House Action on Net Neutrality Would Come After Election
House Democrats are now eyeing lame-duck passage of their net neutrality bill, two House staffers said Tuesday. House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., may introduce the measure Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, they said Tuesday afternoon. Republicans were still reviewing the net neutrality draft bill Tuesday afternoon, House and industry officials said. Observers don’t expect Congress to pass the bill, but it could send a message to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski that he shouldn’t reclassify broadband under Title II of the Communications Act (CD Sept 28 p1).
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Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., said he’s “currently reviewing and discussing the proposal provided today on net neutrality.” Stearns opposed expedited treatment for the bill. “I am not clear on why it may be on the House floor without going through the normal committee process,” he said late Tuesday afternoon. “This is important legislation and members need ample time, as well as the rest of the Internet industry, to fully understand its implications."
It’s still “technically feasible” for the full House to vote on the net neutrality bill this week before Congress adjourns, if Waxman introduces it, a House staffer said Tuesday morning. While initially considering it, Democrats decided not to bypass the committee markup process at a 5:30 p.m. meeting Monday, a House staffer said. The meeting provided an update on talks between Waxman and Republican offices, and included staff representing Waxman, Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., and committee members Doris Matsui, D-Calif., Jay Inslee, D-Wash., Mike Doyle, D-Pa., Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., the staffer said.
"No decision on timing has been made at this point,” said a spokeswoman for Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md. “We'll wait and see if/when Chairman Waxman introduces a bill.” A Waxman spokeswoman didn’t respond to a request for comment.
A draft bill that leaked Monday would limit the FCC to case-by-case adjudication of net neutrality violations. The Free State Foundation, a think tank that often opposes regulation and which has advocated a case-by-case approach on net neutrality, gave a mixed review of Waxman’s draft. It’s good that the bill blocks reclassification and is only an interim measure providing more time for a broader rewrite, but the bill’s ban on unreasonable discrimination, if “interpreted too rigidly by the FCC,” could “inhibit development of new, differentiated services in response to evolving consumer demand,” President Randolph May said.