Key Legislators To Meet On Strategy For Moving Telecom Overhaul Bill

[SOURCE: National Journal's Insider Update, AUTHOR: Bara Vaida]
Republicans and Democrats on the House Commerce Committee plan to meet this afternoon to discuss strategy for moving legislation to overhaul the 1996 Telecommunications Act. The discussions -- which will involve House Commerce Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX), Ranking Member John Dingell (D-MI), and Reps. Fred Upton (R-MI), Edward Markey (D-MA) and Charles (Chip) Pickering (R-MI) -- will determine whether the committee is going to act on a bipartisan telecom reform bill or one that moves only with Republican support. Lobbyists for the Bell operating companies said they have been told by the staff of the Telecommunications and the Internet Subcommittee -- of which Rep Upton is chairman and Rep Markey is ranking member -- to expect a vote on telecom reform legislation by the subcommittee during the week of Dec. 12. These sources said that if a subcommittee markup occurs next week, a full committee markup session could be scheduled in February or March, with action on the legislation coming in the full House during the spring of 2006. Colin Crowell, an aide to Rep Markey, said Tuesday that aides to the five legislators had drafted a third version of telecommunications legislation that considerably reworked provisions dealing with network neutrality, among other issues. (More at the URL bellow.)
http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-MLES1133909206739.html

* See also Comptel's call for the House Commerce Committee to slow down:
http://www.comptelascent.org/public-policy/federal-legislative/documents/2005/barton-dingell-ltr_dec6_2005.pdf