House Commerce Committee

On May 15, the House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a hearing titled “The Fiscal Year 2025 National Telecommunications and Information Administration Budget.” House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Subcommittee Chair Bob Latta (R-OH), and Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information Alan Davidson all delivered remarks.

A delegation of US Congress members part of the Congressional Western Caucus and House Commerce Committee was in Bakersfield (CA) on May 10. At a nearly two-hour field hearing, Central Valley farming representatives joined rural internet service providers in highlighting the importance of high-speed connectivity to precision agriculture as well as poor communities reliant on computers for health care, education and remote work. While there was little question how vital internet service has become to rural areas, the underlying question was what role the government should have in not only he

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-TX) led a bicameral coalition of their committee colleagues in calling on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reverse course and abandon its so-called “net neutrality” draft order—an illegal power grab that would expose the broadband industry to an oppressive regulatory regime under Title II of the Communications Act. The members argue that the FCC’s draft order ignores the text of the Communications Act of 1934, which explicitly precludes the FCC from

House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rogers (R-WA) updated Republican Members’ subcommittee assignments including:

We write in support of your ongoing focus on internet affordability as you work to administer the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program enacted in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.  For years, Democrats and Republicans expressed concern over the digital divide, and the $42 billion investment in the BEAD Program gives us a real opportunity to finally bridge this divide and connect every American to high-speed, reliable, and affordable internet.

We write in response to your testimony at the December 5, 2023, hearing held by the House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology titled, “Oversight of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).” Throughout the hearing, you provided troubling answers that suggested that the NTIA would permit rate regulation by states participating in the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program.

We write to express our disappointment and opposition to your announcement that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will vote to reclassify fixed and mobile broadband as a telecommunications service under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934. Not only is this bad public policy, but it is also unlawful. Reclassification and the associated heavy-handed regulations that accompany this action continues to be a solution in search of a problem. We seek the following information by October 31, 2023:

In 2021, Congress provided $65 billion to close the digital divide. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is responsible for administering most of this money, including the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, which will provide states grant money to award providers to deploy broadband networks in unserved and underserved areas. We are concerned about state plans that propose to use funds in ways that will not provide universal connectivity or that are contrary to law.

According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 8.3 million households lack access to high-speed broadband. Providing universal access to communications service—initially voice service and now broadband—has always been a challenge in the United States. Although connecting urban, populated areas is relatively easy, serving sparsely populated rural areas is difficult due to differences in terrain and population density.

In a Full Committee markup, the House Commerce Committee advanced six bills including: