Subcommittee on communications and technology. One of the key policy makers when it comes to telecommand case and policy. Congressman doyle, in this past year as the year comes to a close what has your subcommittee accomplished when it comes to telecommunication policy . Guest hello, peter. Weve been busy on the communications and technology subcommittee. Tomorrow we will be on the floor with stella. Something the senate had a hard time marking up a bill. We were able to mark up in my subcommittee and full committee and we will have that on the floor tomorrow on the suspension calendar and we look to pass that tomorrow and get that over to the senate. Obviously weve already done robo calls and that pesky little issue that americans have wanted us to do something about we passed the amended house bill and that is in the senate and we are waiting for the senate to take action on that. Obviously much earlier in the year we passed our Net Neutrality bill which sits in the senate and we are currently working on c ban and broadband mapping and though it has been a busy time on the energy and Commerce Committee. I would note that these bills weve been marking up in committee are bipartisan and the whole plethora of bills that we marked up a couple of weeks ago, out of the committee on [inaudible] so we are committee the likes to work across the aisle and with our republican colleagues and find consensus so we can send these bills to the senates. Unfortunately, they said there was about 276 other bipartisan bills that we would like Mitch Mcconnell and Senate Republicans to one day take up but they seem to be busy doing other things over there. Host some of these issues you described and other issues have become campaign issues, havent they . Mergers happening, Tech Companies being investigated by congress et cetera et cetera. Guest those are not bills we have over there. Nobody we are not arguing about robo calls. That is a bill hopefully they will get over there. Stella is we have finally made permanent good faith negotiations between the broadcasters and satellite and Cable Companies on retransmission of their television content. That may be controversial within the battle between the broadcasters and the Cable Company but it is not necessarily a campaign issue. Net neutrality is an issue that a little less bipartisan although it shouldnt be. Its not bipartisan in the country. People in my district and all across america regardless of their Party Affiliation would like to see us do something on that. A lot of the bills and legislation that we are passing arent controversial. There are other issues around content on these platforms and privacy issues that are controversial and the subject of a lot of discussion in both parties. Host congressman, to help us to delve into some of these issues you mentioned john hindle from political joins us. Guest hello, john. Hello, chairman doyle. I want to say a Net Neutrality and figure out what could be the next and what degree you are pinning hopes for that issue continuing in terms of the 2020 election right now but obviously, weve had several different candidates talk about wanting to be back the Net Neutrality rules from 2015 and is the next step for that a new fcc and is that what you see is the next page . Guest one of the reasons we quit the legislation forward and wanted congress to pass the law was to avoid the pingpong that is taken place over the years between fcc commissioners and legislation would achieve that end. We just have not been able to get the right formula so to speak to get the senate to act on this. I know senator markey tomorrow will be by unanimous consent asking to bring the Net Neutrality vote will up for a vote so we are still pushing that and its a very popular issue across the country regardless of Party Affiliations and people want to see a level Playing Field grade there is likely to be a new fcc commissioner or chairman if theres a new president and so that may change the calculus on where we go on Net Neutrality but the courts although they did rule the fcc could overturn the rule they said states could make their own laws and i think if we have to think about whether they want to see a patchwork of estates imposing their own that a child rules california is get ready to vote on this by the end of the year or whether they want to sit down once and for all and see if it could have a legislation fix that will settle the issue once and for all. Host chairman doyle, when i looked over the different democratic contenders for the white house most of them have pledged in one way or the other to bring back in legislation or by regulation some version of the 2015 Net Neutrality rules and there has been one campaign i have not seen much from yet and that would be the campaign of joe biden in the former Vice President has not really talked about Net Neutrality in the same way and youve attended fundraisers for him recently and i wondered if theres any concern about the silence on that issue and what you hope to see more of an explicit commitment of some sort on that issue given i have been curious and reached out to a campaign several times asking about where he might fall on that and so i wondered what your sons was and if that was something you think there needs to be more vocalizing about . Guest i do not have a concern about that at all and i feel confident that if joe biden were to be president and he would be a good one, by the way, that he would work with us on that and the focus of a lot of candidates especially in western pennsylvania is around the economy and Net Neutrality tends to be an issue that is supported to a lot of people in the Tech Community and Younger Voters they want to see a level Playing Field and to make sure isps do not block content and other things and thats why the rules were put in place in the first place because they were not being done and blocking and throttling and efforts to try to have paid prioritization which is the reason the rules were put in place in the first place. I think its still important that i dont see it as a primary issue and the economy still is, i think, the most important issue for pennsylvania voters, especially in western pennsylvania where i live so i dont have any concerns about that. One other big part of the Net Neutrality debate was a fear of the part of republicans and some of the tech, industry officials about a future fcc potentially getting involved in broadband rate regulation. Last week senator Bernie Sanders issued new campaign pledges related to the internet and broadband affordability and did say he would instruct his fcc to engage in broadband rates and for him as a matter of affordability and thats a widespread Consumer Complaint but i did wonder if that undermines any of the arguments youve made around your Net Neutrality legislation because that would codify a lot of the forbearances and former chairman wheeler had put into place and i know he had said he had no interest in broadband rate regulation but is that something that you see as an outlier in terms of Bernie Sanders now talking about wanting to instruct his fcc chair to do this and instruct is an interesting word given the fcc is an independent agency. They would have a certain freedom from his desires there but nonetheless he would be able to choose and fcc chair and doesnt want to see broadband rate regulation Going Forward. What you think of that and is that cutting against any of your own Net Neutrality arguments in favor of your legislation . Guest the forbearances that chairman put forward were key and i think the Building Support and to eventually vote in bipartisan support we still havi dont know how many candidates we still have in the Democratic Party for president. I dont spend too much time worrying about what anyone of them may or may not do if they become president and that may be a more relevant question to ask me once we have a nominee right now its not something i spent a lot of time worried about. Host congressman doyle, he mentioned western pennsylvania so how is broadband built out there and is there any huawei equipment involved . Guest well, not in my district. I have an urban district and represent the city of pittsburgh and suburbs immediately the coloring around the city and its not an issue in the Congressional District i represent but whether that work is a more rural and when you get outside a county that i live in into the other outline communities that are rural that could possibly be an issue although i can say with any certainty if there is huawei equipment. Host do you support the admissions approach to huawei . Guest yeah, i do. I think its very important that if there is a chance that this equipment can be used for purposes of the Chinese Government to spy on americans or for other purposes we have to be vigilant about that and i know that chairman has been working with Ranking Member walden on the securing legislation and and we can make whole some of the Smaller Companies did not have information from the government that there was problems with this equipment and went ahead and purchased it and now there is money involved in making that right and obviously they have to be able to install new equipment that will work before they can take out the equipment that is there and we need to make sure that we provide them money to make them whole. That bill then the chairman and Ranking Member walden are working on is part of that solution. I do support the administration on that. Chairman doyle, looking into next year at this point obviously there are some bipartisan bill they are hoping to get across the finish line but when it comes to the subcommittee gavel and next steps what is your agenda for the next year going to look like at this point. As a president ial Election Year so i know theres questions about is Congress Going to slow down in terms of legislation will there be any difference in pace and what do you foresee as your top goals in 2020 at this point . Guest i look at this way, john paid weve teed up a number of bills we will get out of the house and over to the senate and my focus in the new year is seen these bills and acted into law. We want to see the sea beyond go forward with the public auction and we think this is critical for 5g deployment and i was happy in our oversight hearing last week that the chairman pai agrees with that and we are moving forward on a bipartisan bill that i introduced with bill johnson and [inaudible] to do just that because at the oversight hearing it was made clear to us we need to give the fcc the authority to move forward on that so we can create a pay for so we are able to do broadband deployment in Rural America so that we are able to close the homework gap that the commissioner talked about at our oversight hearing. This is a tremendous opportunity for a winwin proposition where taxpayers will see this money in a and we want to put it it is going to the treasury but we want to put a lock box on that money to make sure that we use it for royal Rural Broadband deployment and that we use it to 4911 and use it to help close the homework gap so that will be a big push and we are moving forward on that and its bipartisan and im optimistic we will get that done in the new year. Obviously we want to see stella in law and the Judiciary Committee still has to do his part on distant signal and there is 8000 homes that lie on matt to get their satellite signals and we got our work done in commerce and now hope the Judiciary Committee will move swiftly so we can put those two pieces together and pass that into law. We have to get mapping rights. This has been such a mess that the fcc has created and they had to stop the m2 Mobility Fund because the maps are garbage and you cant make good decisions if you dont have good data. Right now we dont have good data. We almost have to go back to scratch now with these maps and i think its important that the chairman hold these Companies Accountable for giving us a bad data. These maps were completely erroneous and they were highly overstated in their coverage areas and now the people who need this the most the people who have no jesus out there in Rural America are left holding bag while we have two start over and do this again and with the chairmans desire to focus this now on 5g he wants another 4. 5 billion to do that we dont know where that money is coming from and we think these phone companies should be held accountable for that bad data and we dont think at the fcc should be spending any more money or putting on new regulations until they get these maps rights. We will be pushing that hard and representative [inaudible] has a mapping bill that we will move forward and we think thats important in the new year, too. We are still waiting to get the report from the chairman on the investigation into the location data. We know that mobile phone companies were basically selling two bounty hunters peoples exact time locations and that is a very chilling thought and chairman pai has been investigating this for over a year now and we continue to ask him when we will get a report and i got a letter the day before the hearing saying that he would have this wrapped up by the end of january and that he would make that Information Available to us so we are waiting on that, too. I think what you will see in 2020 is an effort to finish all the work we teed up in 2019 that hopefully most all of that is out of the house and to push and get this into law we work with the center counterparts. Chairman pai did include a bigger request for congress that you did not mend and earlier this month he brought up the issue of tb on spectrum, this is spectrum that currently police and firefighters in many different Public Safety officials in bigger cities across the u. S. Rely on this right now in places like new york, los angeles and right now theres a mandate on congress back in 2012 that would have these Public Safety officials auction it off by 2021. The issue seems to be this may not be worth forcing him to do it in many Officials Say are not ready to move to a new spectrum advance. Gao is urge congressional action and chairman pai during his recent oversight hearing with your subcommittee he seemed to play pushing for action sooner rather than later and is that something you also anticipate there being congressional movements on in the new year . Guest yes, i agree with chairman pai. In my city of pittsburgh this is an issue and it would cost approximately 250 million to that spectrum. Its a supplemental ban that our First Responders use. Its an auction that would not bring in much money anyhow and i think as a general consensus that we need to laminate that requirement that was put into the bill back in 2012 when it was passed, i believe eliot engel, member of our committee has the bill to do just that which i am a cosponsor of and i thank you will us move that legislation. Host congressman, when it comes to legislation published publicly coming out of the committee is privacy legislation going to make the table . Guest good question. I think the answer is how much pain that some of these platforms can take from states before they want to do a National Bill . The issue of preemption is the one thing that comes to mind as a sticking point. I know chairwoman [inaudible] has been working her Ranking Member, ms. Maurice rogers, on this and im not sure exactly what it is. I dont sit on that particular subcommittee but i know its an issue and i know people are very concerned about who has their data and how it is being used. You are seeing efforts at the state level in california will be voting on this and at the end of the year there will be more stakes states taking similar actions that we dont do something on a national level. Its an important issue and an issue people care about and i think youll see that subcommittee on Consumer Protection move forward on it. Chairman doyle, to go back to broadband for a second you talked about wanting to advance legislation that would really create fcc run see ban auction partly as a way to ensure that there is a pay for for broadband buildout. I am curious whether you anticipate 2020 featuring many hearings about what that broadband buildout bond should look like and i wanted to get your sons and this is last 2020 question i promise there have been a couple candidates like Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders specifically who suggested that yes, theres a lot of money needed for Rural Broadband buildout but when they talked about creating funds for this they said we dont want any money to go to forprofit broadband providers. Whether its at t or much smaller isp and you know, is there any thought to how this broadband infrastructure funding should be structured at this point because that would be a big thing that congress would have to think youre probably over the next year and i think its a bit of a departure to cut forprofit isps out of any bigger grant to funding and did not know whether that was something you would be open to and i thought theres room to closing the Digital Divide. Guest i dont focus on what one or two president ial candidates may say. As i said, weve got a bunch of people running on the democratic ticket for president but we dont base our policy or what we do on the energy and Commerce Committee with one or two people that are running for president might say. This is something we will discuss in the committee with our counterparts in the Republican Party with our counterparts in the senate and to see what we can build consensus forbade our concern is to make sure that we close this Digital Divide that exists in our country and we have an opportunity to do that now and that his important that we do that. There are kids literally 40, 50 of their homework assignments require Internet Access and they cant get it where they live. They go to mcdonalds or go to a library to find a hotspot to do their homework. These young people are being greatly disadvantaged in our country when they dont have access to broadband. That is what i think we will be focusing on is how do we do that and close the homework gap and close the Digital Divide and how do we get broadband deployment out to these on the reserved areas and what is the most effective way to do that and how do we build consensus around these goals now that it looks like we are finally going to have money to do that. Those are things im looking forward to. As you know our committee has worked in a bipartisan fashion and that is how you get things done and we get house bills passed and the senate when we work that way and if we truly want to get the services out to america and the americans who need this we have to Work Together and that is what i intend to do as chairman of the committee. Host chairman doyle, whats your take on section 230 and whether or not the Liability Protections should be repealed . Guest i dont think we should repeal section 230 certainly. I do think we need some flex ability to take a look at that section and had a hearing on this in the committee and i told off the companies that are depend on this shield to not be sued on thirdparty content if they need to do a much, much better job policing themselves or what they will do by inviting the federal government to do it for them. This is an important section of the law that allows these platforms to operate but it only works when the platforms do their part, to in making goodfaith efforts to fleece online content that is either of a nature or you can still go online and look up how to buy fentanyl and there are still a lot of things online that need to be taken offline and the last think the companies wanted to see is the federal government placed the restrictions on them but we certainly cannot repeal and i dont favor repealing the section at all but i do think we need to retain the flex ability to take a look at that which is why many of us have written to the trade representative saying we dont want section 230 to be part of the u. S. Of ca and we dont want to have our hands are tied because the section is in a trade agreement and then its amount would take away the ability for us to make changes to it. Thats another piece that has come into play. Host chairman doyle, another big issue your committee is focused on this year has been tmobile and sprint murder which somehow is still going on at this point and the Justice Department and the fcc have both signed off on the deal but state attorney general are still challenging that in court and the trial is moving forward in new york. Youve expressed concern about moving from for wireless competitors to three but we did see over the summer talk of dish network may be coming onto the scene in some way as a new fourth competitor and is any of that compelling as an argument in favor of the merger and where to stand on that now now that states are still mounting the challenge and that is still Going Forward at this point in court . Guest as you correctly observe the deferment of justice and the fcc has approved the merger and it is true that many state attorney generals have followed suit. State attorney general of pennsylvania has also joined those attorney generals in a filing suit. I have generally believed when you see these mergers and consolidation take place it usually doesnt benefit consumers and tmobile and sprint have tried to make arguments because of some of the spectrum they are holding that it might be different and of course the incentives that have been given to dish to put them in a position to compete with those three remaining carriers if that merger goes through i guess it remains to be seen how effective that is. I do have some degree of skepticism about it but you know, we will see what happens in the courts as you correctly stated also, Court Hearing in new york, i think, is getting ready to start or maybe as early as this week. Do think this could be a good robust competitor in the market place . Thats been one of those interesting, new developers that can come onto the scene in mid 5g wireless buildout and anything else and compete strongly and that is what dish has been trying to sate themselves in this. Is that something you think tha guest that is something we hope will happen but competition is good and ive always been pro competition when it comes to this is so any situation that gives dish the incentives and the tools and needs to be a robust competitor to the other three carriers is a good thing for consumers. Host finally, congress and doyle, what about political ads on social media and the controversies that is happening around those right now . Guest well, you know i think this is the debate that will rage on and there offers a moment issues it also. I think all of us would like to see these elections not manipulate. To me and make sense that we know who is putting the commercials on social media and that they are identified and that we know what the source of that is so that we dont have a repeat of what we saw in the 2016 elections were people who are not necessarily people from foreign governments and bots and people who arent even people organizations going on social media and making statements or claims in political ads that either arent true or are being funded outside the country. Its a serious concern and we want to see it addressed. Host mike doyle is the chairman of the energy and Im Communications and technology and has been our guest on the communicators. Along with john hindle of politico. Gentlemen, thank you so much. Thank you. Host this episode of the committee caters and all others are available as podcasts. For 40 years cspan has been providing america unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the Supreme Court in Public Policy events from washington dc and around the country so you can make up your own mind. Crated by cable in 1979, cspan is brought to you by your local cable or satellite provider. Cspan, your unfiltered view of government. Heres a look at our live coverage tuesday. Followed the house impeachment process from the administrations response on cspan. Watch live unfiltered coverage in primetime stream anytime on demand at cspan. Org impeachment or listen from wherever you are with the free cspan radio app. Next, of National Security oversight. New York University law school and Sibley Austin law firm hosted the event. Senator mike lee and congressman [inaudible]. Other topics include impeachment, war powers and executive branch leaks. [inaudible conversations] good afternoon everyone. Not withstanding the change