US Senate

Sen Patrick Leahy (D-VT), joined by six other Sens, introduced comprehensive consumer privacy legislation to protect Americans’ sensitive personal information against cyberattacks and to ensure timely notification and protection when data is breached. Sen Leahy’s Consumer Privacy Protection Act of 2017 would require companies to take preventive steps to defend against cyberattacks and data breaches, and to quickly provide consumers with notice and appropriate protection when a data breach occurs.

A group of Democratic senators sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai raising concerns about a proposed rule that could harm rural consumers by undermining existing protections for landline service.The Accelerating Wireline Broadband Deployment by Removing Barriers to Infrastructure and Investment Report and Order lessens notifications to consumers about changes to their landline service (virtually eliminating advance notice of copper retirement to retail customers), eliminates rules put in place to protect consumers, and changes the definition of “service” to

Sen Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) led a bipartisan group of thirty-nine Sens in a letter urging the Federal Communications Commission to ensure its commitment to affordable and reliable broadband for consumers in hardest to reach communities across rural America. “A lack of resources to meet our [shared national broadband] goals is undermining investment and consumer access to affordable broadband across much of rural America. For this reason, we write to encourage the FCC to take the much-needed step of addressing the High-Cost Universal Service Fund budget shortfall,” the senators wrote.

Sens Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) have introduced the “Streamlining Permitting to Enable Efficient Deployment of Broadband Infrastructure Act of 2017” (SPEED Act) (S 1988). Specifically, the SPEED Act would streamline federal permitting processes that impede the quick and efficient deployment of next-generation broadband technologies, including 5G. Currently, new and replacement telecommunications infrastructure is subject to numerous, sometimes duplicative federal approvals, including environmental and historical reviews.

Nearly fifty years ago, California researchers embarked on a bold experiment to devise an interoperable computer network. Today, that network is the internet. It is an engine of unprecedented innovation and creativity, in California and throughout the world. The genius of the internet is that it enables entrepreneurship on a level playing field. That openness is particularly important for historically disadvantaged communities. On the internet, anyone can become an overnight sensation based on the quality of their work, regardless of their gender, the color of their skin, who they love, or where they were born. As a Senator, I will fight to protect the net neutrality rules. I intend to submit my comments to the Federal Communications Commission urging that it retain the net neutrality rules. I urge all Americans to add their voices to this important conversation.

Sens Joe Manchin (D-WV), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Deb Fischer (R-NE) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) introduced the Rural Wireless Access Act of 2017. This legislation would require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to collect broadband coverage data that is valid, consistent, and robust. This standardized data is necessary to ensure that policies to expand broadband deployment accurately target the unserved and underserved communities and account for the mobile coverage experience of those living in the most remote parts of the country. Other original cosponsors include Sens Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Gary Peters (D-MI).

This bill would direct the FCC to establish a methodology to:
Ensure that wireless coverage data is collected in a consistent and robust way;
Improve the validity and reliability of wireless coverage data;
Increase the efficiency of wireless coverage data collection.

In a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, 14 U.S. senators express extreme concern will plans to roll back network neutrality rules.

Net neutrality is particularly important to women, as it affords women-owned businesses and startups an even playing field when competing with more established brands and content. Between 2007 and 2016, while the total number of firms increased by 9 percent, the number of women-owned firms increased by 45 percent - meaning that over this period the number of women-owned firms grew at a rate fully five times the national average.1 This growth mirrors the emergence of the Internet as a platform for economic growth. The online sales platform, Etsy, is another example of how women thrive under a free and open Internet. Under the current net neutrality regime, Etsy has empowered sellers in every state across the country, 87 percent of whom are women. An open Internet is also vital to providing a platform for elevating voices that are underrepresented or marginalized in traditional media, an experience many women in media know well. When turned away by traditional media outlets, many female creators have found a home and an audience for their stories on the open Internet. The vast array of online media platforms enabled by net neutrality give creators permission-less access to viewers, providing autonomy for women of every color and creed to tell rich, compelling stories in their own voices. In addition, an open Internet has allowed women to organize and create positive change in their communities.

US Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Edward Markey (D-MA), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Angus King (I-ME), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) introduced the Community Broadband Act to preserve and protect the rights of cities and localities to build municipal broadband networks. Municipal broadband can often provide an affordable, reliable option for rural and low-income communities that face persistent barriers to high-speed internet access.

“Internet access is an economic necessity in today's economy, but too many communities lack reliable access,” Senator Booker said. “I saw this problem first-hand as mayor of Newark. In places where reliable, high-speed internet access is lacking, some municipalities have bridged the gap by investing in and offering broadband internet to their residents. But barriers to municipal broadband networks remain. Our bill will help remove these barriers by giving cities the flexibility they need to meet the needs of their residents.” Specifically, the Community Broadband Act will amend the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to ban any state, local, or tribal statute or regulation that prohibits cities from providing high-speed internet.

Sens Ed Markey (D-MA) and Dan Sullivan (R-AK) sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission calling on Chairman Ajit Pai to support the E-Rate program. The E-Rate program, a part of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, provides schools and libraries funding for internet access. Before passage of the law that created the E-Rate program barely 14 percent of classrooms had access to the internet, while today nearly all schools around the country are connected.

“The E-Rate ensures that students from working-class and rural neighborhoods can connect to and be afforded all of the opportunities given to students from more affluent communities,” write Sens Markey and Sullivan. “With technology expanding into nearly every facet of our lives, we need to ensure all Americans – whether urban or rural, rich or poor – remain connected and competitive in this global economy by continuing to support this essential program that millions of kids rely on across the nation.”

Sens Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), co-chairs of the Senate Broadband Caucus, have introduced bipartisan legislation to measure the economic impact of broadband on the US economy. While the federal government measures the economic impact of many industries, it does not produce current, reliable statistics on the economic impact of broadband on the US economy. Accurate, reliable data on the economic impact of broadband is a valuable tool for policymakers and business leaders and many research institutions, state broadband offices, and trade associations have highlighted the need for this data.

The Measuring the Economic Impact of Broadband Act would require the Bureau of Economic Analysis to conduct a study of the effects of broadband deployment and adoption on the US economy. In conducting this analysis, the Secretary will consider job creation, business headcount, online commerce, income, education and distance learning, telehealth, telework, agriculture, population growth, population density, broadband speed, and geography. The Secretary may consult representatives of business, including rural and urban internet service providers and telecommunications infrastructure providers; state, local, and Tribal government agencies; and consumer and community organizations.