Congress
Subcommittee Postpones Vote on Resolution to Reverse Open Internet Order
WASHINGTON, March 2, 2010 – The House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology postponed last-minute a vote scheduled for Wednesday morning on a resolution that would reverse the Federal Communications Commission’s Open Internet Order.
Chairman Fred Upton agreed to postpone the vote in order to complete regular order and a legislative hearing before voting on the resolution. As of Wednesday afternoon, Chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) had not yet rescheduled the vote.
The House Joint Resolution, if passed, would reverse the FCC’s controversial Internet regulations. The resolution states that Congress disapproves of the FCC’s intent to preserve the open Internet and broadband industry practices and that such rules will have no force or effect. A seldom-used maneuver, the Resolution of Disapproval requires passage by both the House and Senate, as well as the President.
Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-CA), ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, and Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA), ranking rember of the Communications and Technology Subcommittee, requested the subcommittee hold a legislative hearing before convening a markup of the bill. Reps. Waxman and Eshoo sent a letter Tuesday to Rep. Upton and subcommittee Chairman Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), requesting regular order in the subcommittee’s consideration of the resolution.
“I’m pleased the Chairman has agreed to my request for regular order and a hearing,” said Eshoo through a statement released Wednesday. “The open Internet is a vital part of our economy, and millions of jobs have been created along with thousands of new, innovative businesses because of it. Members need to hear from the job-creating businesses that rely on the Internet’s openness, before any vote to eliminate the rules which protect it.”
In their letter, Waxman and Eshoo argue that the economy’s best interest lies in promoting an open Internet order because “common sense baseline rules [are] critical to ensuring that the Internet remains a key engine of economic growth, innovation, and global competitiveness.”
For their part, the Energy and Commerce Republicans welcomed further debate on the matter.
“After hearing directly from the FCC commissioners and in light of a strong House vote to halt these regulations in their tracks, a clear case has been made for advancing the resolution of disapproval,” said Debbee Keller, Press Secretary for Energy and Commerce Republicans said Wednesday afternoon. “The minority has requested another hearing on these issues, and we welcome the opportunity to shine additional light on the consequences of these regulations for job creators and American innovation.”
House of Representatives
Silicon Valley Rep. Anna Eshoo Will Not Seek Reelection
The lawmaker’s Silicon Valley seat will be open for the first time in decades.

WASHINGTON, November 22, 2023 – Representative Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., announced on Tuesday that she will not seek reelection in 2024.
Eshoo’s retirement will leave up for grabs California’s 16th Congressional District, which includes Silicon Valley and parts of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. The San José Spotlight reported that multiple local Democrats are eyeing the solid blue seat.
Her departure will also open up a spot on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, whose purview includes telecommunications, tech and energy policy, public health, and food and drug safety.
The 80-year-old legislator was the first woman to represent her district and spent over 30 years in Congress. She sponsored bills on tech policy, including Section 230 changes and efforts to accelerate broadband build outs.
Eshoo touted her long legislative career in a video announcing her retirement, including 66 bills signed into law over five presidential administrations.
“For three decades, you’ve given me your trust,” she said of her constituents. “I’ve given every fiber of my being to live up to that sacred trust.”
The lawmaker joins more than 30 lawmakers on Capitol Hill who have also announced plans to step down after their current terms. She will serve through January 2025.
Senate
Experts Suggest Measures to Protect Affordable Connectivity Program at Senate Hearing
Under consideration: Opening the Universal Service Fund to contributions from broadband and Big Tech companies.

WASHINGTON, September 28, 2023 – A broadband association asked Congress last week to open the Universal Service Fund to contributions from broadband and Big Tech revenues to allow the umbrella fund to absorb and support the Affordable Connectivity Program.
The industry is concerned that the $14-billion ACP program, which discounts monthly services for low-income Americans and those on tribal lands, is going to run out of money by early next year. Meanwhile, it is universally agreed that the Universal Service Fund, which includes four high-cost broadband programs, is struggling to maintain its roughly $8-billion annual pace without a diversification of its revenue sources.
Jonathan Spalter, president and CEO of USTelecom, told the Communications and Technology subcommittee studying the future of rural broadband on September 21 that Congress could both support the sustainability of the USF and the ACP by forcing contributions from broadband and Big Tech revenues.
The idea is that the extra revenue would solve the USF sustainability question by allowing the fund to continue to support the existing four programs under its purview, while also allowing it to adopt the ACP program, hence removing that program from reliance on Congress for money.
“We can have Congress give the FCC the authorities that it requires to be able to expand the contribution base, integrating the ACP within USF program, and thereby allowing the potentially out of control contribution factor that will potentially bog down the viability and longevity of the Universal Service Fund mechanisms to go down,” Spalter said.
“And in so doing it can expand the contribution base sufficiently to allow not only broadband but importantly the dominant Big Tech companies to participate so that we would effectively fuse the Affordable Connectivity Program with [high-cost program] Lifeline and do so in a way that would actually not require appropriated dollars from Congress.”
The ACP currently has around 21 million Americans signed up, but the FCC says many more are eligible. The commission has been allocating money to outreach groups to market the subsidy program.
While some have argued that the Federal Communications Commission could unilaterally expand the contribution base of the USF, the commission has elected to wait for Congress to make the requisite legislative reforms to give it that authority.
Forcing Big Tech companies, which rely on the internet to deliver their products, has been an idea tossed around by experts and promoted by Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr. Meanwhile, forcing broadband revenues to contribute to the fund has also received good support.
The concern for the ACP program is that the internet service providers rely on the $14 billion to continue to offer discounts.
“With funding set to be depleted early next year, initial notices of service termination could be out during the height of the holiday season in December – that’s a present none of our constituents deserve to receive,” said Congresswoman Doris Matsui, D-Calif.
“Poverty is everywhere, but higher in rural America, in our region the reason most people can’t adopt service is due to lack of affordability, this impacts more households than lack of infrastructure alone,” said Sara Nichols, senior planner of the Land of Sky Regional Council of Government.
“It’s a program we simply can’t afford to lose,” added Nichols.
Rural Utilities Service
White House Nominates Basil Gooden as Rural Development Chief at USDA
Gooden would be responsible for overseeing the activities of the Rural Utilities Services, an important broadband funding agency.

WASHINGTON, September 11, 2023 – The White House on Monday announced the nomination of Basil Gooden for Under Secretary of Agriculture for Rural Development in the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack touted the nomination in a statement, saying that Gooden “is a widely-respected, accomplished champion for affordable housing, community advancement, and economic development. His public service career is informed by a lifelong commitment to agriculture and rural development.”
Gooden is the current director of state operations for rural development at USDA.
If confirmed for the position, Gooden would be responsible for overseeing the activities of the Rural Utilities Services, which encompasses the Water and Environment Programs, the Electric Program, and the Telecommunications Program, which is dedicated to improving the quality of life for rural Americans through providing funds to deploy rural telecommunications infrastructure.
The administration may seek additional funding for broadband through the department. RUS Administrator Andy Berke, the former mayor of Chatanooga, Tenn., who also served as a Commerce Department official with the title, “special representative for broadband.”
Running USDA’s Rural Utilities Service Isn’t Andy Berke’s First Act in Broadband
If selected for the position, Gooden would fill the void left behind by Xochitl Torres Small, who resigned from the role and was later confirmed by the Senate as deputy secretary of agriculture this past July.
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