Jimm Phillips

The House Appropriations Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Subcommittee advanced by voice vote Monday its FY 2022 funding bill, which would usher in major increases in funding in FY 2022 for NTIA and other Commerce Department agencies in line with President Joe Biden’s proposed budget (see 2105280055). The Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee, meanwhile, unanimously advanced its FY 2022 measure with an increase in annual funding for CPB in line with what public broadcasting advocates are seeking (see 2102220070). It's more than what Biden asked for. [Editor's note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly said CPB would get less than what Biden requested.] A full committee markup of both measures will be at 10 a.m. Thursday in 1100 Longworth.

No broadband-related actions President Joe Biden asked the FCC to take in his Friday executive order on competition can easily proceed until there are additional commissioners to secure a Democratic majority, EO supporters and opponents told us. The directive encourages the FCC to at least bring back rescinded 2015 net neutrality rules and act against some other communications sector practices. Congressional Democrats have become increasingly frustrated by Biden’s slow nominations process (see 2106160056). (For the EO's tech provisions, see 2107090060.)

House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., believes lawmakers could include language in an infrastructure spending package aimed at encouraging buildout of “future-proof” broadband networks, despite the smaller amount of connectivity money in a bipartisan framework President Joe Biden endorses (see 2106240070). Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and GAO criticized the FCC’s current 25/3 Mbps minimum broadband speed benchmark.

Some House Democrats are beginning to echo their Senate colleagues’ concerns about the continued lack of permanent leadership at the FCC and NTIA (see 2106160056). House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., told us he plans to delay the subpanel’s customary FCC oversight hearings until President Joe Biden names a permanent commission chair and fills a vacant seat that would give Democrats a 3-2 majority. Qualms about Biden’s failure to name a permanent NTIA administrator also featured during a Wednesday House Communications hearing on nine bills largely aimed at increasing the role that agency and the FCC play in communications security. Subcommittee members from both parties appeared interested in pursuing those measures.

The House Appropriations Committee’s proposed report on the Financial Services Subcommittee-cleared measure to fund the FCC and FTC in FY 2022 seeks further work on changes to USF contribution rules and wants additional study of how municipal broadband can expand connectivity access. The committee was still considering the underlying bill late Tuesday afternoon. Dueling panels of telecom policy officials disagreed on how lawmakers should translate into legislation the $65 billion broadband component in a bipartisan infrastructure package framework President Joe Biden endorsed last week (see 2106240070).

Legislative language for $65 billion for broadband in the bipartisan infrastructure deal President Joe Biden backed Thursday (see 2106240070) “must be provider-neutral and not favor city-run solutions” as Biden previously sought, said Information Technology and Innovation Foundation Broadband and Spectrum Policy Director Doug Brake. Biden’s March proposal prioritized “support for broadband networks owned, operated by, or affiliated with local governments, non-profits, and co-operatives” (see 2103310064). Brake said “the best way to close the digital divide is by distributing grants through an open and competitive process that is genuinely neutral with respect to technology and ownership.” Senate Republicans raised concerns with Biden’s statements backing pursuit of a second legislative package in tandem with the bipartisan measure via budget reconciliation. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., accused Biden in a floor speech of “caving completely in less than hours” to Democrats’ calls for a supplemental reconciliation. Biden’s support for parallel measures “hasn't been a secret,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Friday. “He hasn't said it quietly.”

Telecom-focused lawmakers want to see more information on how a bipartisan infrastructure proposal President Joe Biden backed Thursday structures broadband spending. Some Democrats also cited a likely follow-up bill to address, via budget reconciliation, infrastructure spending not in this compromise as a potential vehicle for more connectivity money. The Biden-backed deal includes $65 billion for broadband, the same the administration previously offered during unsuccessful talks with Senate Republicans (see 2105270072).

Lawmakers need to adopt a technology-neutral approach to broadband spending in a final infrastructure spending package rather than back President Joe Biden’s legislative proposal for “future-proof” networks in a way that would direct most spending to fiber, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., told a Wednesday virtual FCBA event. She echoed what some other Senate Communications Subcommittee Republicans said during a Tuesday hearing (see 2106220066). The goal of closing the digital divide is falsely “conflated with discussions of future proofing” and global competitiveness, Blackburn said; The focus should be on getting more basic broadband infrastructure into unserved areas. Proposals to target significant funding toward networks capable of delivering a minimum of 100 Mbps symmetrical are “a roadblock” to wider access and represent a “separate policy prerogative,” she said. Rural Americans “need broadband now” and shouldn’t be ignored in favor of a push for a “Cadillac network” that would exclude “millions” of people. “Digging trenches through the hills of east Tennessee isn’t necessarily a practical solution,” Blackburn said. She said lawmakers can “reach consensus” on achieving both expanded access and future proofing, but that’s impossible “if we focus exclusively on fiber” and don’t allocate some money to wireless and other tech. Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., wrote the Agriculture, Education and Treasury departments Wednesday asking them to report on distribution of broadband funding in COVID-19 bills. Congress “spent billions of dollars” to "fund multiple programs across the federal government that support the expansion of broadband connectivity and services to unserved and underserved locations,” Wicker said. “It is critical that both Congress and the agencies ensure that these funds are distributed in a way that avoids overbuilding, duplication of funding, and wasteful spending.” Blackburn told FCBA she believes lawmakers can pass privacy legislation this Congress. She cited planned hearings (see 2106100064) and said the parties are “not that far apart” on major aspects of a comprehensive measure. Blackburn also eyed the Senate’s approach to antitrust legislation aimed at curbing major tech companies (see 2106230063).

Huawei believes the U.S. should “put the evidence out there” to justify recent actions to curb the presence of the Chinese telecom gear vendor’s products on U.S. networks, the company's U.S. Chief Security Officer Andy Purdy said during an episode of C-SPAN’s The Communicators set to telecast this weekend. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Friday denied Huawei’s challenge to the FCC ban of its equipment from networks funded by the USF (see 2106220053). Commissioners are to vote July 13 on congressionally mandated changes to its system for replacing insecure U.S. network equipment from Huawei and fellow Chinese vendor ZTE (see 2106210062). U.S. restrictions hurt Huawei “pretty badly in terms of our ability to do business” in the country, Purdy said. “Things are not going very well.” If “Huawei has done bad things, show us” so “the whole world can see so that they don’t just need to create incentives” not to buy Huawei products, he said. “There is not such evidence” and there “is no connection” between Huawei and the Chinese government “other than any other company around the world would have.” The U.S. shouldn’t “do things” like the FCC did in using “predictive judgment” to justify its anti-Huawei actions, Purdy said. “That’s not really consistent with the rule of law approach” that federal agencies generally employ.

A Tuesday Senate Communications Subcommittee hearing on network resiliency issues turned into a debate about the contours of broadband spending in an infrastructure legislative package, as expected (see 2106210058). Supporters and critics of President Joe Biden’s infrastructure proposal (see 2103310064) focused on his call for building “future-proof” broadband networks and the extent to which that could limit funding to only fiber networks. Chairman Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico and other Democrats also eyed how to advance resiliency measures, including the Generating Resilient and Energy Efficient Network (Green) Communications Act (S-1506).