[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1780 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1780

 To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to consolidate the reporting 
   obligations of the Federal Communications Commission in order to 
     improve congressional oversight and reduce reporting burdens.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            November 2, 2011

  Mr. Heller introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to consolidate the reporting 
   obligations of the Federal Communications Commission in order to 
     improve congressional oversight and reduce reporting burdens.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Communications Commission 
Consolidated Reporting Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. COMMUNICATIONS MARKETPLACE REPORT.

    Title I of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 13. COMMUNICATIONS MARKETPLACE REPORT.

    ``(a) In General.--In the last quarter of every even-numbered year, 
the Commission shall publish on its Web site and submit to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and 
the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a 
report on the state of the communications marketplace.
    ``(b) Contents.--Each report required by subsection (a) shall--
            ``(1) assess the state of competition in the communications 
        marketplace, including competition to deliver voice, video, and 
        data services among providers of telecommunications, providers 
        of commercial mobile service (as defined in section 332), 
        multichannel video programming distributors (as defined in 
        section 602), broadcast stations, providers of satellite 
        communications, Internet service providers, and other providers 
        of communications services;
            ``(2) assess the state of deployment of communications 
        capabilities, including advanced telecommunications capability 
        (as defined in section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 
        1996 (47 U.S.C. 1302)), regardless of the technology used for 
        such deployment, including whether advanced telecommunications 
        capability is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable 
        and timely fashion;
            ``(3) assess whether laws, regulations, or regulatory 
        practices (whether those of the Federal Government, States, 
        political subdivisions of States, Indian tribes or tribal 
        organizations (as such terms are defined in section 4 of the 
        Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 
        U.S.C. 450b)), or foreign governments) pose a barrier to 
        competitive entry into the communications marketplace or to the 
        competitive expansion of existing providers of communications 
        services;
            ``(4) describe the agenda of the Commission for the next 2-
        year period for addressing the challenges and opportunities in 
        the communications marketplace that were identified through the 
        assessments under paragraphs (1) through (3); and
            ``(5) describe the actions that the Commission has taken in 
        pursuit of the agenda described pursuant to paragraph (4) in 
        the previous report submitted under this section.
    ``(c) Special Requirements.--
            ``(1) Assessing competition.--In assessing the state of 
        competition under subsection (b)(1), the Commission shall 
        consider the effect of intermodal competition, facilities-based 
        competition, and competition from new and emergent 
        communications services, including the provision of content and 
        communications using the Internet.
            ``(2) Assessing deployment.--In assessing the state of 
        deployment under subsection (b)(2), the Commission shall 
        compile a list of geographical areas that are not served by any 
        provider of advanced telecommunications capability.
            ``(3) International comparisons and demographic 
        information.--The Commission may use readily available data to 
        draw appropriate comparisons between the United States 
        communications marketplace and the international communications 
        marketplace and to correlate its assessments with demographic 
        information.''.

SEC. 3. CONSOLIDATION OF REDUNDANT REPORTS; CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

    (a) ORBIT Act Report.--Section 646 of the Communications Satellite 
Act of 1962 (47 U.S.C. 765e; 114 Stat. 57) is repealed.
    (b) Satellite Competition Report.--Section 4 of Public Law 109-34 
(47 U.S.C. 703) is repealed.
    (c) International Broadband Data Report.--Section 103 of the 
Broadband Data Improvement Act (47 U.S.C. 1303) is amended--
            (1) by striking subsection (b); and
            (2) by redesignating subsections (c) through (e) as 
        subsections (b) through (d), respectively.
    (d) Status of Competition in the Market for the Delivery of Video 
Programming Report.--Section 628 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 548) is amended--
            (1) by striking subsection (g); and
            (2) by redesignating subsection (j) as subsection (g).
    (e) Report on Cable Industry Prices.--
            (1) In general.--Section 623 of the Communications Act of 
        1934 (47 U.S.C. 543) is amended--
                    (A) by striking subsection (k); and
                    (B) by redesignating subsections (l) through (n) as 
                subsections (k) through (m), respectively.
            (2) Conforming amendment.--Section 613(a)(3) of the 
        Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 533(a)(3)) is amended by 
        striking ``623(l)'' and inserting ``623(k)''.
    (f) Triennial Report Identifying and Eliminating Market Entry 
Barriers for Entrepreneurs and Other Small Businesses.--Section 257 of 
the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 257) is amended by striking 
subsection (c).
    (g) Section 706 Report.--Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act 
of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 1302) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in the last sentence, by striking ``If the 
                Commission's determination is negative, it'' and 
                inserting ``If the Commission determines in its report 
                under section 13 of the Communications Act of 1934 that 
                advanced telecommunications capability is not being 
                deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely 
                fashion, the Commission''; and
                    (B) by striking the first and second sentences;
            (2) by striking subsection (c);
            (3) in subsection (d), by striking ``this subsection'' and 
        inserting ``this section''; and
            (4) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (c).
    (h) State of Competitive Market Conditions With Respect to 
Commercial Mobile Radio Services.--Section 332(c)(1)(C) of the 
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 332(c)(1)(C)) is amended by 
striking the first and second sentences.
    (i) Previously Eliminated Annual Report.--
            (1) In general.--Section 4 of the Communications Act of 
        1934 (47 U.S.C. 154) is amended--
                    (A) by striking subsection (k); and
                    (B) by redesignating subsections (l) through (o) as 
                subsections (k) through (n), respectively.
            (2) Conforming amendments.--The Communications Act of 1934 
        is amended--
                    (A) in section 9(i), by striking ``In the 
                Commission's annual report, the Commission shall 
                prepare an analysis of its progress in developing such 
                systems and'' and inserting ``The Commission''; and
                    (B) in section 309(j)(8)(B), by striking the last 
                sentence.
    (j) Additional Outdated Reports.--The Communications Act of 1934 is 
amended--
            (1) in section 4--
                    (A) in subsection (b)(2)(B)--
                            (i) in clause (i), by striking ``(i) The 
                        Commission'' and inserting ``The Commission''; 
                        and
                            (ii) by striking clause (ii); and
                    (B) in subsection (g), by striking paragraph (2);
            (2) in section 215--
                    (A) by striking subsection (b); and
                    (B) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection 
                (b);
            (3) in section 227(e), by striking paragraph (4);
            (4) in section 309(j)--
                    (A) by striking paragraph (12); and
                    (B) in paragraph (15)(C), by striking clause (iv);
            (5) in section 331(b), by striking the last sentence;
            (6) in section 336(e), by amending paragraph (4) to read as 
        follows:
            ``(4) Report.--The Commission shall annually advise the 
        Congress on the amounts collected pursuant to the program 
        required by this subsection.'';
            (7) in section 339(c), by striking paragraph (1);
            (8) in section 396--
                    (A) by striking subsection (i);
                    (B) in subsection (k)--
                            (i) in paragraph (1), by striking 
                        subparagraph (F); and
                            (ii) in paragraph (3)(B)(iii), by striking 
                        subclause (V);
                    (C) in subsection (l)(1)(B), by striking ``shall be 
                included'' and all that follows through ``The audit 
                report''; and
                    (D) by striking subsection (m);
            (9) in section 398(b)(4), by striking the third sentence;
            (10) in section 624A(b)(1)--
                    (A) by striking ``Report; regulations'' and 
                inserting ``Regulations'';
                    (B) by striking ``Within 1 year after'' and all 
                that follows through ``on means of assuring'' and 
                inserting ``The Commission shall issue such regulations 
                as are necessary to assure''; and
                    (C) by striking ``Within 180 days after'' and all 
                that follows through ``to assure such compatibility.''; 
                and
            (11) in section 713, by striking subsection (a).

SEC. 4. EFFECT ON AUTHORITY.

    Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act shall be 
construed to expand or contract the authority of the Federal 
Communications Commission.
                                 <all>