Transcripts For CSPAN The Communicators 20140426

Cable companies 35 years ago and brought to you as a Public Service by your local cable or satellite provider. Week, communicators is on capitol hill to interview members of congress about pieces of legislation that introduced. Week, marshais blackburn, steve scullys, both republicans and members of the energy and Commerce Committee, as well as jerrod jared polis, democrat from colorado. Representative scalise, when it comes to Telecom Bills and the fcc, what is your general philosophy . Things we have seen in terms of great innovation, job creation and technology, and the Technology Industry is the fact that technology has moved so fast the government had not figured out how to regulate it. That is something that has been a great hallmark of an industry that has been a Success Story in our industry, and something that has given people so many great things to do to help change their lives. What technology has done has been revolutionary, and it has happened because the government has not figured out how to slow it down. Fcc you look at what the proposes, we have had pushed back with them because we see them trying to come in and get the government involved in regulating the internet, for example, and interfering with the growth we are seeing. We do not think it is a good thing for the economy. You have a technical background, dont you . My degree is in computer science, minor in political science. I work in the Technology Field for years, and Program Computers , and helped design computer systems. I enjoy the industry, ive always been fascinated by new technology. It is something that continues to make our lives easier. I love the innovation and what it has done to the economy. The u. S. Is the world leader by far, and we want to keep it that way. We want to make sure the u. S. Continues to be the lead place for innovation in the Technology Arena. What do you think so far of tom wheelers fcc . It is still early to tell. We had real issues recently with his intent of trying to get into newsrooms and literally try to police our newsrooms. For the fcc. Place its very concerning when you have a federal agency tried to come in and ask people why they are broadcasting things and impeding their freespeech rights. I signed onto a letter with chairman upton and walden to tell them to back down, and ultimately they did. We will make sure they dont try to reengage there. We want to make sure that hes not trying to slow down the growth of the Technology Arena that consumers enjoy. When it issues they are currently working on is Net Neutrality, and what to do now that the second court case has been struck down. Wherees another example the court said the federal government does not have the right to regulate the internet. Impose net trying to neutrality rules. I would help chairman wheeler would recognize that means they dont have the ability to do it, and dont come and try to do back door Net Neutrality 2. 0. This has been a thriving private marketplace, and it has been something that has been great for consumers and families who love all the Different Things they have available to them. The government trying to interfere will make that were complicated. You mentioned that the government cannot really keep up with the Technology Changes that we see. Revamp the 1996 telecom act . It is time. Ofyou look over the history congress, every 20 Years Congress goes back and looks at these laws again because Technology Changes so much. , thee last 20 plus years laws have been on the books for a system that just does not exist anymore. When you look at all the revolution that has happened, for people that not just watched , but the brick phone was probably the smart phone of the day back in 1992. Today on your smartphone you can watch Live Streaming of certain broadcasts. You can watch a tv show on any Major Network last night. Ae laws are still built for 1990s technology that did not include satellite, fiber options. You just had one Cable Provider in every market. The way that people watched tv in the 1990s. Today it is dramatically different. Some people dont even have tv in their house because i watch everything on their smart phone or their laptops or ipad. Really recognize that technology. It needs to be revamped. How partisan are tech issues . I do not think they are that partisan. We have philosophical divides on the role of government, but when you look at the success of the Technology Industry, a representative of sunoco and valley silicon valley, she and i have had some conversations where we have some agreement on some areas. We do have some areas of disagreement about the role of government in technology, but there are some areas where we agree in terms of the outdated laws that need to be revamped. And iike chairman walden have had conversations, there are some issues between republicans and democrats where they do have agreements and making sure the Technology Industry is still able to grow and flourish and come up with even more newfangled things that people will be enjoying tomorrow that we dont know about today. The nextgeneration Television Marketplace act, what is that . A bill that goes to the heart of revamping our video laws, the laws that literally go back to 1992 that are incredibly outdated. When you had a Cable Company negotiating against a local tv station, that might have been the way it worked. Soay you have a consumer, many options. Not only do you have your local cable channel, you have multiple fiber channels. You have satellite options. You have online streaming through the internet. You can buy a box top. You have netflix and other operators that are providing so many new options. Law does not recognize how the current marketplace works. If you have an issue with the company, you do not have many options except to go to the fcc. They will pick a winner or loser. We should go back to a competitive marketplace that recognizes where technology is today, not how it was in the 1990s. When you talk about where we are in 2014, its a very different world, yet the law is based on Old Technology that does not work anymore. What does that legislation do . We repeal some of the outdated laws and put in place a new framework where companies negotiate with each other based on current technology. You dont have the heavyhanded government that we use to recognize, monopoly negotiating against monopoly. A world are living in where you have multiple ,ompanies that are competing that really doesnt work when the laws were written for monopoly negotiation. As for the reasons why consumers dont have as many options as they could have. Usually what happens when you have more competition, it leads to lower prices and Better Options. Because these outdated laws go back to 1992, you dont have that same ability to get good competition, good, fair negotiations. If you get back to an updated law, you will be able to have more options for consumers. Are the chances of it passing in this Current Congress . Is going to be complicated to get something this big, a major reform. We have started the conversation last congress. A lot more interest there now. More members of our subcommittee recognize the laws are outdated. We will continue building that coalition, whether this year or next year. Congress toor revisit these laws that are outdated and make it hard for the marketplace to work in a competitive environment. Some consumer groups have voiced their opposition to the proposed comcasttime warner cable merger. Where are you on that . You should look at is, how does this benefit consumers . Were comcast and time warner operate, they dont compete against each other. Its not like the consumer will lose options. Consumers will get Better Options and ability to get lower costs through the efficiency. Im concerned that the fcc is trying to come in and play heavy role in the negotiation. What we have seen in past negotiations with potential mergers, when he fcc gets involved, they tried to get companies to agree to things that are bad for consumers. That should be the role of the department of justice, and it should be based on what is good for consumers. I think it may help consumers in the long run. Se,steve police scali republican from louisiana. Talking about some of the tech issues that the energy and Commerce Committee is looking at. Up next, representative jared polis, democrat of colorado. You have been quite active in tech issues, can telecommunications issues. Where does your interest stemmed from . Before i came to congress, i was an internet entrepreneur. I saw firsthand the need for a highly educated workforce. For schools to be able to offer hybrid learning, online learning, enrichment in regular course work, they need to have highspeed connectivity. That is why president obama recently announced his initiative to bring highspeed connectivity to 99 of schools in five years. Signed onher members improvements. It is really the infrastructure of the future. What do you mean, the future . Coursework,more supplementary courses are being offered online. Students will be going to a classroom at some schools, you might see 10 different students on computers, each doing their own thing. That enables the teacher to focus in small groups and better spend their time. Its already happening. I went to an Elementary School recently. Kids are doing all of this and able to learn at a faster rate. All of the technology and hardware side cannot work without the right connectivity to the school. That is what erate is about. We have a role in the 21st century infrastructure of the information economy. Is the federal government doing enough . President obamas recent announcement, our additional funding implications for congress to deal with, bringing School District up from paperwork, looking at the best way to do that some districts have bonded and have that capacity to build the kind of broadband infrastructure they need. We need to get their. Ofhow partisan is the issue erate . I dont think its terribly partisan. This town manages to make something partisan out of anything, at times. Maybe now that president obama has embraced it, i hope it does not make it partisan. In the past, it has been very partisan. It is of particular importance to rural areas. It is something they need here. They want to be able to compete with kids who are wired in the suburbs and cities. How connected is boulder, colorado . I have several small towns that are very much part of the information economy and have major local initiatives. We also have very large, more rural counties. My district i represent, we have a little bit of a microcosm of the country between small towns, suburban and rural. How tech is your district . A center for tech business and technology. Both were named among the top 10 cities for entrepreneurship. Both have thriving tech sectors. On our toped research universities, university of older colorado at boulder. There is a strong startup scene. Recently on the house floor, you lead a fight against the cell phone unlocking bill. What was that about . This is about somebodys right to unlock their cell phone and change their carrier. Not if you are under contract to a carrier. Some people get a free cell phone because they sign up for that. If youre not in contract, you should be able to unlock your cell phone and choose your carrier. There was a ruling by the librarian of congress that consumers could not. There was a goodfaith effort to change that. President obama announced the voluntary agreements by providers that got us there. Theres a bill that was reported out of committee that did that. At the last minute, some language was added that through uncertainty around this bill. It created the question of bulk unlocked phones. Many consumers with Technical Expertise try to unlock their cell phones. There is no reason for us to have a vibrant market that should be unavailable for consumers to buy. The amendment very narrowly passed. Were hoping it sends a message to the senate. What do you think about the fcc under chairman tom wheeler . I have been a fan of some of their directions. Courtsa setback in the on Net Neutrality. Are we fighting yesterdays battles when we talk about comcast cant comcasttime warner cable merging . Is Congress Looking forward when it comes to these tech issues . Theres a whole lot of competition between different kinds of companies. We are watching tv. It used to be that you watch tv or you had a Cable Provider. From cells everything phone Companies Offering Cable Services to Satellite Companies too, just do it over your internet. Consumers are the winners at the end of the day. We need to have an antitrust approach. Polis, democrat of colorado joining us on communicators. Finally, we talked with the vice chair of the energy and Commerce Committee, marsha blackburn, republican of tennessee, about some of her views on the fcc and other issues. Us, representative marsha blackburn. Active ineen very telecom issues. Why has that taken on a special resonance with you . It is so important to my district, and its important to freedom. Look at how we utilize Electronic Communications now. Its the backbone of our communications process. When we have an activist, fcc, and they are trying to reach in and control more of what people are hearing or how they are receiving their information, that causes concern. A brandnew build you have introduced dealing with Net Neutrality . Yes. The Internet Freedom act. Cannot that the fcc implement Net Neutrality rules. Warm, fuzzy name they have given to what they want to do to control the access to the the providersway and users utilize the internet system. Dipping into how you nuanced your speeds and how you prioritize value and content. This is not a new something the fcc is trying. They have had legislation in congress, and Congress Said no to Net Neutrality rules. Then they decided they would do a rulemaking, and give a Net Neutrality order, which they did. 21,can look at december 2010, and when they published it in november of 2011. After they did that, a lawsuit was filed. It ends up in the d. C. Court of appeals, federal courts. Fcccourt rules against the in making these Net Neutrality rules. Now they are saying, we will go at it another way and try to implement these rules again. Its time for congress to step in and disallow the ability of the fcc to do Net Neutrality rules. Thats what my legislation does. What do you think of todd wheeler so far . He is someone who will be interesting and active. Marsha blackburn, you have introduced an fcc reporting bill. Iswhat we are wanting to do make certain the fcc releases their information in a timely manner. We think the agency should be more transparent, they should focus on what they are doing with spectrum and licensing. That is their core mission. We do not want them getting off into Net Neutrality and trying to have governments gover nance of the inernet internet. Its time to narrow their focus and get them back to their mission. You represent nashville. Bills floatingal around in congress now, dealing with songwriters and copyright, radio issues. What is your philosophy . Individuals that create compensated to be for that content, just as dgetviduals who create a wi or a new Software Program or an app that you load on your iphone need to be compensated for that creation. Its all about protecting thevators and allowing creators of this nation to benefit from the ideas and the concepts they bring to the marketplace. Do you hear from your constituents in nashville about those radio issues . A country song, once a day, every day, all day long. Havee of the things we been talking to members of congress about is whether the 1996 telecom act, its time to be revamped where do you say, now we are going to start how do you make sure, if you do, it is adjusted to evolving technology . You dont want a telecom act that will be focused on the technology. You want to shift the focus to use. Actlight touch of the 1996 has served us well. It has allowed innovation to take place within the spectrum of the internet and broadband. That is what you want. With the convergence of voice, video and data technologies, you are having a reshaping of the marketplace. It gets cost down and increases access. With the applications that are coming on smartphones, you have canmeans by which you access voice, video, and data. Because of this, we are going to need a light touch that focuses on end use and not on specific technologies. What we should do is take issues one at a time and have a very thoughtful discussion about these and look at the possibilities for the future. We have some known knows out there where innovation is taking place. As we increase spectrum and tighten the bandwidth within that spectrum and are able to more slivers of voice, video, and data into the same width, it is going to require us to not constrain those innovators. A lot of your colleagues have talked about a comprehensive bill. There are always those that like comprehensive. We have learned that comprehensive does not service well. Was obamacare, 2300 pages has turned into 20,000 , comprehensive Immigration Reform failed. What we do well around here is what the American People want. Take issues one at a time. Be very precise. And a solution and taken action. Vice chair of the energy and Commerce Committee, thank you for your time, marsha blackburn. Every weekors airs at 6 30 p. M. On saturdays and 8 00 a. M. And 8 00 p. M. On cspan two on mondays. If you go to www. Cspan. Org, you can click on the communicators tab and watch all episodes online. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2014] coming up on cspan, a look at a new initiative to help military veterans get the Mental Health services they need. The White House Press secretary jay carney talks to George Washington University Students about dealing with the media and public affairs. That is followed by tom perkins on income inequality in the u. S. We now return to the ongoing crisis in ukraine, this time with the help of a eurasia analyst at the foreignpolicy initiative. We have been a week removed from an agreement aimed at easing tensions in ukraine. Were are seeing reports of more bloodshed, international monitors being seized over there. Is the international communitys efforts to deescalate this crisis working . Guest i think a lot of people have been disappointed in the way this agreement has seemed to fail to quell any of the violence or quell the separatist movement. They seem almost fed up with it. Some of the remarks you have seen from the state department, from john kerry himself, they seem to be very disappointed in the way this worked out so far. You mightbe tomorrow see more sanctions that the government of perhaps europe would put on. Russia not fulfilling their part of that bargain. Host do headlines like this concern you . This is from the Editorial Board of the financial times. High noon looms over ukraine. Guest it is sad, but i think its true. Russiany there were jets that violated ukrainian airspace. There have been movements, large columns of armory and tanks moving inside of russia very much towards the ukrainian border. Its looking more menacing. The Ukrainian Government has said that they are expecting that this might not go in a direction we will be happy to see. Host what do new sanctions due here . Do here . Guest whether or not sanctions can change things has very much to do with what kind of sanctions they are. If we are talking sanctions on innerople and putins circle, im not sure it will do much. We have already tried that. There areseen encouraging symbols, signals, but they are peripheral. We have seen a massive amount of capital flight from russia just over the last month. We are seeing Foreign Investment fleeing the country. Its not changing the actions of the russian government. The next step after having these individual sanctions would be to have sanctions on sectors. We are talking energy, transportation, military technology. Really attempting to place sanctions on those sectors that the russian economy, particularly the ones dependent on the government. Host the headline from the wall street journal this morning. Showing key Interest Rates in russia, the Central Bank Rate on friday raised up to 7. 5 . A chart showing russian rubles comparing to the dollar. Rubles to the dollar, up from 33. Showing some of the effects on the russian economy. From what these new sanctions are that were hearing about, are they of that sort of more sweeping sector variety you were just talking about . Guest thats the hope of a lotta people who have been working on the ukraine and russia issue. Dont think that any more sanctions on individuals in Vladimir Putins inner circle or folks who have a lot to do with running the everyday russian government, they do not think they will have much impact. Or business sectors of the economy, that can really hurt. For that reason, people are cognizant of that possibility. The u. S. Business community. They are beginning to wonder about whether the investments are going to have the longterm stability at this point. You mentioned the Energy Sector as a sector that could be targeted. In terms of the heat over fuel debts. Part of your