House Commerce Committee leaders said Monday night they’re “extremely disappointed” that Congress still hasn’t “fully funded” the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program as participants faced a deadline that day to submit repayment claims for removing suspect equipment from their networks (see 2307170065). FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and others have repeatedly prodded lawmakers in recent months to allocate the additional $3.08 billion needed to fully satisfy reimbursement costs for carriers, with Rosenworcel citing the commission’s statutory obligation to begin prorating those payments absent appropriations (see 2305040085). “The longer Congress waits to address the funding shortfall in this program, the more we jeopardize America’s national security by leaving our networks vulnerable to espionage by adversaries like China,” said House Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash.; ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J.; Communications Subcommittee Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio; and ranking member Doris Matsui, D-Calif. “We continue to work with our colleagues” to bring the panel-approved Spectrum Auction Reauthorization Act (HR-3565) “to the floor” given it proposes giving the FCC the rip-and-replace money and using some future auction revenue to cover the loan (see 2305240069). “It’s critical that we find a path forward as soon as possible to finish securing our networks and strengthening our national defense,” the lawmakers said.
Legislation Democrats reintroduced Thursday would ban algorithms that “discriminate” based on race, age, gender, ability and other characteristics. Sen Ed Markey, D-Mass., reintroduced the Algorithmic Justice and Online Platform Transparency Act with Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif. The legislation attempts to hold platforms accountable “for their content amplification and moderation practices.” The bill would commission a government investigation about discriminatory algorithms.
The House Communications Subcommittee unanimously approved the NTIA Reauthorization Act (HR-4510), the Spectrum Relocation Enhancement Act (HR-3430) and two other telecom bills in a show of bipartisan cooperation Wednesday, promoting the authority of the NTIA (see 2307110079).
YouTube is wrong to allow “false content disputing the integrity” of the 2020 election and other elections to remain on its platform, House Commerce Committee Democrats wrote the company Thursday. They said a recent announcement to reverse election misinformation policies will allow false content to remain on the service. Ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., wrote the letter with House Consumer Protection Subcommittee ranking member Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill.; House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Doris Matsui, D-Calif.; and House Oversight Subcommittee ranking member Cathy Castor, D-Fla. “While you claim that taking such action is ‘core to a functioning democratic society,’ we emphatically disagree,” they said. “Not only is this decision extremely irresponsible, but, in fact, it threatens to weaken our democracy, and therefore we strongly urge you to reconsider this harmful policy decision.” Google didn’t comment.
House Communications Subcommittee members made the future of the FCC’s affordable connectivity program a major focus of its Wednesday commission oversight hearing, as expected (see 2306200075), but the panel didn’t result in a clear sense of whether Commerce Committee GOP leaders will back additional funding for the initiative. Subpanel Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, and others haven’t committed themselves as either for or against further ACP funding (see 2305100073). Democrats strongly defended the program and urged its extension.
Sens. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and Roger Wicker, R-Miss., led refiling Thursday of the Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (Connect) Act to make permanent a waiver of geographic restrictions on access to telehealth services, plus several other temporary rules changes allowing expanded use of the technology Congress enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Schatz and Wicker first proposed the permanent waiver in 2020 (see 2006150032). House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Doris Matsui and Rep. Mike Thompson, both California Democrats, filed the companion House version. President Joe Biden signed off last year on a temporary extension of the waiver as part of the FY 2022 omnibus appropriations package (see 2203100073). “While telehealth use has skyrocketed these last few years, our laws have not kept up,” Schatz said: “Telehealth is helping people in every part of the country get the care they need, and it’s here to stay.” Telehealth “is a revolutionary development in health care delivery,” Wicker said. “The internet put communications and commerce in the palm of our hand, and it is now doing the same for health care.” Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D, are among 58 co-sponsors of the Senate measure.
Telecom-focused congressional leaders told us they’re sticking for now with a potential spectrum legislative package that would allocate some future auction proceeds to the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program as the best option for fixing the initiative’s $3.08 billion shortfall. Talks on the package have yielded limited progress since January amid resistance from Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to major portions of a previous version of the measure lawmakers failed in December to attach to the FY 2023 appropriations omnibus (see 2212190069).
The House Commerce Committee’s appetite for advancing the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (HR-3413/S-1669) proposal to mandate automakers include AM radio technology in future vehicles remains in doubt after multiple Communications Subcommittee members from both parties voiced skepticism during a Tuesday hearing, despite near-unanimous concern about potential public safety implications. House Communications ranking member Doris Matsui, D-Calif., told us she’s among those questioning the need for legislation in the short term to prevent AM radio’s removal from future vehicles. Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, said in an interview he remains undecided on HR-3413/S-1669 (see 2305260034) after the hearing.
The Senate Commerce Committee’s plan for moving on President Joe Biden’s trio of FCC nominees remains fluid amid uncertainty about whether there will be bipartisan appetite to move Anna Gomez, the White House’s new nominee for the vacant fifth commission seat, together with sitting Commissioners Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks (see 2305220065). Gomez told members of the U.S. delegation to the upcoming Nov. 20-Dec. 15 World Radiocommunication Conference last week she plans to stay in her existing State Department appointment to lead the group (see 2301260072) until the Senate confirms her as a commissioner.
The House Commerce Committee’s Wednesday advancement of the Spectrum Auction Reauthorization Act (HR-3565) and panel leaders’ push to enact (see 2305170037) a bill to restore the FCC’s spectrum auction authority through June 30 (HR-3345) are aimed squarely at putting pressure on Senate negotiators to reach a deal, said lawmakers, congressional aides and others in interviews. The panel advanced an amended version of HR-3565 50-0 and unanimously approved five bipartisan broadband permitting measures but divided sharply along party lines on the American Broadband Deployment Act (HR-3557).