[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 12 (Monday, January 23, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H586-H588]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION CONSOLIDATED REPORTING ACT OF 2017

  Mr. LANCE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 599) 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.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                H.R. 599

       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 2017''.

     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 website 
     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, 
     audio, 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. 5304)), 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) Extension.--If the President designates a 
     Commissioner as Chairman of the Commission during the last 
     quarter of an even-numbered year, the portion of the report 
     required by subsection (b)(4) may be published on the website 
     of the Commission and submitted to the Committee on Energy 
     and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the 
     Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 
     Senate as an addendum during the first quarter of the 
     following odd-numbered year.
       ``(d) Special Requirements.--
       ``(1) Assessing competition.--In assessing the state of 
     competition under subsection (b)(1), the Commission shall 
     consider all forms of competition, including 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.
       ``(4) Considering small businesses.--In assessing the state 
     of competition under subsection (b)(1) and regulatory 
     barriers under subsection (b)(3), the Commission shall 
     consider market entry barriers for entrepreneurs and other 
     small businesses in the communications marketplace in 
     accordance with the national policy under section 257(b).
       ``(5) Considering cable rates.--In assessing the state of 
     competition under subsection (b)(1), the Commission shall 
     include in each report required by subsection (a) the 
     aggregate average total amount paid by cable systems in 
     compensation under section 325 during the period covered by 
     such report.''.

     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);
       (2) by redesignating subsection (j) as subsection (g); and
       (3) by transferring subsection (g) (as redesignated) so 
     that it appears after subsection (f).
       (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 (o) as 
     subsections (k) through (n), 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) by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
       ``(b) Determination.--If the Commission determines in its 
     report under section 13 of the Communications Act of 1934, 
     after considering the availability of advanced 
     telecommunications capability to all Americans (including, in 
     particular, elementary and secondary schools and classrooms), 
     that advanced telecommunications capability is not being 
     deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion, 
     the Commission shall take immediate action to accelerate 
     deployment of such capability by removing barriers to 
     infrastructure investment and by promoting competition in the 
     telecommunications market.'';
       (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.

[[Page H587]]

       (2) Conforming amendments.--The Communications Act of 1934 
     (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) 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 further amended--
       (1) in section 4--
       (A) in subsection (b)(2)(B)(ii), by striking ``and shall 
     furnish notice of such action'' and all that follows through 
     ``subject of the waiver''; 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.

     SEC. 5. OTHER REPORTS.

       Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act 
     shall be construed to prohibit or otherwise prevent the 
     Federal Communications Commission from producing any 
     additional reports otherwise within the authority of the 
     Commission.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Lance) and the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Michael F. 
Doyle) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey.


                             General Leave

  Mr. LANCE. 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 materials in the Record on the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New Jersey?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. LANCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Scalise), the distinguished majority whip 
of the House.
  Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey for 
yielding and for managing the time here.
  I bring forward this FCC Consolidated Reporting Act because this is a 
bill that focuses on streamlining government. It focuses on really 
establishing and identifying areas where we need to improve competition 
in the telecommunications marketplace and make recommendations to 
Congress that can help us make better policy for the country. At the 
same time, we are eliminating a lot of unnecessary reports that are 
currently burdening not only the people who are out there creating jobs 
but also the FCC by having eight different reports that are required 
annually to be filed and to be evaluated by the FCC at disparate times 
throughout the year, to consolidate all that into one report, one 
report that focuses on the entire telecommunications marketplace on a 
biennial basis. That report would come in at the end of the 2-year 
period so that each new Congress would be presented with very relevant 
and much more timely information that would help each Congress evaluate 
if changes and reforms need to be made to the law.
  What laws am I talking about, Mr. Speaker? I am talking about in the 
current marketplace some of these various disparate reports where you 
might have throughout the year a requirement where a report has to look 
just at the satellite industry or a report looks just at the cable 
industry or a report looks just at the landline industry. Mr. Speaker, 
as we know, all of these industries now compete against each other, and 
whether you are getting your telecommunications data at home, through a 
cable, through fiber, through satellite, on your mobile device, it is 
all ultimately the same content that people are consuming, and all of 
these companies are competing against each other.
  It is not like in the old days where you just had telephone lines and 
the telephone companies would compete against each other, and then 
cable companies would compete against each other. Now it is a 
consolidated marketplace, and it is time that we get all these 
disparate reports that are outdated and bring them all into one place.
  When you look at what this means, they say time is money, and so when 
all of these reports are required by Federal law, where all of these 
different entities have to put together reports and a lot of times 
create documents, paperwork that is unnecessary, that is outdated, that 
doesn't really reflect what is happening in the marketplace, that is 
time that they can better spend creating jobs, Mr. Speaker. It is time 
they can better spend reinvesting so that we can have better broadband 
as consumers, families across the country that use all of this great 
telecommunications infrastructure. Let's focus more on competing and 
creating a better marketplace.
  Something else this bill does is get rid of some outdated laws, Mr. 
Speaker. Do you know there is still a requirement in Federal law, that 
we get rid of in this bill, that there is a requirement every year that 
there has to be a telegraph report that studies competition in the 
telegraph industry. Mr. Speaker, this might have been useful back in 
1934 when Congress mandated it. You can go back to the 1830s when 
Samuel Morse invented the telegraph, but we don't really need to be 
spending time and legal requirements that there be a report filed 
annually on competition in the telegraph industry. We get rid of that 
in this bill.
  So often we hear from people around the country, when Congress is 
contemplating new laws, when are they going to get rid of some of the 
old laws that are unnecessary on the books? We actually do that in this 
bill. This has bipartisan support. It is a commonsense piece of 
legislation that actually streamlines government and focuses on helping 
increase competition for families across this country.
  I urge adoption of this piece of legislation.
  Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 
such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 599, the FCC 
Consolidated Reporting Act. This bill passed the House last Congress 
with unanimous support after careful negotiations that resulted in a 
bipartisan agreement. The FCC oversees a wide range of industries that 
drive economic growth in the Nation. These industries connect 
businesses to markets large and small, but, most importantly, they 
deliver innovative new products and services to consumers.
  Democrats and Republicans agree that the FCC needs to collect good 
data to inform the public about these dynamic markets. Good data is 
important for Congress to have as well so that we can make good policy 
decisions and conduct oversight of the FCC. At the same time, we have 
worked to ensure this effort to promote efficiency does not undermine 
important existing FCC obligations and authorities.
  Again, this bill is one I think that all Members can support. I urge 
its passage today.

[[Page H588]]

  Mr. Speaker, I have no other speakers on my side, so I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. LANCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill is an important step toward modernizing the 
Federal Communications Commission. The FCC has served Americans since 
1934, and over the past more than 80 years, this agency has been 
responsible for overseeing the evolving telecommunications sector, with 
collecting information and analyzing the state of competition, and the 
impact of these changes on consumers.

  As society has moved from one technology to the next, the FCC has 
been asked to keep up with the changing technologies, and Congress has 
directed the Commission with reviewing data and reporting on everything 
from the telegraph, as Mr. Scalise has indicated, and the AM radio to 
online video distributions like Hulu and Netflix. This bill will 
eliminate reports that are no longer necessary and waste time and 
resources on issues that are no longer critical to consumers.
  The bill also recognizes that technology continues to progress and 
consumers are no longer served by separate voice, data, or video 
networks. Rather, providers are leveraging the same IP network to 
provide multiple services over the same network. Providers that were 
solely video providers now offer voice and data. Companies that thought 
of themselves as telephone providers are also offering video and 
broadband services. The game has changed, and we believe that the FCC 
should change its reporting to reflect the new reality.
  This bill consolidates multiple annual or biennial reports that 
require the agency to evaluate competition in different sectors. We 
will no longer require a separate mobile wireless or a separate video 
competition report. Rather, the bill requires the Commission to 
evaluate the state of competition across multiple tech industries in a 
single biennial report on competition in the communications 
marketplace. Our policymakers should be looking at the world as it is, 
not the world that once existed.
  I thank the majority whip for his leadership in sponsoring this bill. 
He has always shown a keen interest in modernizing the communications 
marketplace, and I welcome his continued engagement over the 115th 
Congress, where he serves with such distinction as our whip.
  I also thank the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Eshoo), the former 
ranking member, for her work in ensuring that this bill is bipartisan 
in nature and is successful. I certainly thank Mr. Doyle for his 
leadership as well.
  I urge my colleagues to vote for this bill. I look forward to more 
bipartisan work on this and other issues in this Congress. I am hopeful 
that this bill will reach our new President's desk as soon as possible.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Lance) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 599.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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