The Senate Commerce and Judiciary committees clashed over jurisdiction concerning privacy. ...
The Senate Commerce and Judiciary committees clashed over jurisdiction concerning privacy. Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and Ranking Member Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, sent a letter late Thursday to Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Ranking Member Chuck…
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Grassley, R-Iowa., about a new Judiciary subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., chairs the subcommittee. Rockefeller and Hutchison said they “are concerned about the description” of the subcommittee “on the Judiciary Committee website and are puzzled insofar as the jurisdiction described appears to be beyond the scope of the Judiciary Committee under the Senate Rule XXV.” The Commerce Committee leaders said Judiciary can consider some aspects of privacy, but shouldn’t duplicate their committee’s efforts. Commerce has concentrated on protecting consumer privacy, and it has a hearing this month on the Commerce Department’s and FTC’s privacy plans, they said. And “several members” of the committee plan to introduce “comprehensive privacy legislation,” Rockefeller and Hutchison said. A Judiciary aide said the committee is reviewing the letter. “The Judiciary Committee has worked on privacy related issues -- criminal, civil and consumer protection -- for decades,” including data privacy legislation by Leahy, the aide said. “We've also coordinated with the Commerce Committee on these issues for decades. Chairman Leahy is looking forward to continuing that coordination, and also to working with Senator Franken on these important issues.”