House Commerce Committee

House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Oversight Subcommittee Chair Diana DeGette (D-CO), Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA) and Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chair Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) sent letters to Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai and Jack Dorsey, the CEOs of Facebook, Google and Twitter, to request information on their companies’ response to disinformation regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Greg Walden (R-OR) and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Ranking Member Bob Latta (R-OR) unveiled a package of 26 bills that aim to streamline the deployment of broadband infrastructure. These bills, spearheaded by Republican members of the House Commerce Committee, would promote new and upgraded infrastructure deployments, incentivize competition and consumer choice, right-size regulations for building infrastructure across industries, and facilitate broadband deployment on federal lands. The 26 bills would:

Chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter A. DeFazio (D-OR) was joined by Education and Labor Committee Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA), Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-MA), Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Raúl Grijalva in releasing the text of H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act.

House Commerce Committee Republican Leader Greg Walden (R-OR) and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) released principles for a legislative framework to expand broadband access and digital opportunity and close the digital divide.

House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA) sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai requesting that the FCC provide additional transparency on the distribution of public funds through the COVID-19 Telehealth Program, which Congress created in the CARES Act. As of June 10, the FCC has announced it has awarded more than $104 million of the total $200 million in appropriated funds through the COVID-19 Telehealth Program.

House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Greg Walden (R-OR), Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Bob Latta (R-OH), and fellow subcommittee Republican members urged House Appropriators to provide funding for improved broadband mapping, which is vital for deploying broadband and bridging the digital divide.

House Commerce Committee Republican Leader Greg Walden (R-OR) and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Republican Leader Bob Latta (R-OH) urged Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA) to hold a hearing on bridging the digital divide:

Twenty-four Members of the House Commerce Committee sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai urging him to delay a vote on a Declaratory Ruling that would limit local governments‘ role in the deployment of wireless infrastructure. The Declaratory Ruling would grant companies the right to expand existing cell sites without any regard to local processes and potential conflicting priorities, which would be especially harmful right now given the ongoing challenges that local governments face due to the COVID-19 pandemic.