Duffy Amendment Could Be Used to Gather Support for DOTCOM Act in Senate
An amendment (http://1.usa.gov/1iARKx9) to prohibit NTIA’s transition of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, put forth by Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., could be used to leverage Senate support of the relatively more moderate Domain Openness Through Continued Oversight Matters (DOTCOM) Act (HR-4342), said House Republicans last week. The Duffy amendment was approved 229-178 early Friday (http://1.usa.gov/1hjKZFd). House Commerce Committee Chairman Emeritus Joe Barton, R-Texas, was the lone Republican who voted against the amendment, while only 10 Democrats supported it. The Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Act FY 2015 (HR-4660), to which the Duffy amendment was tagged, passed 321-87 (http://1.usa.gov/1psuucf) a few minutes later Friday. Duffy’s amendment comes after HR-4660 had stripped NTIA’s funding for the transition, bringing its total budget down to $36.7 million from the $51 million originally requested by the executive branch. The DOTCOM Act, which would delay the transition until a GAO study, was passed by the House as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act May 22 (CD May 23 p6).
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The Duffy amendment was supported by House Commerce Committee member and DOTCOM Act co-sponsor John Shimkus, R-Ill., “to send a message that Congress is prepared to put a stop to the IANA transition altogether if the Administration continues to disregard the potential risks and dismiss his reasonable call for GAO review,” said his spokesman by email. Shimkus believes, along with the Internet Association and ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade, that “congressional oversight” is the “best path forward,” said the spokesman. Shimkus is “hopeful the Senate will adopt that approach as well,” said the representative.
The DOTCOM Act “has the best chance at passing both the House and the Senate in order to ensure that we are providing proper oversight” of the transition, said House Commerce Committee Vice Chairwoman and bill co-sponsor Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., by email. “It’s imperative that this administration reports to Congress as laid out in the DOTCOM Act before they take any steps that would turn over control of the Internet."
"I am again disappointed by the irresponsible actions taken by House Republicans to delay NTIA’s transition of the IANA functions,” said House Commerce Committee member Mike Doyle, D-Pa., by email. The Duffy amendment “goes further even than” the DOTCOM Act, he said. The amendment “flat out prohibits NTIA from using funds to transition IANA functions,” he said. “Stakeholders from around the Internet including ISPs, edge providers, industry associations, technology experts, and public interest groups, all support NTIA’s transition plan,” said Doyle. “I will work with my colleagues in the House and Senate to ensure that these provisions are removed as this bill moves forward."
"The Shimkus and Duffy amendments face a long uphill climb in the Senate,” but it must “engage” the legislation, said Phil Corwin, founding principal of e-commerce and intellectual property law consultancy Virtualaw. It’s more likely that the Senate Commerce Committee “will hold an oversight hearing to better inform itself and the full Senate regarding what’s at stake,” he said. Nine Republican Senate Commerce members requested a committee hearing on NTIA’s transition of IANA, in a letter (http://1.usa.gov/1okvUTn) to committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and other committee leaders May 21. “NTIA needs to demonstrate that it is effectively overseeing this process” and that it won’t “simply rubber stamp any plan it receives,” said Corwin. “NTIA has in effect asked ICANN to convene a Constitutional Convention, not to write the Constitution itself.”