Jimm Phillips

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said Tuesday that he plans to lead Democrats in bowing legislation aimed at using investment in 5G and other emerging technologies to counter Chinese advances. Senate Democrats’ emerging tech package needs to “address America’s short-term and long-term plans to protect the semiconductor supply chain, and to keep us No. 1 in things like [artificial intelligence], 5G, quantum computing” and data storage, Schumer told a news conference. “We can’t let China get ahead of us in chip production.” Schumer expects the Senate to be ready to consider the measure on the floor this spring. “We need to get a bill like this to” President Joe Biden’s “desk quickly to protect America’s long-term economic and national security,” he said. The Semiconductor Industry Association praised Schumer’s plan. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jack Reed, D-R.I., raised concerns during a Tuesday hearing about China’s “aggressive attempts to undercut our current technological superiority.” Lawmakers “must also be concerned about the strength of our national research and innovation enterprise, including the workforce, the health of the manufacturing and industrial base, and the infrastructure that we need to support technology development,” he said.

Reps. Anna Eshoo and Jerry McNerney, both D-Calif., pressed major cable, satellite and streaming services Monday to explain their decision to carry politically conservative media outlets Fox News, Newsmax and One America News Network. The lawmakers consider them “misinformation rumor mills and conspiracy theory hotbeds that produce content that leads to real harm.” The inquiries drew swift criticism from FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr and some of the media outlets. The letters went to Google parent Alphabet, Altice, Amazon, Apple, AT&T, Charter Communications, Comcast, Cox Communications, Dish Network, Hulu, Roku and Verizon.

Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., is the new Senate Communications Subcommittee chairman, Commerce Committee leaders said Friday. Brian Schatz of Hawaii, the subcommittee’s lead Democrat in the last Congress, relinquished the seat in favor of other leadership roles, as expected (see 2101290049). Senate Minority Whip John Thune of South Dakota will remain the subcommittee’s lead Republican, also as expected (see 2011020048).

Congressional committees will likely continue doing much work online until the conclusion of the COVID-19 pandemic, lawmakers and experts told us. It's less clear how Capitol Hill plans to return to normal, given concerns about security after the Jan. 6 insurrection (see 2101060057). House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said last week she plans to create an “outside, independent 9/11-type Commission” to study the insurrection’s causes and security lapses on Capitol grounds. The Senate Homeland Security and Rules committees are also doing oversight of Hill security.

House Communications Subcommittee Democrats and Republicans cited conflicting priorities for addressing broadband in COVID-19 and infrastructure bills during Wednesday's hearing, as expected (see 2102160067). Democrats focused on their proposed $7.6 billion for remote E-rate as part of a pandemic-focused budget reconciliation package and on plans to seek broadband funding in a coming infrastructure bill. Republicans criticized aspects of those plans, citing alternatives they issued this week focused partly on streamlining regulations to speed up broadband deployment.

A House Communications Subcommittee hearing Wednesday appears likely to focus on promoting $7.6 billion in E-rate funding included in Commerce Committee-advanced language to be added to a coming COVID-19 budget reconciliation package (see 2102120066), plus other measures to improve broadband access during the pandemic. House Commerce Republicans unveiled an alternative broadband policy agenda Tuesday, which largely draws on bills they first filed last summer (see 2102120066).

The House Commerce Committee voted 31-24 Friday to advance language in its part of the coming COVID-19 budget reconciliation measure that would allocate $7.6 billion for E-rate remote learning funding. (Also see our news bulletin). Committee Republicans ultimately didn't seek votes on most of their proposed amendments dealing with E-rate and other telecom issues. Republicans criticized Democrats for pushing forward with a markup of the overall bill without bipartisan negotiations (see 2102110072).

The House Commerce Committee worked Thursday to advance its portion of the coming COVID-19 budget reconciliation measure, without getting by early evening to a section that includes $7.6 billion in E-rate remote learning funding (see 2102100061). President Joe Biden, meanwhile, sought a heavy infrastructure investment amid concerns China will otherwise overtake the U.S. Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and other administration officials met Thursday with Capitol Hill leaders on infrastructure matters, before an expected formal call later this month for a major infrastructure spending measure (see 2101150001).

The House Commerce Committee voted 31-24 along party lines Friday night to advance to the House Budget Committee language in its part of the coming COVID-19 budget reconciliation measure that would allocate $7.6 billion for E-rate remote learning funding, as expected. The section would also allocate $50 million to the Consumer Product Safety Commission that would in part be used to monitor e-commerce websites selling pandemic-related and other dangerous consumer products.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., formally took over the chair's gavel Thursday after the panel passed its rules and budget for this Congress. The committee didn’t disclose subcommittee leadership roles, but a Senate aide told us announcements are coming soon. Ed Markey, D-Mass., is expected to take over as Communications Subcommittee chairman (see 2101190001). Previous lead Democrat Brian Schatz of Hawaii is giving up the role (see 2101290049). Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., is expected to remain his party's lead member (see 2011020048). Cantwell said she will make “information age” issues a top Commerce priority, including broadband, privacy, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. The committee will “come up with what is our infrastructure response” to the economic fallout from COVID-19 “to keep our infrastructure moving,” she said. The committee needs to address tech-related disparities, including “strategies to help women in the workforce, particularly in ... science, technology, engineering, and math.” Cantwell said she's “the first woman” to chair Senate Commerce and "I don't plan on being the last one.” The committee has four new members: John Hickenlooper, D-Colo.; Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M.; Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo.; and Raphael Warnock, D-Ga.