Save Access

from: Xchange magazine

Senate Committee to Take Up Telecom Bill Again Next Week

By Kelly M. Teal
Posted on: 06/22/2006

The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will meet again on Tuesday to continue hashing out which amendments will be attached to the Communications, Consumers’ Choice, and Broadband Deployment Act of 2006, before the bill goes to the Senate floor.

Members on Thursday debated various sticking points, including states’ rights, the Universal Service Fund, funding for first responders and net neutrality. None of the senators contested the provision to streamline video franchising rules. On the whole, no conclusions were reached and Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, the committee’s chairman, scheduled another markup hearing for June 27 at 10 a.m.

One of the biggest areas of controversy was the issue of preemption of states’ rights when it comes to any federal telecom legislation. In a statement, the National Governors Association said governors “oppose any amendments that would preempt or interfere with the ability of states to craft meaningful telecommunications tax reforms or balance state budgets, including pending amendments that would prematurely extend the internet access moratorium and restrict other existing state telecommunications taxes.”

Senators went back and forth over states’ rights, but again, did not settle on a compromise.

There are more than 213 amendments proposed for S.2686, introduced in early May by Stevens. The bill has been modified three times – most recently on June 19 – and has received nationwide attention mostly for its lack of net neutrality oversight. Various consumers and advocacy groups, as well as members of Congress, are trying to get the government to ensure providers such as AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. cannot decide whether one user’s Web traffic get delivered faster than another. Those groups also want to be sure providers cannot block access to – or charge extra for – Web sites such as Amazon.com or Google Inc.

The net neutrality provision could hinder the Stevens bill from getting past the Senate before Congress recesses for its summer break and to prepare for mid-term elections. Indeed, Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, said she and Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., still plan to introduce an amendment on net neutrality – another possible holdup on the bill’s progress.

During the hearing, Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, the Commerce Committee’s ranking Democrat, said finding a way for everyone to agree on changes to the telecom bill “is a formidable task that will truly test the limits of our patience.”