280072). "We had all hoped this important measure would be ready for consideration today,” Thune said. “However, the sponsors are still working to strike the right balance between public safety and privacy. Progress has been made, and I’m confident we’ll consider the measure relatively soon.” The next opportunity probably isn't until September, when Congress returns from summer recess.