Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., touted his filing of the long-proposed (see 2006220055) Recognizing and Ensuring Taxpayer Access to Infrastructure Necessary (Retain) for GPS and Satellite Communications Act (S-2166) Wednesday as a way to curb “harmful” effects of Ligado’s planned L-band use. The measure, filed Tuesday, would require Ligado to pay costs of any GPS user whose operations are hurt. It "ensures federal agencies, state governments and all others negatively impacted by the actions of a private actor are not left holding the bag when it comes to costs" and "aren’t put in the position where they have to push the costs onto American consumers," Inhofe said during a news conference. Armed Services Chairman Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Sens. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., and Mike Rounds, R-S.D., are co-sponsoring S-2166. “This legislation is unnecessary, as the FCC’s bipartisan, unanimous, and science-backed order fully protects GPS devices -- whether they’re used by the government or the private sector -- as well as satellite communications devices,” Ligado said. “This bill does not address any safety issues; instead, it presents a false notion that consumers are at risk.” S-2166 focuses on “ensuring small businesses, consumers and other civilian users, who are dependent on GPS … are not left picking up the tab, when their devices experience harmful interference,” said GPS Innovation Alliance Executive Director David Grossman. Inhofe's office cited support from Iridium and other Ligado opponents. The FCC didn’t comment.

The House Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee said Wednesday it’s proposing giving the FCC $388 million and the FTC almost $390 million in a draft FY 2022 appropriations bill it plans to mark up Thursday. This mirrors what President Joe Biden proposed in late May (see 2105280055). FCC funding would be 3.7% above what it got in FY 2021; the FTC’s budget would be 11% higher (see 2012210055). The bill would again bar the FCC from using funding to “modify, amend or change” rules for USF programs. The markup begins 10 a.m. in 1324 Longworth; a House Appropriations Committee markup will happen Tuesday. The House Appropriations Agriculture Subcommittee plans to mark up its FY 2022 Agriculture Department bill 11 a.m. Friday in 2118 Rayburn.

Lawmakers need to adopt a technology-neutral approach to broadband spending in a final infrastructure spending package rather than back President Joe Biden’s legislative proposal for “future-proof” networks in a way that would direct most spending to fiber, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., told a Wednesday virtual FCBA event. She echoed what some other Senate Communications Subcommittee Republicans said during a Tuesday hearing (see 2106220066). The goal of closing the digital divide is falsely “conflated with discussions of future proofing” and global competitiveness, Blackburn said; The focus should be on getting more basic broadband infrastructure into unserved areas. Proposals to target significant funding toward networks capable of delivering a minimum of 100 Mbps symmetrical are “a roadblock” to wider access and represent a “separate policy prerogative,” she said. Rural Americans “need broadband now” and shouldn’t be ignored in favor of a push for a “Cadillac network” that would exclude “millions” of people. “Digging trenches through the hills of east Tennessee isn’t necessarily a practical solution,” Blackburn said. She said lawmakers can “reach consensus” on achieving both expanded access and future proofing, but that’s impossible “if we focus exclusively on fiber” and don’t allocate some money to wireless and other tech. Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., wrote the Agriculture, Education and Treasury departments Wednesday asking them to report on distribution of broadband funding in COVID-19 bills. Congress “spent billions of dollars” to "fund multiple programs across the federal government that support the expansion of broadband connectivity and services to unserved and underserved locations,” Wicker said. “It is critical that both Congress and the agencies ensure that these funds are distributed in a way that avoids overbuilding, duplication of funding, and wasteful spending.” Blackburn told FCBA she believes lawmakers can pass privacy legislation this Congress. She cited planned hearings (see 2106100064) and said the parties are “not that far apart” on major aspects of a comprehensive measure. Blackburn also eyed the Senate’s approach to antitrust legislation aimed at curbing major tech companies (see 2106230063).

Senate Intellectual Property Subcommittee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., expressed confidence in the Patent and Trademark Office and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board at a subcommittee hearing Tuesday, a day after a key Supreme Court decision (see 2106210036). Leahy said he respects the U.S. v. Arthrex ruling and has confidence the PTO and PTAB will carry out their duties for the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act. The law shifted the U.S. from a first-to-invent system to a first-to-file system. Leahy said Congress must continue to address patent quality issues on the front end. A strong patent system that protects American inventions is critical to economic success, job creation and global competitiveness, said ranking member Thom Tillis, R-N.C. Tillis suggested Congress should consider creating a “gold-plated” patent with a more rigorous, more costly examination process to ensure patents are truly innovative and the innovation is “virtually impossible” to challenge. To improve patent quality, University of Utah law professor Jorge Contreras suggested Congress increase PTO “vigilance to detect potentially inoperable inventions,” heighten examination requirements, allow more public input and increase penalties for fraud. “Strong patents encourage and protect innovation, and are critical to our overall economy,” said Acushnet Company Vice President-Patents Troy Lester. “Overly broad patents, in contrast, are detrimental to U.S. manufacturing companies, often stifling innovation.” Instead of wasting “resources of our nation’s industries on low quality patents, we need to implement ways to improve patent quality on the front end,” said Cree Chief IP Counsel Julio Garceran.

The refiled Broadband Reform and Investment to Drive Growth in the Economy Act drew criticism last week. S-2071, billed as a bipartisan alternative to infrastructure proposals, would allocate $40 billion for broadband (see 2106150089). The measure “ignores the massive amount of money that the federal government has allocated, but not spent” via the FCC Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, emergency broadband benefit program and Emergency Connectivity Fund, said TechFreedom General Counsel James Dunstan Friday: “Then there’s the $360 billion in the last stimulus bill, potentially all of which could be used for broadband. The spreadsheet on NTIA’s BroadbandUSA website shows almost 100 different federal projects with money” available. The Free State Foundation also slammed S-2071. Incompas CEO Chip Pickering and Mignon Clyburn, co-chair of the new BroadLand campaign for the group, said the bill's refiling "sends a strong message to the rest of the world that the United States will indeed be ready for the jobs of tomorrow."

Advocates of third-party independent device repairs hailed Thursday’s congressional introduction of what they called the first "broad" federal right-to-repair legislation. The Fair Repair Act, sponsored by Rep. Joseph Morelle, D-N.Y., would require tech manufacturers to give device owners and independent repair shops access to parts, tools and information they need for fixes. “Electronics manufacturers have locked down our tech,” said iFixit. “Big tech companies shouldn’t get to dictate how we use the things we own or keep us from fixing our stuff.” Consumer Reports almost immediately endorsed the legislation, saying it “would ensure that consumers have real choices for fixing the devices they own,” saving them money and preventing waste from devices that need to be discarded if not fixed. IFixit isn't aware of any right-to-repair "movement" in the Senate, said Policy Lead Kerry Sheehan. Right-to-repair opponent CTA didn’t comment.

Bipartisan legislation introduced Thursday would require government “get a warrant to deploy” cellsite simulators (see 1808280057). Introduced by Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Reps. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., and Tom McClintock, R-Calif., the Cell Site Simulator Warrant Act would establish “a probable cause warrant requirement for federal, state & local law enforcement agencies to use a CSS.” It would allow emergency use in government can get a court order “after the fact.”

Commerce Committee members Reps. John Curtis, R-Utah, and Tom O’Halleran, D-Ariz., filed a House companion (HR-3970) Thursday to the Accelerating Rural Broadband Deployment Act (S-1113) first bowed in April (see 2104150057). The measure would give federal agencies the ability to approve a license of occupancy authorizing placement on a federal right of way of all equipment required to deploy broadband. It would require agencies to respond to applications within 60 days and explain denials. Rural residents “are itching for reliable broadband,” but “they are hamstrung by Washington, D.C., bureaucrats who are completely disconnected from the realities that millions of Americans face,” Curtis said. NCTA, NTCA and USTelecom back the measure, his office said.

The Senate Communications Subcommittee plans a Tuesday hearing on network resiliency. This will "examine ways in which the federal government can support deployment of resilient, redundant, and secure broadband and telecommunications infrastructure, and review the lessons learned from outage incidents," the Senate Commerce Committee said. "The hearing will focus on gaps revealed by these incidents and legislative proposals to improve network resiliency and reliability." Wireless Infrastructure Association CEO Jonathan Adelstein and Public Knowledge Senior Vice President Harold Feld will testify. Also on the witness list: Western Fire Chiefs Association CEO Jeff Johnson and Golden West Telecom CEO Denny Law. The partially virtual hearing begins 2:30 p.m. in 253 Russell.

The Senate Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday advanced nominees for Biden administration cyber posts. National cyber director nominee Chris Inglis and Jen Easterly, nominated to be director of the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (see 2104120059), advanced to the floor. USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter called them “battle tested and clear-eyed cyber professionals.”