Fresh Hurdle for Bipartisanship on Privacy

Two House lawmakers looking to craft a consensus data privacy bill found themselves on opposite sides of an emerging debate: whether legislation should create a new privacy division at the Federal Trade Commission. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), who heads the House Commerce Committee's Consumer Protection Subcommittee, said she’ll pursue that option. “At this point, I think we will not be calling for a separate independent agency, but we will be calling for a division within the Federal Trade Commission,” she said. But the suggestion drew pushback from her GOP counterpart. “I agree that the FTC should be the cop on the beat when it comes to enforcement of privacy standards, but I’m focused on helping consumers through limited and specific jurisdiction of the FTC, not through creating even more bureaucracy,” said Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), the top Republican on the subcommittee. Chair Schakowsky, however, said she’s willing to advance a bill without bipartisan support. “Obviously it would be a great thing if we could do it with the Republicans,” she said, but later added, “We want to, plan to, with or without them.”