Rep. Diane Black, R-Tenn., introduced legislation Wednesday to remove tariffs on a raft of electronic learning devices for children. The Elimination of Tariffs on Education for Children’s Act would insert subheading 8543.70.94 into the Harmonized Tariff Schedule to provide for duty-free import of the learning devices. HR-4748 (http://1.usa.gov/1oOIAlL) would replicate the duty-free status of 8543.70.92, a subheading that addresses electrical machines with translation or dictionary functions, flat-panel displays and other goods. The bill would make the tariff removal on the products permanent, said Black, according to a spokesman. “Electronic learning devices have been used in hundreds of thousands of classrooms and households,” said Black. “Congress has already recognized the importance of eliminating duties on electronic educational devices and has approved three temporary tariff reductions under the Miscellaneous Tariff Bills since 2004.” The Black legislation has four co-sponsors.
The Senate Communications Subcommittee plans a June 5 hearing on the IP transition and public safety, it said in a notice Thursday. The hearing is to start at 10:30 a.m. in 253 Russell. Witnesses weren’t announced.
House Commerce Committee member Ralph Hall, R-Texas, lost his primary race in a runoff vote Tuesday to former U.S. attorney and Heath, Texas, mayor John Ratcliffe. The vote was 52.8 percent to 47.2 percent. Hall’s tenure in the House, initially as a Democrat, began in 1981. Hall was a rumored candidate to be chairman of the Commerce Committee four years ago (CD May 27/10 p2). He subsequently became chairman of the Science Committee.
A top House Republican intended to introduce a bill Wednesday night to stop reclassification of broadband as a Title II telecom service, his office told us. Communications Subcommittee Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, said he would introduce such a bill, at a recent FCC oversight hearing (CD May 21 p3). Latta is an opponent of net neutrality rules and lambasted the request from some net neutrality proponents that the agency reclassify broadband as a way to develop stronger rules.
The Senate Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law plans a June 4 hearing on the Location Privacy Protection Act (S-2171), which would require opt-in consent for mobile apps wishing to collect location information (http://1.usa.gov/1mGwj1X). Subcommittee Chairman Al Franken, D-Minn., reintroduced the bill in March (http://1.usa.gov/1mGA1sv). The hearing will be in 226 Dirksen at 2:30 p.m.
"Any hindering of NTIA’s ability to conduct the proper levels of due diligence” for its transition of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) “through the use of currently available resources could result in harm to U.S. businesses and Internet users as a whole,” wrote Bruce Josten, U.S. Chamber of Commerce executive vice president-government affairs, to the House Tuesday. The letter was about the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for FY 2015 (HR-4660), slated for debate on the House floor Wednesday and a vote Thursday (http://1.usa.gov/1wgP2WX). HR-4660 would provide $36.7 million for NTIA, below the $51 million the executive branch requested. The funding would not include money for NTIA’s plan to transition the IANA, which Republicans have slammed, the appropriations committee has said. Josten said “NTIA has steadfastly opposed a transition of any mechanism that would deviate from the current multistakeholder model of Internet governance and should be allowed to take any needed steps to achieve the cautiousness and transparency that we agree is essential for a safe and smooth transition."
U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman should start a case at the World Trade Organization against China for state-sponsored trade secret theft on U.S. industry, said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in a May 22 letter to Froman. A grand jury in the Western District of Pennsylvania recently indicted five Chinese military officials accused of economic espionage on U.S. interests. “It is critical to the cyber security of American businesses that we have in place and take advantage of strong enforcement mechanisms to punish countries who sanction cyber-attacks,” wrote Schumer (http://1.usa.gov/1kl3vMQ). “The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) requires each WTO member to protect trade secrets and Chinese policies that sanction cyber espionage are in clear violation of that agreement.” China has criticized the U.S. for the indictment, according to media reports.
Rural broadband connectivity is crucial for healthcare, education, commerce and for social reasons, Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, said during an episode of The Broadband Beat With Shirley Bloomfield, hosted by NTCA (http://bit.ly/1oGmZMl). “If you don’t have high-speed broadband connectivity in your community, you're going to be left out,” he said in the video. He called telemedicine “a powerful tool” and said distance learning is another asset. “You need a lot of capacity,” he said. Begich, a member of the Commerce Committee, said he gave the FCC “a hard time” on how it maps broadband and the challenges facing Alaska. “It’s great to have the big companies but you also have to have these smaller companies that were there before anyone else was there. They offer unique, if you think of a credit union, it’s local, homegrown, member-driven, and they are part of the equation at the end of the day.” Don’t “saddle” innovative smaller companies with huge debt due to the way technology and rules are changing, Begich said. He emphasized he not only talks to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, but also to the Republican commissioners and other Democrats. “The chairman and I have had very positive conversations,” the senator said. “He’s been to Alaska.” Such a visit is his test for commissioners, Begich added.
The Senate Appropriations Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Subcommittee will mark up its FY2015 funding bill for those agencies June 3 at 11 a.m. in 192 Dirksen, the Appropriations Committee said. The House is expected to take up its companion funding bill (HR-4660) this week, slated for debate and a vote Wednesday and Thursday, according to the schedule of Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va. (http://1.usa.gov/1wgP2WX).
The Colorado News, Emergency, Weather and Sports Act of 2014 aims to help in “facilitating delivery of relevant television programming to unserved consumers,” said the four-page bill text provided to us Friday by a spokesman for Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo. The text was not yet online. Udall introduced the Colorado NEWS Act, S-2375, last week with the backing of fellow Colorado Democrat Michael Bennet, and the bill has been referred to the Commerce Committee. Neither Udall nor Bennet belongs to Commerce. “For too long, TV market lines have orphaned Coloradans living in the Four Corners region from the news, weather, sports and emergency information they need,” Udall said in a news release (http://1.usa.gov/1jDOuVC), saying it’s no longer time for government studies. The bill would let TV providers transmit signals from Colorado-based broadcast stations to consumers living in La Plata and Montezuma counties, address copyright issues involving TV providers transmitting Colorado and New Mexico signals, and let broadcasters and TV providers “determine a fair way to ensure all Coloradans have 24-hour access to the news, emergency information, weather and sports most relevant to them,” the news release said. Udall may look to attaching S-2375 to the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization legislation -- considered must-pass given STELA’s expiration at the end of the year -- to advance this bill. “Sen. Udall is open to passing this by any means available, including STELA,” Udall’s spokesman said.