Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., plans to co-sponsor the USA Freedom Act, S-1599. The House had passed a modified version earlier this year, and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., had introduced the Senate version, expected to be considered soon. “And while I support the current version of the bill, I want to be clear that I can and will vote against any bill that undercuts transparency, or that undercuts any of the other oversight and accountability provisions that are necessary for a successful surveillance reform effort,” Franken said in a statement Monday night, slamming the House version for having “gutted” most of the transparency requirements. The USA Freedom Act as originally introduced has transparency provisions modeled after Franken’s Surveillance Transparency Act, S-1621, introduced last year with Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., Franken’s office said in a news release. Currently 21 other senators co-sponsor the S-1599, 18 Democrats and three Republicans. On Tuesday, Franken and Heller sent a letter to the White House (http://1.usa.gov/VD8Je5) urging it to “support stronger transparency provisions such as those included in our bill."

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler asked the Media Bureau to complete its review of the sports blackout rules proceeding and provide recommendations for the full commission by “early fall,” he told Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and John McCain, R-Ariz., in a letter the agency released last week (http://bit.ly/1iO4vKO). The comment period for that proceeding -- about whether to end the agency’s sports blackout rules -- ended in March, Wheeler observed. “I share your desire for a quick resolution to this pending proceeding,” he told the senators. Blumenthal and McCain had asked Wheeler commit to bringing “a final order to a vote within the next 60 days” in their initial letter to Wheeler, dated June 2.

It’s “unclear” when the FCC might open another filing window for low-power FM (LPFM) stations, Chairman Tom Wheeler told lawmakers in a letter the agency released last week (http://bit.ly/1vp1gtj). Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren and Reps. Michael Capuano and Stephen Lynch, all Massachusetts Democrats, had written Wheeler a joint letter in May asking about LPFM stations. “It is unlikely there would be many, if any, additional LPFM channels available in most urban markets due to spectrum congestion and interference concerns,” Wheeler said in his mid-June response. “However, interested entities could pursue other avenues to distribute their programming, absent a license from the FCC and beyond the frequently noted option to provide programming as an online radio station.” Wheeler pointed to the “potential to lease one of a station’s several multicast or ‘HD’ channels and to pair this digital signal with an analog FM translator to reach most listeners who continue to use analog radios.”

The FCC is “seriously considering the use of Title II” reclassification of broadband, Chairman Tom Wheeler wrote in responses to Senate and House Republicans (http://bit.ly/1iNYePc). The agency on Friday released his letters dated June 17. The Republicans had written to the FCC protesting its possible use of Title II in its proceeding to write new net neutrality rules. Wheeler called the status quo of no net neutrality rules “unacceptable” and explained the agency’s rulemaking notice, which asks many questions about what the best legal authority should be for the rules and how the FCC should proceed. “I believe that the [Communications Act] Section 706 framework provides us with the tools with need to adopt and implement robust and enforceable Open Internet rules,” Wheeler said. But the NPRM also asks about Title II reclassification, pointing to Republicans’ concerns about common carriage regulation, about “the extent to which forbearance from certain provisions of the Act or our rules would be justified so that the regulatory treatment of broadband providers is appropriately balanced,” Wheeler said.

The Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) spearheaded letters to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, opposing the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) (http://bit.ly/TqkeDF; http://bit.ly/1qLudBO). Privacy advocates have long opposed the bill, which has received industry support (CD May 15 p11). CISA’s markup was set for last Thursday, but was rescheduled because of the looming July 4 recess (CD June 27 p12). The ACLU’s letter argued the bill creates “threats” to whistle-blowers, transparency and privacy. CDT’s letter added the bill “arbitrarily harms average Internet users,” and is “infringing on net neutrality policy."

House lawmakers introduced two bills last week to modify communications law. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., introduced the Cell Phone Freedom Act, HR-4952 (http://1.usa.gov/1oazYWx), which “would prevent government agents from accessing the smartphone kill switch feature without either a court order or the express permission of the device’s owner or primary user,” Griffith said in a statement (http://1.usa.gov/1qC2XU0). It has been referred to the Judiciary Committee and has no co-sponsors. Meanwhile, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., joined with Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., to introduce HR-4969. It has not yet been posted online but it would direct the FCC “to extend to private land use restrictions its rule relating to reasonable accommodation of amateur service communications,” according to its longer title. That bill has been referred to the Commerce Committee.

Democrats in both chambers back the FCC’s stance on pre-empting state laws restricting municipal broadband, several told FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler in a letter Friday (http://1.usa.gov/1iNPIPW). Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Pa., led the letter. It was also signed by Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., plus House Commerce Committee ranking member Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif. The FCC should “utilize the full arsenal of tools” Congress gave it, and local communities should decide for themselves whether they'll build municipal networks, the Democrats said, asking Wheeler to tell them his plans within 30 days. Republicans have attacked the FCC for floating this proposal, saying it violates state sovereignty.

The Senate Intelligence Committee canceled its planned markup of the draft Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (http://1.usa.gov/1vAZvew), originally scheduled for Thursday afternoon, said a committee aide. Travel schedules ahead of a congressional recess played a role in the delay, the aide confirmed. Industry executives have said the bill has a “good chance” of getting out of committee and they support most of the legislation’s language, but privacy advocates remain concerned about the bill’s role in furthering the NSA’s surveillance programs (CD June 26 p8). The bill has gone through revisions since the House approved its version -- the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (HR-624) (http://1.usa.gov/1nMkkxx) -- but industry and privacy stances on the bill have remained largely the same (CD May 15 p11). There is no new date for the markup.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved two bills aimed at improving the federal government’s information security and cybersecurity info sharing, in a Wednesday markup (http://1.usa.gov/1mxf1pf). The Federal Information Security Modernization Act (S-2521) is intended to “move agencies away from paperwork-heavy processes toward real-time and automated security,” while further explicating the roles of different agencies in this process, the committee said. The National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC) (S-2519) Act is intended to set in stone the Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity responsibilities and facilitate cyberthreat information sharing. Before passing the bill, the committee adopted an amendment from Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., that “sets clear limits on the role of the NCCIC, giving industry the security to share information with authorities without the threat of federal ‘mission creep,'” he said in a written statement Thursday (http://1.usa.gov/1mhvbOy): “The possibility of heavy-handed federal regulation would endanger the private sector’s willingness to share information.” Johnson said he wants to avoid “a maze of assessments, audits and standards that would lag hopelessly behind both technological developments and threats."

Witnesses for the Senate Judiciary Committee field hearing on net neutrality are Michael Copps, a former FCC commissioner now with Common Cause; Lisa Groeneveld, chief operating officer of South Burlington computer manufacturing firm Logic Supply; Cabot Orton, proprietor of The Vermont Country Store in Manchester, Vt.; and Vermont Department of Libraries State Librarian Martha Reid. Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., will hold the hearing Tuesday at 10 a.m. at the Davis Center at the University of Vermont in Burlington.