I love the invasion and what it has done to the economy. The United States is the world leader we want to keep it that way. We want to continue to be the lead innovator. Host what do you think of tom wheelers fcc . Guest i think it is too early to tell. We had problemwise him trying to get into the newsrooms and try to police them. That is very concerning when there is a federal agency coming in asking people why they are broadcasting things. So i signed on with chairman upton and told them to back down and ultimately they did. It is early in his tenure but we want to make sure he is not trying to slow down growth. Host they are working on Net Neutrality and what to do now the second court case has been struck down. Guest here is another part where the federal government said board said they dont have the ability to regulate the internet. We will be watching real close. A cosponsor of Marsha Blackburns bill. This has been a great driving private market place and has been great for consumers and families and the government trying to intervene only makes it more difficult. Host you mentioned the government cant keep up with the changes we are seeing. Is it time to revamp the 1996 telecom act . Guest it absolutely time. Congress goes back and looks at the laws because changes are coming fast thch. For the cable act, when you look at the revolution happening, the system doesnt exist anymore. Big screen tvs now instead of consules. The brick phone was the smart phone back in the day and now you can watch streaming on your phone and any Television Show that was on last night. And the laws are built for things that dont include satellite or any other market. You had tv with rabbit ears and that was the way people watched tv back in the 1990s. Now it is dramatically different. There are some people that dont have tvs because they watch it on their smart phone, laptops or ipads. It needs to be revamped host how partisan are tech issues . Guest we have philosophical divides on the role of government but when you look at the success of the technology institute. There ranking democrat serving on the committee i do agree on things in some areas. We have roles of disagreement but there are areas we agree in terms of the outdated laws that need to be revamped. Just like care chairman walden and i. There is an agreement we need to make sure the Technology Sector with grow and flourish. Host host you introduced the next generation telemarket act. What is this . Guest this is revamping the laws that go back to 1992 that are outdated and dont work for todays market place. You had a Cable Company with a local tv station and that might have been the way it worked. But as a consumer you have local cable channels, fiber channels, satellite, online streaming, you can buy a box top to pull movies. Netflix and other operators and the law doesnt recognize how the current market place works. If you have an issue as a company or consumer you dont have many options other than going to the fcc and hope for a favorable ruling. We should go back to a markets place that recognizes how technology is today. Not how it was in the 1990s. We in 2014 and it is a very different world but the law is based on old technology. Host how does the legislation change the current law . Guest we appeal outdated law and put in place a framework where companies negotiate based on current technology. So no heavyhanded government that negotiated against a monopoly. When you live in a World Without monopoly and multiple Companies Competing that doesnt work when the laws are written for monopoly organizations. That is why the prices of the Television Services are going up whereas they should be down because of the competition. Because of a lot of outdated laws on the book going back to 1992 you dont have the same ability to get good competition and fair negotiations and i think if we get back to an updated law you will be able to have more options for consumers and lead to lower prices. Host what are the chances of it passing in the Current Congress . Guest it will be difficult. But we started the conversation last congress. A lot most interest is there now. More members of the subcommittee recognize the laws are outdated. So whether it is this year or next year, you are seeing the momentum grow for congress to revisit the laws that are outdated and make it hard for the markets place to work and the government is picking winners and losers. That is not the way we should operate. Host some consumer groups have voiced opposition to the time warnercomcast merger. Where are you on that . Guest i think you should look at how this benefits consumers. In the fact most markets where they operate they are not competing against each other. Consumers will get better option and the ability to get lower cost through there efficiency but the department of justice is looking at that. I am concerned that the fcc is trying to come in and play a role in the negotiation because what we have seen in the past is when the fcc gets involved they try to shake companies down skwm get them to agree with things that are bad for the consumers. That should be the role of the department of justice and based on what is best for consumers. I think this merger may help in the long run. Guest hat up next, representative jared polis, a democrat from colorado. Representative polis, you have been active in tech communications. Where does your interest stem from . Guest i started several internet based company, and flower company, proflowers. Com, and saw the need for a highly educated workforce and to get better jobs we need do better in the schools. And schools offering hybrid learning, Online Learning and enrichment in learning they need highspeed connectivity and that is why the president announced his initiative to bring that to 99 of the schools in five years. A wrote a letter about the Erate Program that is funding the highspeed internet. It is the infrastructure of the future that schools and students need. Host what do you mean the futu future . Guest more and more class work is being offered online. In classrooms you might see students on the computer doing their own thing. Selfpaced learning and the teacher allows to spend time in groups. It is already happening. When you go to some schools, you would be amazed at the smart boards and computer and they are learning at fast rates. All of the technology and the hardware side cant work without the right connectivity and that is what erate is about. Just like the federal government had a role in the Highway Infrastructure we have a role in this infrastructure of this economy. Host has the president done enough . Guest certainly freeing the School Districts up from paperwork and looking at the best kway to get there. Some districts bonded to get there. Some is policy and some is financial. But we need to get there. Host how partisan is the issue of erates . Guest i dont think it is partisan but this town makes everything partisan. Obama embraced it so it might make it partisan. But rural areas have republican representatives and it is something they hear from School Districts and superintendents because they want to compete with kids who are wired in the suburbs and cities. Host how direct are you around the city of bolder . Guest we have small towns part of the information economy and we have a large more rural county like grand and southern jefferson. We have a little bit of everything in the district i group between small town, suburban and rural. Host how tech is your region . Guest bolder was named top tech city and we have Great Colleges in around and fort collins is a tech boom area as well. Host you led a fight against the cellphone unlocking bill. What is all that about . Guest this is about unlocking your phone if you are not in contract. You should be able to chose your carrier. There was a ruling by the librarian of congress that consumers couldnt. There was a good faith effort announcement to change that. This bill was reported out of the committee but at the lastminute language was added that through uncertainty on the bill because it included bulk unlocking. And this is important because many people cant unlock their phone and there is no reason there shouldnt be a market where they could buy these already. We are hoping to send messages to the senators to make the changes. Host i want to ask what you thing about the fcc under chairman wheeler . Guest i am a fan of some directions. Net neutrality specifically we had a setback in the court. There is refocusing on what can be done to make sure there is open access to different content providers. Host are we fighting yesterdays battle when we talk about the comcasttime warn mer merger . Guest you see there is a lot of competition between companies that didnt exist. When you get Internet Access or watch tv. It used to be a Cable Provider or watching. Now there is cellphone companies, to satellite and doing it over your internet with hulu. There is a lot more Consumer Choices so we need antitrust writers. And finally this week on the show walk to Marsha Blackburn, a republican of tennessee, about some of her views on the fcc and other issues. And now joining us on the show is the vice chair of the energy and Commerce Committee representative blackburn. You have been active in telecom issues. Why is that . Guest it is important to my district and freedom. Look how we use electronic communications. And when we have an activist, the fcc, trying to reach in and control more of what people are hearing or how they are receiving their information this causes concern. Host what is your new bill . Guest the Internet Freedom act and it says the fcc cannot implement Net Neutrality rules. That is a warm fuzzy name they have given to what they want to do to control the access to the internet. The way the providers and users use the system and that is dipping into how you get your speeds and prioritize value and content on the internet. Now this isnt a new something that the fcc is trying. They have been down this road before. And they have legislation in congress and congress on the bipartisan bases said no to Net Neutrality rules. So then they decided they would do a rulemaking and give a Net Neutrality order which they did. And you can look at december 21st 2010 and they published that in november of 2011. A lawsuit was filled and ended up in the washington, d. C. Federal court of appeals and the court rules against the fcc making these Net Neutrality rules. Now they are saying we will go at it another way and try to implement these rules again. So it is time for congress to step in and disallow the ability of the fcc to do Net Neutrality rules and that is what my legislation does. Host overall what do you think of chairman wheeler as chairman . Guest i think he is going to be interesting and active. Host Marsha Blackburn, you introduced on fcc reporting bill. What is that . Guest we want to make sure the fcc releases therapy information in a firearmly m timely manner. We think they should be more transparent and focus on what they are doing with spectrum and licensing that is their core mission. We dont want them into Net Neutrality and trying to have government of the internet. We dont want them in privacy and Data Security issues. Those go to the ftc. It is time to narrow their focus. Host you represent nashville. There are several bills dealing with song writers, and radio issue, what is your philosophy . Guest individuals that create content need to be compensated just like individuals who create a widget or Software Program or app. It is about how lowing the creators to benefit from their concepts host do you here from people in nashville about the radio issues . Guest to quote a country song once a day, all day long, every day. Host we have been talking about whether it is time to revamp the 1996 telecom act. Where do you draw the line saying we are going to start and how do you make sure if you do it is adjusted to evolving technology . Guest you dont want a telecom act that is focused on the technology. You want the focused to be shifted to the light use. The light touch of the 1996 telecom act served us well because it allowed invasion to take place in the spectrum of internet and broadband and that is what you want. With the con vergeance of voice and Data Technology you are having a reshaping of the market place. It gets costs down, it increases access, you also with the applications that are coming on smart phones you are new means by come you can access voice video and data and because of this we are going to need a light tough that focus in use and not on specific technologies and what we should do is take issues one at a time and have a very thoughtful discussion and look at the possibilities for the future. We have known knowns out there where innovation is taking place and as we increase spectrum and tighten the bandwith and layer more slivers of voice data in the same width it will require us not to constrain innovators. Allow them to pack it and split it back out. Host your colleagues talked about a comprehensive form. Guest we learned it doesnt serve us well and whether that is obamacare where it was 2300 pages is 23,000. Comprehensive Immigration Reform failed. We do well taking issues one at a time, be precise where you can defind harm and solution and take an action. Host representative Marsha Blackburn vice chair of the energy and commerce community. We appreciate your time. The communicators airs every week on mondays. If you go to our website you can click on the communicators tab and watch all of the episodes online. Cspan is a Public Service by your local cable or satellite provider. And news from capital hill today this is from the new york times, congressman michael grim indicted on federal charges from taxes he owned while running a restaurant and conceled the payroll and charged lying under oath while in congress. He is a former fbi agent and marine. He has written a letter to House Speaker john boehner resigning from the Financial Service committee. We spoke to a capital Hill Reporter for more. Emma dumane is here and news about michael grim indicted on 20 federal counts. What are some main charges against him . They relate to a health store we was the owner of on the Upper East Side of manhattan. The charges relate to accusations he withheld over a million over a 34 year period not filing tax return and paying employees under the table and hiring undocumented immigrants and maintaining a second set of payro payro payroll records in order to hide the payroll situation he had setup. And he is being accused of lying under oath in january of 2010. There was a lawsuit brought against him by two employees saying they were what paid overtime or minimum wage and michael grim said he didnt use a personal email account, which the grand jury said he did. They also said he denied he had paid employees in cash which the prosecutors say they evidence to the contrary. You have been writing about this. What has been his response . He hasnt responded directly. He had a press conference after 1 p. M. And said he was innocent and this legal team would handle the charges and they would fight quote to the nail to exonerate him. He said he will continue to stay in office and seeking reelection in the fall. He is calling it a witch hunt. He is a former marine that is right. He sought out white caller crime on wall street so the legal procedures shouldnt be new to him. He did call this a witch hunt and said it is character assassination. He is not speaking directly about the charges but saying he is innocent. He is calling himself in his press conference a man of honor and integity. What rules of the house apply that could affect him . There is nothing that could force him to step aside or step down. His leadership response will play a role in determining what is next and pressure to step down. Boehner should Say Something tomorrow at his weekly press conference. We have precedent for members of congress being indicted, dealing with political scandals and still serving. Ted stevens was indicted, went to trial and found guilty at the time in 2010, i believe. And went on to be defeated by his challenger. And then you had a situation a few years earlier with rick ramsey who was sentenced to prison later this year. What about the House Ethics Committee how is that involved . Probably no jurisdiction to get involved. There is another investigation ongoing of campaign fraud and allegations of misconduct leading up to his election in 2010, however, the Ethics Committee is holding off to that while the department of justice is investigate and especially with jurisdiction they are supposed to investigate potential misconduct while members are those members were responsible for when elected as members of congress and they would say the Campaign Allegations and the allegations related to the Health Food Store happened before he was elected so they would say it isnt within their jurisdiction. And i should say i said ted stevens waw defeated in 2010 but it was 2008. Emma dumain and you can find her work on twitter and rollcall. Com. Tomorrow we will take calls about the indictment is here from ron johnson who talks about his law suit that challenge a bill that pay for Health Care Bills of staff. And then we will talk about the racial wealth gap in the United States and kate tim who covers technology for the hill will talk about a proposed fcc regulation that will allow broadband