Net Neutrality Expected to Be Predominant Hill Telecom Focus for Months Ahead
The high-profile FCC net neutrality comment period, spanning months going into the August congressional recess (see 1705180029), could distract lawmakers from other telecom priorities, Democrats told us. Lawmakers of both parties hope to avoid such derailment, but Democrats said they plan to commit time to mobilizing net neutrality defenders to comment. Hill reaction split along partisan lines to last week’s 2-1 NPRM vote.
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“I definitely think [net neutrality] will become front and center,” said Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., the Commerce Committee's second-ranking Democrat, in an interview about the issue’s potential to distract. “This will be the big issue.”
The GOP repeal effort “certainly detracts from efforts to achieve bipartisan cooperation on things,” said House Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J. “We’re opposed to [such GOP repeal of consumer protections], net neutrality being one of the biggest examples.”
Republicans control both chambers, limiting Democrats’ opportunities to call hearings and raise awareness through such official channels (see 1705080033). Democrats have spoken out, in news conferences, on social media and on the chamber floor. The FCC comment period in particular has become Democrats’ fixation, with significant pushback to legislating. The issue bled over into other congressional proceedings and dominated statements by leading Democrats during last week’s House Communications Subcommittee hearing about emergency alerts (see 1705170062).
Mobilizing Focus
“This is all about mobilizing the public,” Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, told us. “They’re just starting to wake up to what is being done to the internet, and I think there were more than a million comments already. My guess is that we will see millions more and faster than anybody had anticipated. ... There’s a 90-day public comment period, and people need to take full advantage.” Expect “more of the same” on Democratic mobilizing, Schatz said, when asked about a recent Senate Democratic opinion piece on TechCrunch and efforts on social media.
“We have to try to protect net neutrality and motivate people to speak out,” said Pallone. “That effort takes up time that could be spent on things that are productive. But I’ve got no choice because I’ve got to make sure there’s significant opposition.”
Cantwell, whose Senate website now flags net neutrality on its homepage, anticipates a fight. “We’re very concerned that these guys are giving a green light to cable companies that just want to jack up prices for everybody,” she said. “We’ve had a system put in place that was allowing us to make sure that consumers weren’t jerked around by cable interests and other people who just want to charge more for services, and we’ve got to protect the consuming public. So we’re going to work very hard to do that.”
Schatz was one Democrat who believed net neutrality may not upend normal congressional telecom business. “The committee can do its work,” he said. “We can walk and chew gum. The history of the Senate has been we can fight like cats and dogs and still work on other stuff.”
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., referred to broader congressional rancor when asked about net neutrality’s effects: “There are probably bigger distractions than that one. I’m just saying!”
Agenda Ahead
Lawmakers' agenda includes some telecom bills slated for the months ahead. House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., is eyeing completing legislative work on NTIA reauthorization this summer, potentially in addition to FCC reauthorization. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., is still pushing for floor approval of his Mobile Now spectrum legislation and may have to process FCC nominations. Broadband infrastructure is another bipartisan and bicameral interest dominating for months, with ideas under discussion on siting, broadband mapping and dig once measures.
Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., helped lead bipartisan efforts at the Senate Broadband Caucus over the past year and told us he hopes net neutrality won't affect caucus efforts. “It’s a little more controversial,” Boozman said of net neutrality. One caucus priority is ensuring the Trump administration includes broadband in any bigger infrastructure proposal, and “I was so pleased to hear” Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao cite broadband in that context last week (see 1705170066), Boozman said. Caucus members of both parties believe “for rural areas to be able to not only to go forward but maintain where they’re at, [they] have to have that infrastructure,” said Boozman, who oversaw the FCC budget as a chief appropriator last Congress. “Hopefully, [net neutrality] won’t interfere with what we’re trying to do at the caucus level.”
“There is room to work together” after the commission’s net neutrality vote, Blackburn said Friday at an event hosted by the Chamber of Commerce (see 1705190053): Many “would like to see something put in statute rather than have a Ping-Pong effect. Congress should act.” She cited bipartisan agreement against such actions as blocking and throttling but said some differences may exist on practices such as paid prioritization, which she said is important for the entertainment industry. Thune is prioritizing bipartisan legislation, too, but little Democratic appetite has emerged in either chamber.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is "a smart guy,” said Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., of the proceeding. “I wouldn’t underestimate him.” He said he hasn't been part of net neutrality legislative discussions more broadly, calling such work “really Thune’s jurisdiction.”
Johnson, a Commerce member, foresees a battle of rhetoric in the proceeding. “We’ve got to get past the demagoguery and quite honestly the lies of net neutrality,” he said in an interview: “The whole point of net neutrality is high-speed broadband. Best way to do that is get rid of [Communications Act] Title II." He's “fully supportive” of Pai’s actions, he added, emphasizing economic arguments about investment, which face much debate among supporters and detractors of the 2015 order: “You want high-speed broadband, you need to incentivize companies, not disincentivize them. Title II regulation disincentivizes them.”
“I don’t even need to mobilize anything -- it’s just happening,” said Pallone. “There’s already a million people who wrote in to the point where their computer broke down. … It’s not an atmosphere that lends itself to bipartisan cooperation.” Pallone said he would try for cooperation but that it’s “tough” given the broader GOP strategies at hand. Net neutrality would remain a core focus, he promised: “I’m going to do whatever I can to kill this effort.”