press release

House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr.

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Joseph Simons has named seven senior staff members:

First Lady Melania Trump unveiled Be Best, her initiative meant to support children and the many issues they are facing today.

House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Subcommittee on Communications and Technology Ranking Member Mike Doyle (D-PA) sent a letter to the Office of Special Counsel requesting an investigation into all three Republican Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioners regarding their involvement with the 2018 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). 

The Santa Clara Principles offer guidance to internet platforms on how to provide users with meaningful due process when their posts are taken down or their accounts are suspended, and to help ensure that the enforcement of company content guidelines is fair, unbiased, and respectful of users’ free expression rights. The three principles urge companies to:

• Publish the numbers of posts removed and accounts permanently or temporarily suspended due to violations of their content guidelines;

Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) led 47 Members of Congress in writing to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai urging the commission to preserve the Lifeline program. Lifeline is a federal assistance program under the FCC that provides communications services to low-income consumers. In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, nearly 20 percent of Puerto Rico’s population has relied on Lifeline for essential telecommunications services.

[Press release] House Commerce Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT):

The Federal Communications Commission sent a letter that instructed the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) not to deny E-rate applications over confusion caused by the drop-down menu issue. The letter also directs USAC to clarify the language for Funding Year 2019. John Windhausen, Jr., Executive Director of SHLB, said:

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai issued the following statement after the Universal Service Administrative Company’s announcement that the budget control mechanism adopted in 2016 will cut universal service support for small, rural carriers by 15.52% over the course of the next year:

Effective immediately, as of May 2018, the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) will accept payments to and distribute funds from the US Treasury. This is not a change to USAC’s administration of the Universal Service Fund (USF).