The House Communications Subcommittee will mark up the compromise version of the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act (HR-3375) Tuesday afternoon, the House Commerce Committee said Friday. The bill combines language from an earlier version (HR-946) and other measures the House Communications Subcommittee examined in April (see 1904300212). HR-3375 would in part clarify the definition of a robocall and clarify exemptions to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. It would also direct the FCC to issue rules requiring carriers to offer opt-out robocall blocking and caller ID services to consumers for free; increases to three years -- and in some cases, four years -- the statute of limitations for illegal spoofing; and would increase FCC ability to impose forfeitures against illegal robocallers (see 1906200061). The markup will begin at 2 p.m. in 2123 Rayburn, House Commerce said.
Jimm Phillips
Jimm Phillips, Associate Editor, covers telecommunications policymaking in Congress for Communications Daily. He joined Warren Communications News in 2012 after stints at the Washington Post and the American Independent News Network. Phillips is a Maryland native who graduated from American University. You can follow him on Twitter: @JLPhillipsDC
The House approved seven of eight telecom and privacy-related amendments to the “minibus” FY 2020 budget bill (HR-3055) that includes funding for NTIA, other Commerce Department agencies and the Agriculture Department (see 1906190061). Lawmakers voted 245-186 against language from Rep. John Rutherford, R-Fla., that would have decreased NTIA's FY 2020 salaries and expenses funding to FY 2019 levels as a way to increase funding for NOAA by $3.5 million. The chamber voted 408-22 for an amendment led by Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., that would increase funding for the Rural Utilities Service's $600 million ReConnect rural broadband funding program (see 1812130064) by $55 million, which would be paid for by decreasing funding for USDA administration, the department's chief information officer and the department's general counsel. Lawmakers voted 425-6 for a proposal led by Rep. Greg Pence, R-Ind., to increase funding for RUS' distance learning and telemedicine grant program by $25 million by cutting an equal amount from the CIO's office. The House cleared the other five amendments on voice votes, including two that target broadband mapping. One led by Rep. Antonio Delgado, D-N.Y., would bar NTIA from using its funding to update broadband coverage maps using data collected only via Form 477. The other, from Rep. Xochitl Torres Small, D-N.M., designates $1 million of NTIA’s funding be used for broadband mapping. Language led by Rep. David Trone, D-Md., would increase funding for community connect grants by $5 million for broadband deployments in underserved rural areas. An amendment from Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., would allocate $1 million of the distance learning program funding to “express the importance of broadband access to rural communities, schools and small businesses.” The other cleared proposal, from Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., would direct $1 million of National Science Foundation funding to report to Congress on “its efforts to incorporate social impact assessments into the artificial intelligence research it funds.”
House Commerce Committee leaders said they reached agreement on a compromise anti-robocalls bill, as expected (see 1906190071). Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., filed a revised version of the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act, which contains language from an earlier version of the measure (HR-946) and other measures the House Communications Subcommittee examined in April (see 1904300212). Pallone and Walden said there will be a likely markup of the bill “next week,” though lobbyists weren't sure what day. HR-946's language would clarify the definition of a robocall and clarify exemptions to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act; create a national database of reassigned phone numbers; and require FCC-FTC cooperation to reduce abusive robocalls by “at least” 50 percent yearly (see 1902040043). The combined bill would direct the FCC to issue rules requiring carriers to offer opt-out robocall blocking and caller ID services to consumers for free, something previously sought in the Repeated Objectionable Bothering of Consumers on Phones (Robocop) Act (HR-2298/S-1212). The plan would mandate the FCC require most providers to implement the caller ID technology “within six months” of commission adoption of an order in its ongoing proceeding on implementation of the secure handling of asserted information using tokens and secure telephone identity revisited technology framework (see 1906060056) and to “take appropriate steps” to ensure calls originating from an exempted provider “are not wrongly blocked because the calls are not able to be authenticated.” The bill includes language from the Support Tools to Obliterate Pesky (Stop) Robocalls Act (HR-2386), which would require the FCC to issue rules for interconnected VoIP providers to require more call record retention obligations and rules to streamline private entities' sharing of robocall and spoofing information with the agency. It increases to three years -- and in some cases four years -- the statute of limitations for illegal spoofing and would increase FCC ability to impose forfeitures against illegal robocallers. Those were previously included in the Robocall Enforcement Enhancement Act (HR-1575). The bill also calls for the FCC to report to Congress on its implementation of reassigned numbers database. Consumer Reports, the National Consumer Law Center, NCTA and USTelecom were among those hailing the compromise bill's introduction.
Senators are aiming to attach amendments this week to the FY 2020 National Defense Authorization Act targeting Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer Huawei, 5G security and changes to the emergency alerts apparatus, among other telecom policy issues, as the chamber begins floor consideration of the measure. The Senate voted 88-11 Wednesday to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S-1790, a precursor to consideration of amendments.
House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., separately confirmed to us Tuesday and Wednesday they're very close to, but haven't yet reached a compromise on a bill that combines elements from the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act (HR-946) and six other anti-robocall measures the House Communications Subcommittee examined in April (see 1904300212). A markup of the compromise bill could occur next week if a deal is reached soon enough, lobbyists told us. “We're getting to a better place” and that could mean progress forward within a matter of days, Walden said. “Our staffs are doing a good job of working things out,” though “it's not what we would do if we were in the majority. But guess what? We're not in the majority.” Walden noted recent input from stakeholder groups, including concerns about fines proposed in the bill. “That makes people nervous, so we're getting a lot of 'what ifs' because there are some valid autodial calls that you do want about your prescription or your bank card,” he said. “It's more trying to work through that and get it right.” Reps. Donald McEachin, D-Va., and Pete Olson, R-Texas, meanwhile, led Tuesday filing of the Locking Up Robocallers Act. The bill would direct the FCC Enforcement Bureau to give the attorney general any evidence it obtains “that suggests a willful, knowing, and repeated robocall violation with an intent to defraud, cause harm, or wrongfully obtain anything of value.”
The House began considering amendments to the “minibus” FY 2020 budget bill Wednesday that targets federal government broadband mapping practices, funding for federal broadband programs and artificial intelligence issues. HR-3055 includes funding for NTIA, other Commerce Department agencies and the Agriculture Department. The House Rules Committee ultimately chose Tuesday to allow eight telecom and privacy-related amendments to be included among the bill's 290 that will be considered on the House floor (see 1906170056). Another of the allowed amendments, from Rep. John Rutherford, R-Fla., would decrease NTIA's FY 2020 salaries and expenses funding to FY 2019 levels, to increase funding for NOAA by $3.5 million. Two proposals target broadband mapping. One led by Rep. Antonio Delgado, D-N.Y., would bar NTIA from using its funding to update broadband coverage maps using data collected only via Form 477. The other, from Rep. Xochitl Torres Small, D-N.M., designates $1 million of NTIA’s funding be used for broadband mapping. A compromise amendment led by Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., would increase funding for the Rural Utilities Service's $600 million ReConnect rural broadband funding program (see 1812130064) by $55 million, which would be paid for by decreasing funding for USDA administration, the department's chief information officer and the department's general counsel. A proposal led by Rep. Greg Pence, R-Ind., would increase funding for RUS' distance learning and telemedicine grant program by $25 million by cutting an equal amount of funding from the CIO's office. Language led by Rep. David Trone, D-Md., would increase funding for community connect grants by $5 million for broadband deployments in underserved rural areas. An amendment from Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., would allocate $1 million of the Distance Learning program funding to “express the importance of broadband access to rural communities, schools and small businesses.” House Rules also allowed an amendment from Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., that would direct $1 million of the National Science Foundation's funding to be used to report to Congress on “its efforts to incorporate social impact assessments into the artificial intelligence research it funds.”
The House Rules Committee will consider a raft of telecom, privacy and cybersecurity-related amendments to a “minibus” FY 2020 budget bill Tuesday. HR-3055 includes funding for NTIA, other Commerce Department agencies and the Agriculture Department. The minibus would allocate $42.4 million to NTIA, $751 million to the National Institute of Standards and Technology and $3.45 billion to the Patent and Trademark Office. House Rules’ hearing on the amendments is to begin at 5 p.m. in the Capitol Room H-313.
The FCC isn’t affected by President Donald Trump's executive order directing all federal departments and agencies to eliminate one-third of their current Federal Advisory Committee Act-authorized committees by Sept. 30, a spokesperson told us Friday. The order limits the total governmentwide number of advisory committees to 350. Eliminated committees should include those found to deal with subject matters that have “become obsolete,” have accomplished their stated objectives, have primary functions “that have been assumed by another entity” or that the agency finds have a “cost of operation [that’s] excessive in relation” in relation to their “benefits to the Federal Government.” Agencies can count committees already eliminated since Trump entered office in January 2017 toward their quota. Agency heads can seek a waiver of the requirement if OMB concludes “it is necessary for the delivery of essential services, for effective program delivery, or because it is otherwise warranted by the public interest.” All agency heads will need to submit recommendations by Aug. 1 to OMB for eliminating committees. OMB will recommend which committees to eliminate by Sept. 1. The order doesn’t apply to the FCC because it generally exempts independent regulatory agencies, the FCC spokesperson said. The FTC's also an independent regulator. An NTIA spokesperson was checking at our deadline on how it would affect that Commerce Department.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and other commissioners placed blame for recent hiccups in work to free up spectrum for commercial 5G use squarely on the Commerce Department and NOAA, during a Wednesday Senate Commerce Committee hearing. Pai used the panel to announce pending FCC action to improve the agency's broadband coverage data collection practices, which have come up repeatedly in Capitol Hill communications policy hearings (see 1905150061). Senators also used the panel to probe FCC actions on other communications policy items, including GOP commissioners' public support for T-Mobile's proposed buy of Sprint.
Lawmakers expressed confidence Tuesday about prospects for Congress to pass anti-robocalls legislation this year. Three House Commerce Committee leaders said during a USTelecom event an agreement on a compromise bill may be very near. House Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., have been negotiating on a bill that combines elements from the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act (HR-946) and six other measures the Communications Subcommittee examined in April (see 1904300212).