[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 539 Introduced in House (IH)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 539
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to authorize a bipartisan
majority of Commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission to
hold nonpublic collaborative discussions, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 6, 2013
Ms. Eshoo (for herself, Mr. Shimkus, and Mr. Doyle) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and
Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to authorize a bipartisan
majority of Commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission to
hold nonpublic collaborative discussions, and for other purposes.
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
Collaboration Act of 2013''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission
(in this section referred to as the ``Commission''), past and
present, have stated that, while they support the intent of
section 552b of title 5, United States Code, the implementation
of that section has hindered the ability of the Commission to
have a substantive exchange of ideas and hold collective
deliberations on issues pending before the Commission.
(2) The principal purpose of Congress in creating a
multimember agency is to obtain the benefits of collegial
decisionmaking by the members of the agency, who bring to the
decisionmaking process different philosophical perspectives,
experiences, and areas of expertise.
(3) Commissioners have relied primarily on an inefficient
combination of written messages, communications among staff,
and a series of meetings restricted to 2 Commissioners at each
such meeting to discuss complex telecommunications matters
pending before the Commission.
(4) Extensive use of such methods of communication has
harmed collegiality and cooperation at the Commission.
(5) Numerous regulatory matters have been pending before
the Commission for years, and continued inaction on these
issues has the potential to hinder innovation and private
investment in the domestic communications industry.
(6) The Commission must be able to work more
collaboratively and efficiently than in the past to meet the
current challenge of expanding broadband Internet access to the
extent necessary to serve the business, educational, health,
and cultural needs of all people in the United States.
SEC. 3. NONPUBLIC COLLABORATIVE DISCUSSIONS OF THE FEDERAL
COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION.
Section 4 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 154) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(p) Nonpublic Collaborative Discussions.--
``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
``(A) Agency action.--The term `agency action' has
the meaning given the term in section 551 of title 5,
United States Code.
``(B) Bipartisan majority of commissioners.--The
term `bipartisan majority of Commissioners' means a
group of not less than 3 Commissioners that includes--
``(i) for each political party of which any
Commissioner is a member, not less than 1
Commissioner who is a member of that political
party; and
``(ii) if any Commissioner has no political
party affiliation, not less than 1 unaffiliated
Commissioner.
``(2) Nonpublic collaborative discussions.--Notwithstanding
section 552b of title 5, United States Code, a bipartisan
majority of Commissioners may hold a meeting that is closed to
the public to discuss official business if--
``(A) a vote or any other agency action is not
taken at the meeting;
``(B) each person present at the meeting is a
Commissioner, an employee of the Commission, a member
of a joint board established under section 410, or a
person on the staff of such a joint board; and
``(C) an attorney from the Office of General
Counsel of the Commission is present at the meeting.
``(3) Disclosure of nonpublic collaborative discussions.--
Not later than 2 business days after the conclusion of a
meeting held under paragraph (2), the Commission shall publish
on the website of the Commission a disclosure relating to the
meeting that includes--
``(A) a list of the persons who attended the
meeting; and
``(B) a summary of the matters discussed at the
meeting, except for any matters that the Commission
determines may be withheld in accordance with section
552b(c) of title 5, United States Code.
``(4) Preservation of open meetings requirements for agency
action.--Nothing in this subsection shall limit the
applicability of section 552b of title 5, United States Code,
with respect to a meeting of Commissioners other than a meeting
described in paragraph (2).''.
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