Senate Commerce Seeking Late May IANA Transition Hearing
The Senate Commerce Committee plans a hearing later this month on the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) transition, renewing the committee’s oversight of IANA at a key point in the transition process, multiple lobbyists said in interviews. Senate Commerce is aiming to hold the hearing May 24 but is still finalizing details, lobbyists said. The Senate Commerce hearing will mirror a March House Communications Subcommittee hearing on the IANA transition, focusing on the perspectives of private-sector ICANN stakeholders, but will include parties who have been skeptical about the transition, lobbyists said. House Communications members said during their hearing they're increasingly at ease with the trajectory of the IANA transition, while ICANN stakeholders strongly endorsed ICANN’s transition-related plans (see 1603170051). A Senate Commerce spokesman said he couldn’t confirm the committee’s plans.
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IANA transition critics have been pushing for any Senate Commerce hearing on the transition to at least partially air their concerns with the transition given what they viewed as an overly pro-transition atmosphere at the House Communications hearing, said Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning. ALG repeatedly criticized the IANA transition process and recently sought a Department of Commerce Office of Inspector General investigation into what the group views as NTIA’s violation of the ban on its use of funds for the IANA transition (see 1604210072).
Some stakeholders want a Senate Commerce hearing to take a balanced view of the IANA transition instead of being a “complete repeat” of the near-universally positive House Communications hearing, said Shane Tews, visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute’s Center for Internet, Communications and Technology Policy. Senate Commerce “really has a responsibility to get to the bottom of whether or not [ICANN] has met the threshold to proceed” with the IANA transition, Manning said. “We believe there hasn’t been legitimate consideration of several implications” of the transition, including whether there are actually trade ramifications if the IANA transition doesn’t proceed, he said.
Senate Commerce leaders intend their hearing to “find out what’s going on” with the IANA transition, and the hearing’s tone “could be interesting,” depending on how much Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, decides to ramp up his criticism of the transition and ICANN’s practices, a telecom and Internet governance lobbyist told us. Cruz continued to lead Senate opposition to the IANA transition throughout his now-suspended run for the GOP presidential nomination, most recently seeking more concrete answers from ICANN on earlier questions about the nonprofit corporation’s relationship with the Chinese government (see 1604040056). ICANN Board Chairman Steve Crocker told Cruz and two other GOP senators last month that the nonprofit’s engagement with China “does not suggest any level of support for the nation’s government or its policies” (see 1604070033).
“I’d expect there will be some fireworks” at a Senate Commerce IANA transition hearing if Cruz decides to be at all involved, Tews said. “He certainly has a little more time on his hands” to ramp up his opposition to the transition now that his bid for the GOP’s presidential nomination has ended, she said. Senate Commerce leaders may have demurred from holding hearings on the transition earlier this year in part because they didn’t want to give Cruz “a major platform” to voice his opposition given his status as a presidential hopeful, Tews said. Senate Commerce “would do well to make sure that critics get an opportunity to have their concerns aired so Congress can make a decision [on the transition] based on more than just a rubber stamp,” Manning said. Cruz’s office didn’t comment.