[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 168 (Monday, November 16, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H8182-H8185]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION PROCESS REFORM ACT OF 2015
Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 2583) to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for
greater transparency and efficiency in the procedures followed by the
Federal Communications Commission, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 2583
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 Process Reform Act of 2015''.
SEC. 2. FCC PROCESS REFORM.
(a) In General.--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. TRANSPARENCY AND EFFICIENCY.
``(a) Initial Rulemaking and Inquiry.--
``(1) Rulemaking.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
the enactment of the Federal Communications Commission
Process Reform Act of 2015, the Commission shall complete a
rulemaking proceeding and adopt procedural changes to its
rules to maximize opportunities for public participation and
efficient decisionmaking.
``(2) Requirements for rulemaking.--The rules adopted under
paragraph (1) shall--
``(A) set minimum comment periods for comment and reply
comment, subject to a determination by the Commission that
good cause exists for departing from such minimum comment
periods, for--
``(i) significant regulatory actions, as defined in
Executive Order No. 12866; and
``(ii) all other rulemaking proceedings;
``(B) establish policies concerning the submission of
extensive new comments, data, or reports towards the end of
the comment period;
``(C) establish policies regarding treatment of comments,
ex parte communications, and data or reports (including
statistical reports and reports to Congress) submitted after
the comment period to ensure that the public has adequate
notice of and opportunity to respond to such submissions
before the Commission relies on such submissions in any
order, decision, report, or action;
``(D) establish procedures for, not later than 14 days
after the end of each quarter of a calendar year (or more
frequently, as the Commission considers appropriate),
publishing on the Internet website of the Commission and
submitting to Congress a report that contains--
``(i) the status of open rulemaking proceedings and
proposed orders, decisions, reports, or actions on
circulation for review by the Commissioners, including which
Commissioners have not cast a vote on an order, decision,
report, or action that has been on circulation for more than
60 days;
``(ii) for the petitions, applications, complaints, and
other requests for action by the Commission that were pending
at the Commission on the last day of such quarter (or more
frequent period, as the case may be)--
``(I) the number of such requests, broken down by the
bureau primarily responsible for action and, for each bureau,
the type of request (such as a petition, application, or
complaint); and
``(II) information regarding the amount of time for which
such requests have been pending, broken down as described in
subclause (I); and
``(iii) a list of the congressional investigations of the
Commission that were pending on the last day of such quarter
(or more frequent period, as the case may be) and the cost of
such investigations, individually and in the aggregate;
``(E) establish deadlines (relative to the date of filing)
for--
``(i) in the case of a petition for a declaratory ruling
under section 1.2 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations,
issuing a public notice of such petition;
``(ii) in the case of a petition for rulemaking under
section 1.401 of such title, issuing a public notice of such
petition; and
``(iii) in the case of a petition for reconsideration under
section 1.106 or 1.429 of such title or an application for
review under section 1.115 of such title, issuing a public
notice of a decision on the petition or application by the
Commission or under delegated authority (as the case may be);
``(F) establish guidelines (relative to the date of filing)
for the disposition of petitions filed under section 1.2 of
such title;
``(G) establish procedures for the inclusion of the
specific language of the proposed rule or the proposed
amendment of an existing rule in a notice of proposed
rulemaking; and
``(H) require notices of proposed rulemaking and orders
adopting a rule or amending an existing rule that--
``(i) create (or propose to create) a program activity to
contain performance measures for evaluating the effectiveness
of the program activity; and
``(ii) substantially change (or propose to substantially
change) a program activity to contain--
``(I) performance measures for evaluating the effectiveness
of the program activity as changed (or proposed to be
changed); or
``(II) a finding that existing performance measures will
effectively evaluate the program activity as changed (or
proposed to be changed).
``(3) Inquiry.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the
enactment of the Federal Communications Commission Process
Reform Act of 2015, the Commission shall complete an inquiry
to seek public comment on whether and how the Commission
should--
``(A) establish procedures for allowing a bipartisan
majority of Commissioners to place an order, decision,
report, or action on the agenda of an open meeting;
``(B) establish procedures for informing all Commissioners
of a reasonable number of options available to the Commission
for resolving a petition, complaint, application, rulemaking,
or other proceeding;
``(C) establish procedures for ensuring that all
Commissioners have adequate time, prior to being required to
decide a petition, complaint, application, rulemaking, or
other proceeding (including at a meeting held pursuant to
section 5(d)), to review the proposed Commission decision
document, including the specific language of any proposed
rule or any proposed amendment of an existing rule;
``(D) establish procedures for publishing the text of
agenda items to be voted on at an open meeting in advance of
such meeting so that the public has the opportunity to read
the text before a vote is taken;
``(E) establish deadlines (relative to the date of filing)
for disposition of applications for a license under section
1.913 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations;
``(F) assign resources needed in order to meet the
deadlines described in subparagraph (E), including whether
the Commission's ability to meet such deadlines would be
enhanced by assessing a fee from applicants for such a
license; and
``(G) publish each order, decision, report, or action not
later than 30 days after the date of the adoption of such
order, decision, report, or action.
``(4) Data for performance measures.--The Commission shall
develop a performance measure or proposed performance measure
required by this subsection to rely, where possible, on data
already collected by the Commission.
``(5) GAO audit.--Not less frequently than every 6 months,
the Comptroller General of the United States shall audit the
cost estimates provided by the Commission under paragraph
(2)(D)(iii) during the preceding 6-month period.
``(b) Periodic Review.--On the date that is 5 years after
the completion of the rulemaking proceeding under subsection
(a)(1), and every 5 years thereafter, the Commission shall
initiate a new rulemaking proceeding to continue to consider
such procedural changes to its rules as may be in the public
interest to maximize opportunities for public participation
and efficient decisionmaking.
``(c) Nonpublic Collaborative Discussions.--
``(1) In general.--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
such meeting;
``(B) each person present at such meeting is a
Commissioner, an employee of the Commission, a member of a
joint board or conference established under section 410, or a
person on the staff of such a joint board or conference or of
a member of such a joint board or conference; and
``(C) an attorney from the Office of General Counsel of the
Commission is present at such meeting.
``(2) Disclosure of nonpublic collaborative discussions.--
Not later than 2 business days after the conclusion of a
meeting held under paragraph (1), the Commission
[[Page H8183]]
shall publish a disclosure of such meeting, including--
``(A) a list of the persons who attended such meeting; and
``(B) a summary of the matters discussed at such meeting,
except for such matters as the Commission determines may be
withheld under section 552b(c) of title 5, United States
Code.
``(3) 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 that
described in paragraph (1).
``(d) Access to Certain Information on Commission's
Website.--The Commission shall provide direct access from the
homepage of its website to--
``(1) detailed information regarding--
``(A) the budget of the Commission for the current fiscal
year;
``(B) the appropriations for the Commission for such fiscal
year; and
``(C) the total number of full-time equivalent employees of
the Commission; and
``(2) the performance plan most recently made available by
the Commission under section 1115(b) of title 31, United
States Code.
``(e) Internet Publication of Certain FCC Policies and
Procedures.--The chairman of the Commission shall--
``(1) publish on the Internet website of the Commission any
policies or procedures of the Commission that--
``(A) are established by the chairman; and
``(B) relate to the functioning of the Commission or the
handling of the agenda of the Commission; and
``(2) update such publication not later than 48 hours after
the chairman makes changes to any such policies or
procedures.
``(f) Federal Register Publication.--
``(1) In general.--In the case of any document adopted by
the Commission that the Commission is required, under any
provision of law, to publish in the Federal Register, the
Commission shall, not later than the date described in
paragraph (2), complete all Commission actions necessary for
such document to be so published.
``(2) Date described.--The date described in this paragraph
is the earlier of--
``(A) the day that is 45 days after the date of the release
of the document; or
``(B) the day by which such actions must be completed to
comply with any deadline under any other provision of law.
``(3) No effect on deadlines for publication in other
form.--In the case of a deadline that does not specify that
the form of publication is publication in the Federal
Register, the Commission may comply with such deadline by
publishing the document in another form. Such other form of
publication does not relieve the Commission of any Federal
Register publication requirement applicable to such document,
including the requirement of paragraph (1).
``(g) Consumer Complaint Database.--
``(1) In general.--In evaluating and processing consumer
complaints, the Commission shall present information about
such complaints in a publicly available, searchable database
on its website that--
``(A) facilitates easy use by consumers; and
``(B) to the extent practicable, is sortable and accessible
by--
``(i) the date of the filing of the complaint;
``(ii) the topic of the complaint;
``(iii) the party complained of; and
``(iv) other elements that the Commission considers in the
public interest.
``(2) Duplicative complaints.--In the case of multiple
complaints arising from the same alleged misconduct, the
Commission shall be required to include only information
concerning one such complaint in the database described in
paragraph (1).
``(h) Form of Publication.--
``(1) In general.--In complying with a requirement of this
section to publish a document, the Commission shall publish
such document on its website, in addition to publishing such
document in any other form that the Commission is required to
use or is permitted to and chooses to use.
``(2) Exception.--The Commission shall by rule establish
procedures for redacting documents required to be published
by this section so that the published versions of such
documents do not contain--
``(A) information the publication of which would be
detrimental to national security, homeland security, law
enforcement, or public safety; or
``(B) information that is proprietary or confidential.
``(i) Transparency Relating to Performance in Meeting FOIA
Requirements.--The Commission shall take additional steps to
inform the public about its performance and efficiency in
meeting the disclosure and other requirements of section 552
of title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the
Freedom of Information Act), including by doing the
following:
``(1) Publishing on the Commission's website the
Commission's logs for tracking, responding to, and managing
requests submitted under such section, including the
Commission's fee estimates, fee categories, and fee request
determinations.
``(2) Releasing to the public all decisions made by the
Commission (including decisions made by the Commission's
Bureaus and Offices) granting or denying requests filed under
such section, including any such decisions pertaining to the
estimate and application of fees assessed under such section.
``(3) Publishing on the Commission's website electronic
copies of documents released under such section.
``(4) Presenting information about the Commission's
handling of requests under such section in the Commission's
annual budget estimates submitted to Congress and the
Commission's annual performance and financial reports. Such
information shall include the number of requests under such
section the Commission received in the most recent fiscal
year, the number of such requests granted and denied, a
comparison of the Commission's processing of such requests
over at least the previous 3 fiscal years, and a comparison
of the Commission's results with the most recent average for
the United States Government as published on www.foia.gov.
``(j) Prompt Release of Statistical Reports and Reports to
Congress.--Not later than January 15th of each year, the
Commission shall identify, catalog, and publish an
anticipated release schedule for all statistical reports and
reports to Congress that are regularly or intermittently
released by the Commission and will be released during such
year.
``(k) Annual Scorecard Reports.--
``(1) In general.--For the 1-year period beginning on
January 1st of each year, the Commission shall prepare a
report on the performance of the Commission in conducting its
proceedings and meeting the deadlines established under
subsection (a)(2)(E) and the guidelines established under
subsection (a)(2)(F).
``(2) Contents.--Each report required by paragraph (1)
shall contain detailed statistics on such performance,
including, with respect to each Bureau of the Commission--
``(A) with respect to each type of filing specified in
subsection (a)(2)(E) or (a)(2)(F)--
``(i) the number of filings that were pending on the last
day of the period covered by such report;
``(ii) the number of filings described in clause (i) for
which each applicable deadline or guideline established under
such subsection was not met and the average length of time
such filings have been pending; and
``(iii) for filings that were resolved during such period,
the average time between initiation and resolution and the
percentage for which each applicable deadline or guideline
established under such subsection was met;
``(B) with respect to proceedings before an administrative
law judge--
``(i) the number of such proceedings completed during such
period; and
``(ii) the number of such proceedings pending on the last
day of such period; and
``(C) the number of independent studies or analyses
published by the Commission during such period.
``(3) Publication and submission.--The Commission shall
publish 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 each report
required by paragraph (1) not later than the date that is 30
days after the last day of the period covered by such report.
``(l) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Amendment.--The term `amendment' includes, when used
with respect to an existing rule, the deletion of such rule.
``(2) Bipartisan majority.--The term `bipartisan majority'
means, when used with respect to a group of Commissioners,
that such group--
``(A) is a group of 3 or more Commissioners; and
``(B) includes, for each political party of which any
Commissioner is a member, at least 1 Commissioner who is a
member of such political party, and, if any Commissioner has
no political party affiliation, at least one unaffiliated
Commissioner.
``(3) Performance measure.--The term `performance measure'
means an objective and quantifiable outcome measure or output
measure (as such terms are defined in section 1115 of title
31, United States Code).
``(4) Program activity.--The term `program activity' has
the meaning given such term in section 1115 of title 31,
United States Code, except that such term also includes any
annual collection or distribution or related series of
collections or distributions by the Commission of an amount
that is greater than or equal to $100,000,000.
``(5) Other definitions.--The terms `agency action', `ex
parte communication', and `rule' have the meanings given such
terms in section 551 of title 5, United States Code.''.
(b) Effective Dates and Implementing Rules.--
(1) Effective dates.--
(A) Nonpublic collaborative discussions.--Subsection (c) of
section 13 of the Communications Act of 1934, as added by
subsection (a), shall apply beginning on the first date on
which all of the procedural changes to the rules of the
Federal Communications Commission required by subsection
(a)(1) of such section have taken effect.
(B) Report release schedules.--Subsection (j) of such
section 13 shall apply with respect to 2016 and any year
thereafter.
(C) Annual scorecard reports.--Subsection (k) of such
section 13 shall apply with respect to 2015 and any year
thereafter.
(D) Internet publication of certain fcc policies and
procedures.--Subsection (e) of such section 13 shall apply
beginning on the date that is 30 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
[[Page H8184]]
(2) Rules.--Except as otherwise provided in such section
13, the Federal Communications Commission shall promulgate
any rules necessary to carry out such section not later than
1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 3. CATEGORIZATION OF TCPA INQUIRIES AND COMPLAINTS IN
QUARTERLY REPORT.
In compiling its quarterly report with respect to informal
consumer inquiries and complaints, the Federal Communications
Commission may not categorize an inquiry or complaint with
respect to section 227 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47
U.S.C. 227) as being a wireline inquiry or complaint or a
wireless inquiry or complaint unless the party whose conduct
is the subject of the inquiry or complaint is a wireline
carrier or a wireless carrier, respectively.
SEC. 4. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.
Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act
shall relieve the Federal Communications Commission from any
obligations under title 5, United States Code, except where
otherwise expressly provided.
SEC. 5. APPLICATION OF ANTIDEFICIENCY ACT TO UNIVERSAL
SERVICE PROGRAM.
Section 302 of Public Law 108-494 (118 Stat. 3998) is
amended by striking ``December 31, 2016'' each place it
appears and inserting ``December 31, 2020''.
SEC. 6. REPORT ON IMPROVING SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION IN
FCC PROCEEDINGS.
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of
this Act, the Federal Communications Commission, in
consultation with the Administrator of the Small Business
Administration, shall submit to Congress a report on--
(1) actions that the Commission will take to improve the
participation of small businesses in the proceedings of the
Commission; and
(2) recommendations for any legislation that the Commission
considers appropriate to improve such participation.
SEC. 7. EXCLUSION FROM PAYGO SCORECARDS.
(a) Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Scorecards.--The budgetary
effects of this Act shall not be entered on either PAYGO
scorecard maintained pursuant to section 4(d) of the
Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010.
(b) Senate PAYGO Scorecards.--The budgetary effects of this
Act shall not be entered on any PAYGO scorecard maintained
for purposes of section 201 of S. Con. Res. 21 (110th
Congress).
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Oregon (Mr. Walden) and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Oregon.
General Leave
Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and
insert extraneous material into the Record on the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Oregon?
There was no objection.
Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Today marks the third time in 4 years that a variation of the FCC
Process Reform Act has come to the floor for a vote. This is a sign of
how seriously in need of reform the FCC's procedures are and how
seriously I, and the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology,
take the responsibility of helping put these reforms in place.
This bill is the product of a multiyear, bipartisan legislative
process, bringing us to a place where we can at least begin to create a
framework for more transparent and predictable rulemakings at the
Federal Communications Commission.
There are few other industries that have shown such high levels of
innovation and investment as the communications and technology sector.
Think of the developments in smartphones alone over the past few years,
Mr. Speaker. The only way to guarantee that this continues is to make
sure that the agency that regulates the industry is accountable and
transparent so that the regulatory tangles do not impede the steady
march of new and exciting innovations and offerings.
The Subcommittee on Communications and Technology has spent a great
deal of time on agency reform. In fact, tomorrow we will have the
entire FCC before our committee once again. We have come to a consensus
on how we can best improve the processes at the Federal Communications
Commission without tying the agency's hands unnecessarily. It has been
a focus of our work.
Our bipartisan compromise requires that the FCC undertake a
rulemaking to adopt minimum time periods for comments and to adopt
rules that prevent the introduction of large amounts of data--we call
those data dumps, where enormous amounts of information come in at the
last minute and nobody has a chance to understand what is in it or
comment effectively on it, sometimes even catching commissioners by
surprise--at the very end of a comment period.
The new Commission rules must put into place specific deadlines and
timeframes for agency decisions or action on different types of filings
before the agency. I know all too well what those deadlines and delays
can be. My wife and I were broadcasters for more than two decades. We
actually had applications sit at the FCC for nearly 10 years without
any action. Finally, they were acted upon, and we were given 30 days to
implement them. This isn't acceptable. There must be predictability and
certainty for those who rely on the FCC to make decisions central to
their businesses.
In addition to the rulemaking, the FCC must also conduct an inquiry
into more complex issues, giving them flexibility in deciding whether
and how to implement the reforms. We aren't looking to, again,
hamstring this agency. We simply are providing them with goals and
allowing them to determine the best way to achieve them. That is our
job as the oversight committee over an agency.
Process reform is not about the actions of one party and it is not
about the actions of one chairman. This is about putting rules into
place that will carry over from one administration to the next, one
party to the next, one chairman to the next, creating consistency and
certainty for the many that are subject to the Commission's rules. I
believe there must be some kind of accountability for our independent
agencies and the decisions that they make. After all, it is the
public's business that they are conducting.
While there is still much work needed to be done on reforming the
procedures at this sometimes broken agency, this bill represents a
vital first step in that process. The communications industry and, more
importantly, the American people, deserve a transparent and accountable
Federal agency, no matter who is in charge.
For the second consecutive Congress, I am proud to bring this
bipartisan work to the House floor. I thank my Democratic colleague,
Ranking Member Pallone, who I know will speak on this bill; Ranking
Member Eshoo, who has been a terrific partner as we have worked on
this; Representatives Matsui, Clarke, and Loebsack for their
contributions to this bill; and staff on both sides of the aisle, David
Redl, Grace Koh, Kelsey Guyselman, Gene Fullano, David Goldman, Lori
Maarbjerg, and David Grossman, for their hard work. I urge my
colleagues to support this legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2583, the Federal
Communications Commission Process Reform Act of 2015.
The FCC has a role in regulating industries that make up one-sixth of
our economy and whose services have been essential to consumers, and it
is important that the FCC functions in a fast, efficient, and
transparent way.
The FCC Chairman has made process reform a priority of his tenure,
and he has made great strides in improving how the FCC functions. But
it is the role of Congress to make adjustments like we are doing today.
I believe that the final text of the bill we are considering today will
achieve that goal, and I urge all Members to support it.
Not all of the issues in the FCC Process Reform Act are new. In fact,
the base of the bill being considered here today is very similar to the
bill that passed the House under suspension by voice vote last
Congress. It requires the FCC to adopt procedural rule changes to
maximize public participation and to look into other potential process
changes, including whether to establish deadlines for application
processing. It also includes the provisions of the FCC Collaboration
Act, an issue championed by Representative Eshoo, which will allow
commissioners to freely discuss FCC issues with sufficient safeguards
to protect against abuse.
[[Page H8185]]
Democrats offered additional suggestions earlier this year when the
Subcommittee on Communications and Technology considered this and other
bills aimed at FCC process reform. The ideas of subcommittee members
Clarke, Loebsack, and Matsui furthered our goal to help make the FCC
fast, efficient, and transparent.
The simple suggestions were to, one, require the FCC to provide
quarterly reports on pending items with the agency to ensure
accountability and timely responses; two, require, the FCC to
coordinate with the Small Business Administration to improve small-
business participation in FCC proceedings; and, third, require the FCC
Chairman to publicly post the agency's internal policies and procedures
for greater transparency.
Although we could not agree on the policies offered by the
Republicans and dissented from the version of the bill that was
favorably reported from the Energy and Commerce Committee in June, we
worked in a bipartisan manner to craft the language that we take up
today. This version of the bill takes the bipartisan language from last
Congress and includes most of the Democratic suggestions that improve
the bill.
I appreciate Chairman Upton and Chairman Walden's willingness to
listen to our concerns and work with us to achieve a bipartisan result.
It is a stronger bill because of it.
I also want to thank Communications and Technology Subcommittee
Ranking Member Anna Eshoo for her leadership on these issues, as well
as Representatives Clarke, Loebsack, and Matsui, for their thoughtful
considerations. I look forward to continuing to work with our
Republican and Democratic colleagues in the Senate to help this bill
become law. Again, I urge its passage.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I want to thank my colleague from New Jersey and his staff for the
great work on this legislation. I also meant to thank Mr. Kinzinger
from Illinois as well, who has been very active on our subcommittee. He
has done great work on this measure and some of its very important
provisions. I left him out earlier today. I want to thank him as well.
I also thank the staff and my colleagues. I urge passage in the House.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of the bill.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, again, I think this is a fine piece of work. I think it
will result in the Federal Communications Commission being even better
and more transparent as it conducts the public's business. I look
forward to this bill moving on across the Chamber and to the Senate
where, hopefully, this year they will take it up. So I ask for its
approval.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2583, the
Federal Communications Commission Process Reform Act of 2015, a
bipartisan bill aimed at giving the FCC flexibility while promoting
openness, transparency and accountability.
In the 113th Congress, the House of Representatives considered and
passed similar legislation by voice vote. The bill before us adds to
the previously included reforms by including three legislative
proposals offered during the Energy & Commerce Committee's debate.
First, a proposal offered by Rep. Clarke would require the FCC to
report quarterly to Congress and to post, on its website, data on the
total number of decisions pending, categorized by bureau, the type of
request, the length of time pending, as well as a list of pending
Congressional investigations and their costs to the agency.
Second, a proposal by Rep. Loebsack would require the Chairman to
post the Commission's internal procedures on the FCC website and update
the website when the Chairman makes any changes.
Third, the underlying bill includes a proposal offered by Rep. Matsui
which would require the FCC to coordinate with the Small Business
Administration and issue recommendations to improve small business
participation in FCC proceedings.
Collectively the proposals by Reps. Clarke, Loebsack and Matsui would
modernize and enhance transparency at the FCC without jeopardizing
regulatory certainty or opening the Commission to legal challenges on
every agency action.
I'm also pleased that the bill incorporates the FCC Collaboration Act
of 2015, a bipartisan bill I introduced earlier this year with Reps.
Shimkus and Doyle. For years, current and former FCC Commissioners have
called on Congress to pass `sunshine reform,' so that three or more
Commissioners can hold non-public collaborative discussions, as long as
no agency action is taken. While I remain disappointed that this
provision will not take effect immediately upon enactment, I've
concluded that any further delay in implementation is the unnecessary
delay of a much needed reform.
I thank Chairman Walden for working with me and my staff to put
forward a bipartisan bill and I urge my colleagues to support H.R.
2583.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, H.R. 2583, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________