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from: Technology Daily

House GOP Leaders Pushing Floor Vote On Telecom Bill

By Drew Clark

(Monday, June 5) House Republican leaders are pressing forward with the Bell company-led effort to pass telecommunications legislation and have scheduled the measure -- designed to make it easier for the Bells to enter the video service market -- for a floor vote that likely will take place this Friday.

But Republican leaders are also seeking to avoid requiring members to vote on the contentious issue of network neutrality, congressional and industry sources said. And Bell company lobbyists have been tasked with generating sufficient support against a network neutrality amendment.

A decision on how to proceed on the network neutrality issue is expected Wednesday, when the House Rules Committee meets to determine the guidelines for floor debate on the telecom legislation.

The underlying bill, H.R. 5252 -- which passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee 42-12 on April 26 -- would ease municipal video franchising rules that have limited the Bell companies' ability to offer nationwide video services. Opposition to the franchising aspect comes from the cable industry and municipalities

If Bell advocates of the telecom measure are not able to generate support against a neutrality amendment, the measure could slip to next week, said industry sources.

But an aide to House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said leaders were going to proceed with an unusual vote outside the chamber's normal Tuesday-to-Thursday work week. "We will have a vote on Friday," said Boehner spokesman Kevin Madden, referring to the telecom measure.

The issue of network neutrality has become the key issue generating public interest about the telecom bill. Although H.R. 5252 as passed by the Energy and Commerce Committee includes a ban on cable or Bell companies blocking or degrading the traffic of Web competitors, many in the public interest and technology communities contend that the language is too limited.

These technology companies -- including Amazon.com, eBay, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo -- want strict rules that would bar telephone and cable companies from charging businesses for faster Internet delivery of preferred Web sites. Their lobbyists say it would be a mistake for House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., to deny the chamber a vote on the subject.

"The House Republican leadership is starting to hear the message that they really need to give their members an opportunity to cast a vote for network neutrality," said former Rep. Vin Weber, R-Minn., now a lobbyist at Clark and Weinstock representing the technology firms.

After his committee was denied a chance to consider the Energy and Commerce-passed bill, House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., authored rival H.R. 5417 that included strict network neutrality rules. It passed 20-13. Sensenbrenner said last week that he probably would seek to offer his bill as an amendment to H.R. 5252.

The House Rules Committee will decide on whether to allow a vote on such an amendment no earlier than Wednesday, said a Rules Committee spokeswoman.

Sensenbrenner's approach could be considered non-germane under House rules of debate. But another potential amendment strengthening the network neutrality provisions in H.R. 5252 has been drafted by Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass.

Markey proposed his amendment during the Energy and Commerce Committee's consideration of the bill, but it lost, 34-22.