Senate Commerce Committee

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) announced the committee’s six subcommittees and the respective chairmen. “In an effort to exercise oversight more effectively and develop policy in the many agencies and departments covered by Commerce’s broad jurisdiction, the six subcommittees have been reconfigured,” said Chairman Wicker. “For example, the new Subcommittee on Security will address the intersection of economic and national security.

I thank my colleagues for their support in electing me chairman of the Commerce Committee. I would also like to thank Sen. John Thune, the committee’s former chairman, for his exemplary leadership these past four years. The chairmanship is a great responsibility given the committee’s broad jurisdiction across diverse sectors of our economy. I look forward to serving alongside our new ranking member, Sen. Maria Cantwell, and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to build on the committee’s successes and continue moving our economy forward.

Sen Maggie Hassan (D-NH) led a group of her colleagues from the Commerce Committee in urging Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to maintain focus on maternal health as the Commission moves forward with its proposed Connected Care pilot program. This pilot would support access to care using telehealth. The letter comes after the FCC released a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) on supporting access to health care through telehealth in the Connected Care pilot program.

The Senate Commerce Committee approved eight bills including the Measuring the Economic Impact of Broadband Act of 2017 (S.645), and four nominations, including Geoffrey Starks to be a Member of the Federal Communications Commission. S.645 would require the Secretary of Commerce to conduct an assessment and analysis of the effects of broadband deploymnet and adoption on the economy of the United States. 

The Senate Commerce Committee convened a hearing for the president’s nominees to serve as Federal Trade Commissioners:

The Senate Commerce Committee approved 16 bills and the nominations for Wilbur Ross to be Secretary of Commerce and Elaine Chao to be Secretary of Transportation. The bills (all approved by voice vote) include:
MOBILE Now Act (S 19), Sponsors: Chairman John Thune (R-SD), Ranking Member Bill Nelson (D-FL)
Developing Innovation and Growing the Internet of Things (DIGIT) Act (S 88), Sponsors: Sens Deb Fischer (R-NE), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Brian Schatz (D-HI)
Improving Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act (S 96), Sponsors: Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Chairman Thune, Jon Tester (D-MT)
Securing Access to Networks in Disasters (SANDY) Act (S 102), Sponsors: Sens Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ranking Member Nelson
Kari’s Law Act (S 123), Sponsors: Sens Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Brian Schatz (D-HI), John Cornyn (R-TX), Chairman Thune, Ted Cruz (R-TX)
Spoofing Prevention Act (S 134), Sponsors: Ranking Member Nelson, Deb Fischer (R-NE), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Roy Blunt (R-MO)
Federal Communications Commission Consolidated Reporting Act (S 174), Sponsors: Sens Dean Heller (R-NV), Brian Schatz (D-HI)

Since [Federal Communications Commission] Chairman [Tom] Wheeler first announced his $5 billion Wi-Fi stimulus proposal, I have been concerned that he cannot realistically expect to pay for it without forcing Americans to pay more for communications services or diverting E-Rate funds that support necessary connectivity in our nation’s schools, particularly in rural areas.

While I disagree with some of my Democrat colleagues who believe the FCC should simply increase the existing cap on E-Rate funding, they are correct that Wi-Fi’s ‘impact cannot be felt where there is no broadband to support it.’ I also share the National Education Association’s opposition to raiding Priority I E-Rate funds to support Wi-Fi.

Chairman Wheeler should focus the FCC’s E-Rate reforms on protecting the program’s core mission of connectivity, realizing honest savings, and deploying real dollars, rather than promising future spending that could undermine E-Rate’s effectiveness or increase the economic burden on American ratepayers.

If Chairman Wheeler is unable to move forward with reforms that have the bipartisan support of his FCC colleagues, he should postpone Friday’s scheduled vote and work to achieve such an outcome later this summer. Moving forward in a partisan manner, relying on untested budget assumptions, and shifting E-Rate’s priority from connectivity to Wi-Fi will only erode the Chairman’s and FCC’s stature, and potentially jeopardize support for E-Rate.

Sen John (Jay) Rockefeller, IV (D-WV), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation released the following statement after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it filed a complaint against wireless phone service provider T-Mobile USA, which alleges that the company made millions of dollars by placing unauthorized charges on consumers’ phone bills.

“I am deeply disturbed by the FTC’s allegations that T-Mobile allowed millions of dollars in unauthorized charges to be crammed on consumer wireless bills. […] The FTC’s allegations only heighten my concern about the industry’s repeated assertions that voluntary oversight effectively protects consumers from cramming. I am pleased the FTC is scrutinizing carrier practices and look forward to seeing how this FTC action will inform the Committee’s work to make sure the wireless industry is accountable to consumers.”