Senate Commerce Committee Republicans remain optimistic that the Senate could approve this year the renomination of Republican FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly for a full term as commissioner, a GOP committee aide told us. Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., told us earlier last week that Commerce may include O’Rielly in a Tuesday executive session off the Senate floor when considering nominees (see 1412040031), mentioning the possibility of pairing O’Rielly with a Democratic nominee. The White House renominated O’Rielly this fall for a full five-year term. “We do not expect another Commerce nominations hearing before Congress adjourns,” the aide said Thursday night. “Since O'Rielly's nomination has gone through the Committee already this Congress, we are hopeful that his re-nomination could still be reported or discharged from the Committee and moved on the floor next week.” Congress is expected to end its session Thursday.
House Judiciary IP Subcommittee members Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Doug Collins, R-Ga., will be the subcommittee’s new GOP leaders, said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., in a news release Thursday. Issa will be the new chair of the subcommittee and Collins will be vice chair. Collins said in an interview that he’s “thrilled” to be working with Issa and the two will make a “good tag-team.” “All copyright related issues will be handled” by the House Judiciary Committee, not the IP subcommittee, said the Goodlatte release.
The Senate Commerce Committee may include Republican FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly’s renomination for a full term on its agenda for a Tuesday executive session. “I think so,” Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., told us Wednesday of the possibility of including O’Rielly. The session will happen Tuesday just off the Senate floor, with time, place and agenda not yet announced. The White House this fall renominated O’Rielly for a full five-year term. The term he had been filling expired this summer, and he's empowered as a commissioner through the end of next year, or until a successor is named. Rockefeller had missed a meeting Wednesday on whether O’Rielly and possibly another nominee, presumably a Democrat, would be on the agenda. “What you try to do is you need one from each side,” Rockefeller said. Senate Commerce ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., has wanted O’Rielly’s renomination advanced by the end of this year. “It’s what we should be doing,” Rockefeller said, saying he had his own interest in advancing the other potential nominee with whom O’Rielly could be paired. Spokespeople for Rockefeller and Thune didn't comment further Thursday.
The Senate Commerce Committee plans to address regulatory issues for the Internet of Things in the next Congress, said committee members Deb Fischer, R-Neb., and Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., at an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation event Thursday. Intel, Toyota and USTelecom, among others, sponsored the event. “Policymakers can't bury their heads in the sand and pretend this technological revolution isn't happening, only to wake up years down the road and try to micromanage a fast-changing, dynamic industry,” said Fischer. “The federal government must also avoid regulation just for the sake of regulation,” she said. “We're destined to lose to the Chinese or others if the Internet of Things is governed in the United States by rules that pre-date the VCR,” Fischer said. ITIF released a report on “10 Policy Principles” for IoT. “Many Internet of Things projects will benefit from government agencies establishing partnerships with both the private sector and others in government,” said the report. “In particular, funding these types of projects can be challenging for cities with limited budgets,” it said. “Since subjecting these technologies to lengthy regulatory review processes can delay these benefits from reaching consumers, policymakers should work to ensure that these processes are as efficient as possible,” said ITIF.
The House Communications Subcommittee will have 18 Republican members in the 114th Congress, the Commerce Committee said Wednesday in a news release. The subcommittee has 16 Republicans in the 113th Congress, most of whom will remain on the subcommittee next year. GOP departures include Reps. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., who was elected to the Senate; Lee Terry, R-Neb., who lost his re-election bid; and Mike Rogers, R-Mich., who's retiring. New subcommittee members are Reps. Gus Bilirakis of Florida, Chris Collins of New York, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, Bill Johnson of Ohio and Pete Olson of Texas.
The Senate Commerce Committee will consider nominations in a session off the Senate floor Tuesday, it said in a notice this week. It didn't list the nominations it would consider, but the renomination of Republican FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly is pending before the committee. Committee Republicans have voiced a desire to advance the O’Rielly renomination before year’s end. Commerce had postponed a nominations executive session last month, and a Republican aide had told us O'Rielly was not on that agenda. Commerce didn't give a specific time or location.
House Communications Subcommittee Vice Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, blasted what he considers unnecessary federal regulation. “At the end of last year, the administration had nearly 4,000 new regulations pending, with almost 200 of these considered economically significant, meaning they would each carry a cost of at least $100 million a year,” Latta said in an op-ed for The Hill Monday. “Regulatory uncertainty -- both now and in the future -- continues to stagnate wages and prevents many of our businesses, small and large, from hiring.” He criticized regulation generally in the op-ed but has focused often on the FCC and telecom concerns. “With the regulatory cost per household totaling nearly $15,000 per year, or 23 percent of the national average family income, federal regulations are squeezing American families’ already limited wallets and curbing our nation’s prosperity,” Latta said.
Fixed broadband providers need to “proactively adopt a voluntary code of conduct just as mobile providers have done,” said House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., in a statement Tuesday, citing the findings from a GAO report on broadband data caps. Eshoo held a briefing on GAO’s initial findings earlier this year (see 1407300047). Such a voluntary code “will improve consumer experience and ensure a more vibrant online marketplace,” Eshoo said. “The FCC should also make better use of the data it is collecting on data caps to understand how best to inform consumers and promote the public interest.” GAO recommended that fixed providers focus such a code on communications with consumers and that the FCC help track and better utilize data. The “FCC said it will monitor complaints and provider plans to determine if a more proactive approach is needed,” GAO said in the 41-page report released Tuesday on an audit done over the past year. “GAO continues to believe that better communication is warranted. FCC agreed to use existing data to analyze UBP [usage-based pricing] issues.” GAO looked at the top 13 fixed and mobile ISPs, noting that mobile providers employ UBP more often than fixed. GAO found seven of the biggest 13 fixed providers used UBP and that their consumer education could be “confusing.” GAO said it held eight focus groups. “The potential effects of UBP are uncertain and could depend on competition among providers,” GAO said. It cited FCC officials who called the volume of complaints about fixed provider UBP “relatively low” when looking at all broadband service complaints but said that may not capture the whole picture. The GAO report shows that “today’s data caps work against the best interests of consumers and the growth of the internet,” said Public Knowledge Vice President Michael Weinberg in a statement. He urged the FCC to “move quickly to adopt strong Open Internet rules that prevent all types of discrimination, including discrimination instigated by data caps.”
The House Commerce Committee postponed its Dec. 10 FCC oversight hearing, a committee aide told us. The Communications Subcommittee had sought all five FCC commissioners and planned to focus on net neutrality. Lawmakers postponed the hearing for scheduling reasons, the aide said, referring to the delay in the agency's consideration of its net neutrality order. That delay will allow lawmakers to track that proceeding and question FCC commissioners in the next Congress, the aide said, saying that hearing would be closer to when the agency decides on net neutrality rules.
Cyber Monday’s online sales are all the more reason for Congress to pass the Marketplace Fairness Act, said a National Governors Association news release Monday. HR-684 would let states tax remote sellers with annual revenue exceeding $1 million. “As 130 million Americans make purchases online this Cyber Monday, the nation’s small businesses suffer, jobs are lost and states lose out on revenue owed them because of an unfair loophole in the law,” said NGA. “No matter how you do business in a state, you have to play by that states rules,” said NGA Executive Director Dan Crippen. “Marketplace Fairness lets competition, not tax loopholes, determine who will thrive in our modern marketplace,” he said. “If taxes on Internet sales are not collected, the sales tax base will continue to erode and ultimately force states to increase, or not be able to reduce, other taxes.” Sen. Tex Cruz, R-Texas, has been a critic of HR-684 and has warned about the possibility of the bill’s passage during the lame-duck session of Congress (see 1411140047).