5G Sale Act Backers Seek House Passage as Soon as Next Week
Backers of the 5G Spectrum Authority Licensing Enforcement Act (HR-5677/S-2787) are seeking House floor consideration next week under suspension of the rules in hopes Capitol Hill can close out 2023 with a stopgap, temporary restoration of some elements of the FCC’s lapsed spectrum auction authority after almost nine months of stalled talks on a broader bill. Meanwhile, supporters of the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (HR-3413/S-1669) drew attention Tuesday night to that bill when Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, tried and failed to pass it by unanimous consent in a coordinated standoff with Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.
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“We’re working on” convincing House leaders to put HR-5677 on the agenda for next week, the last days the chamber is set to be in session in 2023, House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., said in a brief interview Tuesday night. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., left the office of panel Republicans shortly before that interview. Aides didn’t comment on whether he and Rodgers discussed the measure. House Commerce voted 46-0 Tuesday (see 2312050076) to advance HR-5677, which would give the FCC authority for 90 days to issue T-Mobile and other winning bidders the licenses they bought in the 2.5 GHz band auction last year. The Senate unanimously passed the identical S-2787 in September (see 2309220057).
House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, told us he’s also pressing House leadership to schedule a quick vote on HR-5677 but said there’s no certainty on timing. “You’ve got four days next week” that the House will be in session, so “hopefully” HR-5677 will see consideration, he said. “I’m not placing any bets” on what gets priority. There are a lot of bills lawmakers want to get through the chamber during the waning days of the session. Typically, they would jockey to attach measures like HR-5677/S-2787 to an end-of-year omnibus package, but Congress’ passage last month of a continuing resolution that extended federal funding at FY 2023 levels in tranches ending Jan. 19 and Feb. 2 (see 2311160070) means that’s not an option, lobbyists said.
Several lobbyists confirmed House Commerce leaders are pushing for the chamber to bring up HR-5677 under suspension next week in a bid to salvage at least part of the FCC’s spectrum authority before 2023’s end after lawmakers repeatedly failed to even temporarily renew the mandate (see 2312040001). “That’s certainly the expectation,” but House leaders are eyeing a range of measures competing for time on the end-of-year agenda, one lobbyist said. HR-5677 will “for sure” be on House leaders’ shortlist for January if they don’t get to it next week, another lobbyist said.
Cruz and S-1669 lead Democratic sponsor Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., went to the Senate floor Tuesday to seek UC on the measure, knowing Paul would object, lobbyists told us. Cruz and Markey wanted to publicize those senators objecting to HR-3413/S-1669, which would require the Transportation Department to mandate automakers include AM radio technology in future vehicles. Senate Commerce advanced S-1669 in July (see 2307270063). NAB and several state broadcaster groups praised Cruz, Markey and Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., for speaking in favor of the measure.
“On the merits,” enacting HR-3413/S-1669 “is the right thing to do for the American people,” Cruz said on the Senate floor. “AM radio is a haven for people to speak, even if their views are disfavored by the ruling class.” Paul’s views “would be heard by many fewer people without AM radio,” Cruz said. People “driving home from work in rural areas” depend on AM radio when “there’s no other news connectivity, no other information coming in,” Lujan said. “The federal government should be doing more to make it easier for Americans to access potentially lifesaving emergency broadcasts.”
Paul proposed an amendment to S-1669 that would have added language ending federal electric vehicle subsidies enacted as part of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. “There is a certain amount of irony in seeing Republicans come to the floor proposing mandates on business,” Paul said. “Mandating that all cars have AM radio is antithetical to any notion of limited government.” House Commerce Republicans have noted misgivings about enacting an AM radio mandate, which has stalled HR-3413’s progress (see 2306060088).
“Let's not pump the brakes on new jobs in states across the country, including Kentucky,” Markey said on the floor when he objected to Paul’s amendment. “Let's not pump the brakes on riders and passengers receiving alerts during emergencies.” Lujan sees AM radio “as a lifesaving feature” and noted that seat belts and airbags got similar resistance. “I’m very concerned that when it comes to moving this technology forward, the same tired excuses are brought forward,” he said.