Congressional staff meetings on updating the Telecom Act starting this week will...

Congressional staff meetings on updating the Telecom Act starting this week will be closed to the public. “They will be invitation only and will not be open to the public or the press,” said a spokeswoman for Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va. Commerce Committee leaders from both parties said Friday they will kick off a series of “staff-led stakeholder sessions” on June 25. The committees said they plan to publicly release participant lists and submitted statements. Discussions will include staff for bipartisan leaders of the House and Senate’s Commerce Committee and Communications Subcommittee, and unspecified other interested parties. “A diverse group of stakeholders will be invited to participate in each session,” the committees said. “The list of participants will vary for each subject.” The first set of sessions “will address broadband regulation and FCC authority, with a focus on protecting consumers and promoting broadband investment,” the committees said. Later meetings will address spectrum policy and broadband deployment and adoption, they said. It’s not unusual for Hill staff briefings to be closed, and Congress isn’t subject to the same degree of transparency rules as the FCC, said Public Knowledge spokesman Art Brodsky. It would be more a problem if any members of Congress were involved at the meetings, he said. “Free Press believes that the meetings should be transparent and open to the public,” said Policy Counsel Aparna Sridhar. “The Communications Act has not been updated since 1996, and consumers could benefit from a wide array of reforms. The only way that the public can be a part of the conversation is if the conversation is open to the public.” “Free Press believes that the meetings should be transparent and open to the public,” said policy counsel Aparna Sridhar. “The Communications Act has not been updated since 1996, and consumers could benefit from a wide array of reforms. The only way that the public can be a part of the conversation is if the conversation is open to the public."