Tech, Broadband Bills Dropped by Congress in New Funding Bill
Omits measures on NTIA coordination, deepfakes, and FCC transparency.
Jericho Casper
WASHINGTON, Jan. 2, 2025 – Despite including telecommunications and technology proposals in earlier drafts, Congress passed a government funding bill on Dec. 21 that stripped many of those provisions from the final version.
The American Relief Act, a continuing resolution to fund the federal government through March 14, 2025, cleared both chambers of Congress before lawmakers adjourned for the holiday break.
Among the tech and telecom provisions removed, according to a blog post by Crystal Tully, special counsel for Wiley Rein, were:
- The NTIA Reauthorization Act, which would reconfirm the NTIA’s role for the first time since 1992; and mandate NTIA develop a strategy to coordinate 100+ federal broadband expansion initiatives administered by 15 different agencies;
- The TAKE IT DOWN Act, co-authored by Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., which would criminalize the publication of nonconsensual deepfake pornography and intimate images;
- The Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency Act, which would mandate the FCC to publish an annual list of entities with substantial foreign ownership holding FCC licenses or authorizations, specifically China, Russia, and North Korea; and
- The Rural Broadband Protection Act, which sought to impose stricter vetting for internet service providers applying for funding from the FCC’s High Cost program, introduced by Sens. Klobuchar and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.
“Other telecommunications, tech, and space provisions were also included in the initial draft, but House leadership ultimately removed policy riders in favor of a cleaner bill,” Tully wrote. “The initial inclusion of these bills, however, may signal a better chance of many of them moving in the next Congress.”
Notably, the bill did include an extension of the Farm Bill, providing funding through 2025 for agricultural programs and rural development initiatives, including broadband deployment through the Rural Utilities Service administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The House voted 366-34 under suspension of the rules to pass the continuing resolution on Dec. 20. The Senate followed on Dec. 21, approving the measure with an 85-11 vote. President Biden signed bill soon after Senate passage that day.
