House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., enhanced his subpoena powers Tuesday at his committee’s organizational meeting, causing an uproar from Democrats who opposed the rule change. Upton wants “efficient subpoena authority,” in line with other top investigatory committees, he said, citing a change to rule 16. “The Chair shall notify the ranking minority member prior to issuing any subpoena under such authority,” the new rule text said. “To the extent practicable, the Chair shall consult with the ranking minority member at least 72 hours in advance of a subpoena being issued under such authority. The chairman shall report to the members of the Committee on the issuance of a subpoena as soon as practicable but in no event later than one week after issuance of such subpoena.” Ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., worried about the change’s “huge potential for the abuse of power,” saying it set a “terrible precedent” for Commerce. Upton insisted he would work with Democrats and said a subpoena is the last resort. Upton said he already "substantially" modified the rule to comply with concerns from Pallone, who still opposed the rule. Lawmakers argued about how Commerce issued no subpoenas last Congress, with Democrats questioning why a change was necessary if there was no trouble before. “The rule change supports congressional oversight,” countered Commerce Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Tim Murphy, R-Pa., saying it’s necessary in determining which federal programs work and which ones don’t. He slammed “a very slow walk from some agencies.” Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., derided the change as a “cheap power grab.” Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., said she would “rather have us be partners” and said the change seemed contrary to Upton’s pledge for an open, fair process in his opening statement. The rules change was approved in a divided vote.
The Congressional Caucus on the Internet of Things (IoT) was launched by House Judiciary IP Subcommittee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and House Judiciary Committee member Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., a joint news release said Tuesday. Issa and DelBene will be caucus co-chairs, it said. The caucus’ primary function will be to educate lawmakers on IoT issues, including examining the FTC’s forthcoming report on IoT, the release said. “It’s critical that lawmakers remain educated about the fast paced evolution of the Internet of Things, and have informed policy discussions about the government’s role in access and use of these devices,” Issa said in the release. “Policymakers will need to be engaged and educated on how we can best protect consumers while also enabling these new technologies to thrive,” DelBene said.
Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., introduced a bill Friday targeting the wireless portion of the Lifeline program, joining Sen. David Vitter, R-La. (see [Ref:1501080034). HR-266 would “prohibit universal service support of commercial mobile service and commercial mobile data service through the Lifeline program,” its longer title said. The House bill has no co-sponsors and has been referred to the Commerce Committee. Scott and Vitter have attacked the wireless portion of the Lifeline program before through legislation.
Fight for the Future had amassed by our deadline Monday nearly 42,000 signatures from people opposing potential “Title X” net neutrality legislation. The group, formed in 2011 as a digital advocacy nonprofit, attacked the bill, which has not been in any way officially released or announced. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., is helping put together the bill, which he has framed as an alternative to Communications Act Title II reclassification (see 1501070049). Thune worked with committee ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla., on this bill but indicated that he and Democrats differ on when to advance it -- Thune wants to move before the FCC votes on net neutrality Feb. 26. Nelson first hinted at such legislation to us in mid-November (see 1411130049). “Congress leaders are planning on starting 2015 with a bill called ‘Title X’ that would compromise the World Wide Web by taking away the FCC’s ability to protect the open Internet and giving cable companies the power to charge for less access,” the Fight for the Future petition said. “This bill would be a huge betrayal to the millions of Internet users that demanded that Congress support real net neutrality.” The petition warned against Congress' acting before the FCC, saying that “if Congress introduces ‘Title X’ first, it could hijack the entire process and reverse any progress for net neutrality.” It has a goal of 50,000 signatures. Free Press also criticized the Title X idea, in a blog post Monday. "Congressional attempts to undermine these long-established principles with bad legislation -- or to strip away the FCC’s ability to enforce them -- wouldn’t just gut Net Neutrality," Government Relations Manager Sandra Fulton said. "They would endanger our basic rights to communicate and express ourselves freely -- values that are a cornerstone to our democracy and a free society." No new laws are required on this front, she said.
Americans for Tax Reform sent a letter to lawmakers Thursday asking them to reaffirm their support for the Email Privacy Act (HR-1852). The bill “outlines a simple procedure to ensure that email and cloud documents receive the same protections as paper documents stored in a local file cabinet,” ATR said. “Giving email and cloud documents the same protection as paper documents stored in a local file cabinet, does not impede law enforcement,” it said. The bill had 272 House co-sponsors in the 113th Congress. The bill’s Senate equivalent (S-607) had six Senate co-sponsors.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., reintroduced his Secure Data Act (S-135) Thursday. It has no co-sponsors and was referred to the Commerce Committee. The legislation is intended to end what Wyden considers searches into government-mandated “back doors” in devices. He introduced the bill in the 113th Congress last month. “This bill sends a message to leaders of those [intelligence] agencies to stop recklessly pushing for new ways to vacuum up Americans’ private information, and instead put that effort into rebuilding public trust,” Wyden said in his news release last month.
Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., is officially the chairman of the Commerce Committee, ratified by the Senate, he said in a news release Thursday. Thune was ranking member in the last Congress and was widely expected to take over as chairman. He said there will be six subcommittees, including the Communications and Consumer Protection subcommittees. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., as expected, will lead the Communications Subcommittee. "My chief focus will continue to be the deployment and adoption of broadband in rural America, particularly in Mississippi," Wicker said in a statement Friday. "Broadband has become a true economic engine, and we need to ensure that all Americans reap the benefits of it. To that end, we should focus on fostering innovation and investment in the broadband marketplace, by promoting wireless spectrum availability and reexamining laws on the books to ensure that the dynamic growth Americans have enjoyed continues unimpeded." Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., is a new member of Commerce and will chair the Consumer Protection and Data Security Subcommittee. Subcommittee members weren't announced. Also, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, was officially voted Judiciary Committee chairman, as expected, Grassley said in a release.
Reps. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., Randy Forbes, R-Va., Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Mimi Walters, R-Calif., are to be the new Republican members on the House Judiciary IP Subcommittee, said a House Judiciary Committee news release Thursday. The new committee assignments will be confirmed when the full committee has its first organizational meeting in the 114th Congress, said the release. Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., announced last month that all copyright matters will be heard at the full committee level (see 1412050057). Reps. Tom Marino, R-Pa., and Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, will remain members of the IP subcommittee, but Marino will be the new chairman of the House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee. Farenthold will remain vice chairman of that subcommittee. Reps. Mike Bishop, R-Mich., John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, Dave Trott, R-Mich., and Walters will be the new Republican members of the antitrust subcommittee.
Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., introduced a bill Wednesday “to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the excise tax on telephone and other communications services,” its longer title said. The text of the legislation wasn't online. It has no co-sponsors and was referred to the Finance Committee, where Heller is a member. He's also a member of the Commerce Committee.
Sen. David Vitter, R-La., introduced legislation again to dismantle parts of the Lifeline program. He offered S-56 Wednesday, which would “prohibit universal service support of commercial mobile service through the Lifeline program,” its longer title said. Vitter is a new member of the Commerce Committee and has attacked elements of the Lifeline program in the past. The legislation has no co-sponsors and was referred to Commerce. The bill text wasn't posted online.