House Communications Subcommittee leaders have different measures of success for the floor vote on the joint resolution to disapprove FCC net neutrality rules under the Congressional Review Act. House Republicans are expected to pass the resolution with few Democratic votes, but Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Ranking Member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., separately claimed early victories on Thursday. The floor vote was originally scheduled for Thursday, but it was postponed until Friday due to budget negotiations. The House will meet at 10 a.m. and begin legislative business at noon, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said Thursday.
Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., urged her House colleagues to oppose the joint resolution of disapproval to overturn the FCC net neutrality order. The House is expected to vote Thursday on HJ Res 37. In a letter sent Wednesday, Matsui called the resolution “a blunt instrument that risks the future of competition, innovation, and an open Internet.” Matsui said the Congressional Review Act -- which essentially bars amendments to disapproval measures -- stands in the way of a provision she wanted to offer to preserve the “widely accepted” transparency provision in the FCC rules. Transparency is “critical in promoting competition throughout the broadband economy,” she said.
Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., will soon reintroduce her Universal Service Fund revamp bill, she said at a conference Tuesday of the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition. The bill will return “in the coming weeks,” the Communications Subcommittee member said. The bill would update the Lifeline and Link-Up programs to subsidize broadband for low-income people. Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., has said he also plans to reintroduce his comprehensive USF legislation from last year. Matsui expects Congress to spend a “considerable amount of time” on the proposed AT&T/T-Mobile merger, and she expects Walden will have hearings, she said. Congress has a “duty” to “thoroughly examine” what impact the merger will have on the marketplace, Matsui said. Spectrum and USF reform may be on the way, too, though the subcommittee has focused on net neutrality, she said. Matsui reiterated that she “strongly” supports the FCC’s net neutrality order.
The House may vote on legislation to nullify the FCC net neutrality order before the Easter recess next month, Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., told us. With all Democrats voting no, the committee late Tuesday voted 30-23 to report to the House floor H.J. Res. 37, a joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act. Republicans so far have only secured Democratic support for the resolution from two Blue Dogs in the House (CD March 15 p2). Asked if he expected to find more Democrats, Upton said, “We'll see. We're going to keep trying, that’s for sure.” At the markup, Upton rejected two amendments to the net neutrality measure by Democrats because he said CRA resolutions are not subject to amendment under the statute. The amendments, by Reps. Mike Doyle, D-Pa., and Doris Matsui, D-Calif., were also rejected for that reason at last week’s Communications Subcommittee markup. A companion resolution in the Senate has not moved out of the Senate Commerce Committee, but House passage would move it straight to the Senate floor for another simple majority vote. The Senate may also discharge the bill from committee before House passage with the support of 30 senators. Free Press Action Fund Managing Director Craig Aaron said it’s “unfortunate that the open Internet, which once enjoyed such broad bipartisan support, now has become the victim of special-interest politics and political grandstanding.”
The House Communications Subcommittee approved a bill to overturn the FCC net neutrality rule from December, over protests by Democrats. Dividing by party Wednesday afternoon, the committee voted 15-8 in favor of a joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act authored by Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore. Democrats held up the vote by flooding the markup with seven amendments. Walden rejected them because he said resolutions under the CRA statute are not subject to amendment. In a new development, GOP-sought witness RapidDSL admitted to slowing Netflix on its network. A Netflix spokesman said, “Consumers should be able to receive what they want over the Internet."
House Republican leaders held a closed-door meeting with industry lobbyists Wednesday to press them to get involved in helping the GOP repeal net neutrality rules, House aides and lobbyists said. The meeting was held after an effort by House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., to repeal the rules collapsed Wednesday morning.
Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., plans to reintroduce her Universal Service Fund bill the week of March 1, after the Presidents’ Day recess, a spokeswoman said Monday. She said Matsui plans to discuss the bill at Wednesday’s House Communications Subcommittee hearing. The measure would create a USF Lifeline program to subsidize broadband service for low-income Americans. The bill isn’t directly tied to net neutrality, the hearing’s topic, but is part of the “broader discussion” about expanding Internet access, the spokeswoman said.
President Barack Obama Thursday called for $10.7 billion to be dedicated to nationwide wireless public safety network, and $5 billion for a one-time upgrade to 4G wireless in rural America. Obama dedicated most of Thursday to wireless, flying to Marquette, Mich., where he viewed a WiMAX network installed at Northern Michigan University and spoke at the school to an enthusiastic audience standing in front of a sign that read “Winning the Future."
With four bills introduced in Congress this year set on eliminating the funding for public broadcasting entities in an effort to trim the budget, some legislators will begin counter efforts this year, legislators and aides said. “In the face of the fiscal reality our new majority inherited after years of reckless spending, the necessary fact is that everything is on the table,” said Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., chairman of the House Labor, Health and Human Service subcommittee. It oversees funding for NPR.
The Congressional High-Tech Caucus named Rep. Doris Matsui of California as its new Democratic co-chair. Matsui replaces Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., who this year became co-chair of the Internet Caucus. Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas is the returning Republican co-chair of the high-tech group. “It is critical that Congress provide the necessary tools to the tech community that enables the industry to grow, innovate, and create good paying jobs,” Matsui said.