House Communications Subcommittee member Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., confirmed Monday he won’t run for reelection in 2022 in favor of seeking the Senate seat of the retiring Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D). Welch has been active on broadband and privacy issues; he led revisions of Commerce Committee language in the Build Back Better Act budget reconciliation package (HR-5376) providing additional money to the FCC Emergency Connectivity Fund (see 2109140063). Welch is the fifth House Communications member to announce plans to leave the chamber. The others are subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa.; G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C.; Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill.; and Billy Long, R-Mo. House Science Committee Chair Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, reaffirmed Saturday she won’t run for reelection, either. Johnson and other Science members have been critical of recent FCC spectrum decisions they say will interfere with scientists’ use of federal spectrum. They’re asking the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology to report on ways to protect scientists’ access to spectrum (see 2111090042).
Facebook must address “misleading” information regarding targeted advertising for teens, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., wrote the company Monday with Reps. Lori Trahan, D-Mass., and Kathy Castor, D-Fla. They noted Facebook’s recent announcement about a policy change to “significantly limit” targeted ads for children and teens on the platform. New research shows Facebook “continues to target teens with ads based on those users’ personal information.” The lawmakers asked the company to detail the “process by which targeted ads reach young teens” and address these reported misleading practices. A Meta spokesperson confirmed the company received the letter and cited a statement from last week: “It’s wrong to say that because we show data in our transparency tools it’s automatically used for ads. We don’t use data from our advertisers' and partners' websites and apps to personalize ads to people under 18. The reason this information shows up in our transparency tools is because teens visit sites or apps that use our business tools.”
The Senate plans a Nov. 29 vote on invoking cloture at 5:30 p.m. EST on Armed Services Committee leaders’ substitute version of the House-passed National Defense Authorization Act (HR-4350). The substitute includes language from Armed Services ranking member Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., to let DOD “seek recovery” of damages caused by harmful interference to its GPS devices caused by Ligado. It includes multiple cybersecurity provisions (see 2111180073). Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and others eye potentially inserting $52 billion to boost U.S. chipmaking into NDAA, after Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., dropped a bid to add the text of the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (S-1260), which includes that money (see 2111180073).
The House passed the Build Back Better Act budget reconciliation package Friday 220-213, almost entirely along party lines. Rep. Jared Golden of Maine was the only Democrat who voted with Republicans against HR-5376, which includes $500 million for a new FTC data privacy and security bureau, $500 million for NTIA connected device vouchers, $490 million for next-generation 911 tech upgrades and $300 million for the FCC Emergency Connectivity Fund (see 2111180073). House passage followed an eight-hour-plus speech from Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in opposition to the measure that at one point referenced Tesla CEO Elon Musk. HR-5376 now heads to the Senate, where its prospects remain unclear as leaders seek support from all 50 Democrats. “As soon as the necessary technical and procedural work with the Senate Parliamentarian has been completed, the Senate will take up this legislation,” said Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “Now only a few Senate Democrats can protect American families from these radical and painful policies,” said Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. “It is up to them to kill this bill.” NAB CEO Gordon Smith praised lawmakers for including language from the Local Journalism Sustainability Act. HR-3940/S-2434’s proposed $5,000 in tax credits for local businesses that buy radio, TV and newspaper advertisements and up to $25,000 for local news organizations to hire journalists, “will provide meaningful incentives for local broadcast stations to hire and retain the newsgatherers who keep our communities informed, connected and engaged,” Smith said. The Wireless Infrastructure Association hailed lawmakers for including $4.6 billion for sector-based workforce training programs. Connect Americans Now Executive Director Richard Cullen urged senators to “maintain their commitment to greater digital equity and focus on additional solutions to permanently ensure every American can access affordable and reliable broadband and the devices and skills needed.”
Legislation introduced Thursday would prohibit warrantless searches of data generated and stored in automobiles. Announced by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo.; Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif.; and Rep. Peter Meijer, R-Mich., the Closing the Warrantless Digital Car Search Loophole Act would end “outdated” vehicle exceptions to the Fourth Amendment. The loophole was created long before “automobiles contained computers that generate vast amounts of digital information,” Wyden’s office said.
House Communications Subcommittee member Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., said Thursday he won’t seek reelection next year. Butterfield, a former Congressional Black Caucus chairman, had earlier this month been eyeing whether to seek the subcommittee’s lead Democratic seat when current leader Mike Doyle, D-Pa., retires (see 2111120002). “I’m disappointed, terribly disappointed, with the Republican-majority legislature for again gerrymandering our state’s congressional districts and putting their party’s politics over the best interests of North Carolina,” Butterfield said. “While I am hopeful that the courts will ultimately overturn this partisan map and see that a fair map is enacted, I have made the difficult decision that … it is time for me to retire and allow the torch to be passed to someone who shares the values of the district and can continue the work.” Analysts believe the state’s redistricting process significantly altered Butterfield's existing district and set it up to be far more competitive in the 2022 election. Butterfield is the fourth House Communications member to announce plans to leave the chamber. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., like Doyle, is retiring. Rep. Billy Long, R-Mo, is running for the Senate seat being vacated by Rules Committee ranking member Roy Blunt (R). Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., is believed to be mulling a bid for the Senate seat being vacated by Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D).
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said Thursday he’s placing a hold on all Commerce Department nominees who have already cleared the Senate Commerce Committee, including National Institute of Standards and Technology director nominee Laurie Locascio (see 2111170071). He told Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., the delay will last until the panel holds a requested oversight hearing with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo about “the Biden administration’s plans to solve” the current supply chain crisis. “Instead of creating a friendly business environment,” President Joe Biden “has made it a priority of his administration to add burdensome regulations,” Scott wrote Cantwell. “I find it extremely concerning that members of the Biden administration seem to be focused more on playing TV commentator than finding real solutions.” The committee didn’t comment.
Two California House Democrats reintroduced legislation Thursday that would create a new federal agency to enforce privacy laws (see 2002260049). Reps. Anna Eshoo and Zoe Lofgren filed the Online Privacy Act, first introduced in November 2019. The bill “creates user data rights” and “places limitations and obligations on companies collecting and using user data.”
House Commerce Committee subpanels plan hearings Dec. 1 and Dec. 9 on legislation to “hold Big Tech accountable,” Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., announced Wednesday. The Communications Subcommittee scheduled a hearing Dec. 1 on Communications Decency Act Section 230 and how to “recalibrate the law in a way that better incentivizes responsible actions by tech companies.” The Consumer Protection Subcommittee will meet Dec. 9 on “an array of proposals to enhance transparency, promote online safety, and hold Big Tech accountable.” Legislation to be discussed will be announced the week before each hearing.
The House Commerce Committee advanced Spectrum Coordination Act (HR-2501) and two other telecom and tech bills Wednesday on voice votes. Also approved: the Data Mapping to Save Moms’ Lives Act (HR-1218) and Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers Act (HR-5502). HR-1218 and Senate Commerce Committee-cleared companion S-198 would require the FCC to include maternal health outcomes in its broadband health mapping tool. HR-2501 would require the FCC and NTIA to update by the end of 2022 their memorandum of understanding for handling spectrum allocations. HR-5502 would require online marketplaces to authenticate the identity of high-volume, third-party sellers. "With the information this legislation will provide, we can then explore broadband policies that will help keep more mothers and their newborn babies safe and healthy," said Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J. With $65 billion for broadband in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, it's "even more important that we foster collaboration between the agencies that will be implementing these programs and gather better data to understand how connectivity affects health outcomes," said Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa. Ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., praised HR-2501: “These public fights among federal agencies and private industry harm our ability to compete globally, especially with China, and the experts need to be empowered without the interagency politics.” Federal agencies must share "necessary information with all stakeholders early in the spectrum auction process rather than go through the press with baseless fearmongering claims," said House Communications ranking member Bob Latta, R-Ohio.