Kerry Seeks Net Neutrality ‘Compromise’ in Senate
A Senate deal on net neutrality is being discussed by Senate Communications Subcommittee leaders, subcommittee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., told us Tuesday. But a Senate aide said the staffs of Kerry and Ranking Member John Ensign, R-Nev., failed to reach agreement in discussions over the August recess. The House Commerce Committee is still in talks over its own net neutrality bill, said Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif.
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"Senator Ensign and I have been working on a compromise concept,” Kerry said after the Senate Democratic policy lunch. “I need to talk to Senator Ensign before I figure out where we're heading with that,” Kerry said. “I hope to talk to him in the next day to figure out what we may or may not do.” During August, the senators worked through their staffs to find a compromise, but in the end they were “not on the same page,” said a Senate aide. But that doesn’t mean the senators have closed off the possibility of an agreement, the aide said.
"Discussions are still going on” in the House, Waxman told us as he strolled past the Senate luncheon room earlier in the afternoon. “It’s unresolved."
House passage of a net neutrality bill likely will wait until a lame-duck session after the election, a House staffer said Tuesday. A bill could be introduced Wednesday, but only if a deal is struck, the staffer said. A hearing on the bill requested by House Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., may derail the bill from moving through the House before Congress adjourns, the staffer said. Stearns said Monday he wanted a hearing even if it meant holding it during a lame-duck session (CD Sept 21 p1). The House Commerce Committee is putting the finishing touches on a bill that would give the FCC authority for two years to enforce its four open-Internet principles but not the additional two principles on nondiscrimination and transparency proposed by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. The committee didn’t comment right away.
Industry and public interest groups still seem to be engaged in the effort by House Democrats to find a compromise, despite a reports that talks had broken down, said Stifel Nicolaus in a note Tuesday. The analyst firm believes “new proposals are being considered and the situation is still fluid.” Finding consensus among industry stakeholders and with Republican House members is the challenge, Stifel said. The Republicans “may not have incentive to solve a political problem for the Democrats” but might be on board with enough industry persuasion, it said. “We continue to believe it will be difficult to thread such a narrow needle in such a short period of time, with the House likely to recess by next week.” Momentum could be lost if the House waits for a lame duck session, the analysts said.
Congress is indeed running out of time to act. The House and Senate are due to adjourn Oct. 8, but some say they might leave at least a week early to prepare for the elections. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said Tuesday the House would be in session next week.
Free Press expects net neutrality supporters “will work tirelessly until the FCC implements rules that promote innovation and protect all consumers by prohibiting discrimination on all wired and wireless networks,” said Research Director Derek Turner. “Consumers everywhere are looking to the FCC and Congress to enact real and lasting Net Neutrality protections.”