House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., hopes if Republicans take control of the Senate following the November midterm elections “it will accelerate the agenda” for House Judiciary, he said during an episode of C-SPAN’s Newsmakers that was shown over the weekend (http://cs.pn/1riNhpm). He tallied the hundreds of bills passed by the House that have not been addressed in the Senate, “including some pretty important ones, like patent litigation reform and the [National Security Agency/Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] Court reform,” he said. “Top on my list would be to do the patent litigation reform and the NSA FISA Court reform because those have already passed the House in a very bipartisan way. ... These are opportunities, I think, that we shouldn’t miss.”

Don’t use USF money to build out service where providers already are providing broadband and phone service, the American Cable Association recommended to Congress. ACA also recommended that broadband service not be assessed for USF contributions but that USF should support broadband service. Distribute the support “efficiently” and “on a competitively neutral basis,” with “fiscally responsible” USF programs, it said. ACA submitted its comments to the House Commerce Committee in response to questions about overhauling USF policy. Those comments were due Friday but have not been released online by the committee (CD Sept 22 p7). It’s fine for states and state regulators to create USF programs as long as they don’t give money to regions already served and as long as “any eligible telecom carrier [ETC] can compete to obtain support on a competitively neutral basis,” it said. “For federal universal service programs, the role of the states and state commissions should be more circumscribed” and “largely to examine whether a provider is a ‘bad actor,'” ACA said. “ACA suggests that the FCC take over the ETC designation process for its programs, which it does already in select instances, and permit states to participate in that process if they have material information about the qualifications of the potential ETC.”

A bipartisan group of lawmakers warned several government agencies against allowing in-flight cellphone conversation, earning praise from the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA). The 77 House members sent a letter to the heads of the FCC as well as to the departments of Homeland Security and Transportation and Attorney General Eric Holder. Reps. David McKinley, R-W.Va., and Daniel Lipinski, D-Ill., led the Monday letter. “We urge you to continue the ban on voice calls on all commercial aircraft, and believe that your agencies must also work collaboratively to address safety and security concerns raised by the potential introduction of other wireless capabilities before they are permitted in-flight,” the lawmakers said (http://bit.ly/1tXz2si). They are “extremely concerned” over the FCC proposal “to allow the use of wireless communication devices on commercial flights that does not fully address these safety and security issues, nor does it seem coordinated with your other agencies,” they said. The FCC has said it is examining this issue from a technical standpoint, and the Department of Transportation has begun examining a potential ban of in-flight cellphone conversation. “For over ten years, AFA has been a leader in pushing for comprehensive and ongoing consideration of the risks associated with new in-flight communications technology,” AFA International President Sara Nelson said in a statement. “As first responders and the last line of defense in our nation’s aviation system, Flight Attendants remain strongly opposed to cell phone use in the aircraft cabin. ... In far too many operational scenarios, mobile broadband use could be far worse than a mere nuisance: It could have catastrophic effects on aviation safety and security.”

Congress should dig into surveillance overhaul as well as revamp of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act upon its return from long recess, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said in a statement Monday (http://1.usa.gov/XXM6RS). Congress broke for recess last week and won’t return until after the November midterm elections. “When the Senate returns in November, I will continue to urge swift consideration and passage of the USA FREEDOM Act of 2014, S-2685,” Leahy said. “This is a bipartisan bill that makes important reforms to the government’s surveillance authorities, while providing the intelligence community the operational flexibility it needs to keep our country safe.” He cited backing from national security officials and “a broad coalition of privacy and civil liberties groups, the technology industry, and members of Congress from across the political spectrum.” It needs a vote in November, Leahy said. He also said Congress needs to move forward on Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization. (See separate report in this issue.) “The Leahy-Lee ECPA Reform Act updates our digital privacy laws to keep pace with new technologies, protect civil liberties, and provide guidance to law enforcement,” Leahy said. “Congress should act swiftly to pass this bill.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee now lists a planned Tuesday hearing on sports blackouts as postponed. It had announced the hearing early last week and said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., was to have presided. The Senate broke for recess Thursday.

Correction: The National Consumers League didn’t seek to have Local Choice be considered as part of Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization (CD Sept 15 p10).

Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., took aim at the issue of orphan counties, in legislation introduced Thursday. HR-5585 (http://1.usa.gov/1r7YbhB) aims “to amend the Communications Act of 1934 and title 17, United States Code, to provide greater access to in-State television broadcast programming for cable and satellite subscribers in certain counties,” said its longer title. It has no co-sponsors and has been referred to the House Commerce and Judiciary committees. In a news release, Duffy said the bill is called The Granting Our People Access to Channel Choice Act. It will let households “continue to access their current programming, but also give residents the choice to access Wisconsin news, weather and sports -- including Packers games,” Duffy said in a statement (http://1.usa.gov/XwFMQO). The news release said the legislation “would provide local programming to Wisconsin residents in the seven border counties by allowing them to access in-state, over-the-air broadcasting,” saying “cable or satellite subscribers may choose to keep their current broadcasting, elect the Wisconsin broadcasting or -- for an additional fee -- obtain both market broadcasts."

Both chambers of Congress have now approved the E-Label Act, which has received industry praise. The Senate unanimously approved S-2583 Thursday before breaking for recess. It had cleared the Commerce Committee the day before and the House approved a companion bill in July. It would let manufacturers display electronic approval labeling digitally rather than physically on a device.

Lawmakers introduced bicameral legislation to overhaul the Privacy and Civil Liberties Board Thursday. Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Tom Udall, D-N.M., introduced S-2903, and Reps. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, and Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., introduced HR-5595. Both longer titles say the legislation is “to reform the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, and for other purposes.” Text for the legislation was not online.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., suspects his trio of wireless proposals will be on hold for the short term, as November midterm elections approach. He introduced two bills this year dealing with such issues -- one on reallocation of spectrum (S-2473) and one on spectrum sharing in the upper 5 GHz band (S-2505). He has indicated interest in introducing a third bill that would kill infrastructure barriers for carriers, whether at the level of state and local regulation or federal agency delays. He alluded to new leadership of the Commerce Committee depending on the outcome of the November midterm elections, widely expected to be either Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., or current ranking member John Thune, R-S.D. (CD Feb 10 p9). “My hope is realistically, it’s probably going to have to be something we tackle in the new Congress, in the new Commerce Committee, with either Sen. Nelson or Thune as the chair,” Rubio told us at the Capitol Thursday. “I've been working with them, trying to talk to them a little bit, getting them excited about it.” The Wireless Innovation Act (S-2473) has no co-sponsors, and the Wi-Fi Innovation Act (S-2505) has one co-sponsor: Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J. “I'm still looking for a Democratic partner to work with me for all the pieces I've got,” Rubio said.