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Oversight of the Federal Communications Commission S. HRG. 114–175 OVERSIGHT OF THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION MARCH 18, 2015 Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation ( U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 98–498 PDF WASHINGTON : 2016 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:32 Feb 08, 2016 Jkt 075679 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 S:\GPO\DOCS\98498.TXT JACKIE SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION JOHN THUNE, South Dakota, Chairman ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi BILL NELSON, Florida, Ranking ROY BLUNT, Missouri MARIA CANTWELL, Washington MARCO RUBIO, Florida CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri KELLY AYOTTE, New Hampshire AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota TED CRUZ, Texas RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut DEB FISCHER, Nebraska BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii JERRY MORAN, Kansas EDWARD MARKEY, Massachusetts DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska CORY BOOKER, New Jersey RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin TOM UDALL, New Mexico DEAN HELLER, Nevada JOE MANCHIN III, West Virginia CORY GARDNER, Colorado GARY PETERS, Michigan STEVE DAINES, Montana DAVID SCHWIETERT, Staff Director NICK ROSSI, Deputy Staff Director REBECCA SEIDEL, General Counsel JASON VAN BEEK, Deputy General Counsel KIM LIPSKY, Democratic Staff Director CHRIS DAY, Democratic Deputy Staff Director CLINT ODOM, Democratic General Counsel and Policy Director (II) VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:32 Feb 08, 2016 Jkt 075679 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\GPO\DOCS\98498.TXT JACKIE C O N T E N T S Page Hearing held on March 18, 2015 ............................................................................ 1 Statement of Senator Thune ................................................................................... 1 Statement of Senator Nelson .................................................................................. 3 Letter dated March 16, 2015 from the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights ........................................................................................ 82 Statement of Senator Fischer ................................................................................. 31 Statement of Senator McCaskill ............................................................................. 33 Statement of Senator Heller ................................................................................... 35 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 35 Statement of Senator Blumenthal .......................................................................... 38 Statement of Senator Markey ................................................................................. 40 Letter dated March 18, 2015 from 140 advocacy groups and companies supporting the Title II decision of the Federal Communications Com- mission ........................................................................................................... 41 Statement of Senator Gardner ............................................................................... 44 Statement of Senator Booker .................................................................................. 46 Statement of Senator Daines .................................................................................. 48 Statement of Senator Schatz .................................................................................. 51 Statement of Senator Cantwell .............................................................................. 52 Statement of Senator Johnson ................................................................................ 54 Statement of Senator Moran .................................................................................. 57 Statement of Senator Cruz ..................................................................................... 60 Statement of Senator Peters ................................................................................... 63 Statement of Senator Rubio .................................................................................... 64 Statement of Senator Ayotte ................................................................................... 68 Statement of Senator Klobuchar ............................................................................ 70 Statement of Senator Wicker .................................................................................. 72 Statement of Senator Sullivan ............................................................................... 74 Statement of Senator Manchin ............................................................................... 77 WITNESSES Hon. Tom Wheeler, Chairman, Federal Communications Commission .............. 5 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 6 Hon. Mignon L. Clyburn, Commissioner, Federal Communications Commis- sion ........................................................................................................................ 14 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 15 Hon. Michael O’Rielly, Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission .. 17 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 18 Hon. Ajit Pai, Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission ................. 20 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 21 Hon. Jessica Rosenworcel, Commissioner, Federal Communications Commis- sioner ..................................................................................................................... 25 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 26 APPENDIX Article dated January 2015 by Lawrence J. Spivak, Journal of Internet Law, entitled ‘‘What Are the Bounds of the FCC’s Authority over Broadband Service Providers?—A Review of the Recent Case Law’’ .................................. 95 (III) VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:32 Feb 08, 2016 Jkt 075679 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\GPO\DOCS\98498.TXT JACKIE IV Page Letter dated February 2, 2015 to Chairman Thomas Wheeler, Commissioners Mignon Clyburn, Jessica Rosenworcel, Ajit Pai, and Michael O’Rielly from the American Association of Healthcare Administrative Management (AAHAM), ACA International, American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI), American Financial Services Association (AFSA), American Insurance Asso- ciation (AIA), Child Support Enforcement Council (CSEC), Coalition of Higher Education Assistance Organizations (COHEAO), Computer & Com- munications Industry Association (CCIA), Consumer Bankers Association (CBA), DBA International, Education Finance Council (EFC), Independent Bankers Association of Texas (IBAT), Marketing Research Association (MRA), Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS), National Association of College and Univer- sity Business Officers (NACUBO), National Association of Manufacturers, National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC), National Association of Retail Collection Attorneys (NARCA), National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA), National Cable & Tele- communications Association, National Council of Higher Education Re- sources (NCHER), National Restaurant Association, National Retail Fed- eration (NRF), National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), Professional Association for Customer Engagement (PACE), Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), Satellite Broadcasting & Communications As- sociation (SBCA), Silver Users Association, State Creditor Bar Associations, Student Loan Servicing Alliance (SLSA) & SLSA Private Loan Committee, Telecommunications Risk Management Association (TRMA), U.S. Chamber of Commerce, U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, Virginia Small Business Partnership ........................................................................................... 112 Letter dated March 17, 2015 to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the Committee on Energy and Commerce from Daniel Berninger, Founder, VCXC ................................................................................. 115 Response to written questions submitted to Hon. Tom Wheeler by: Hon. John Thune .............................................................................................. 116 Hon. Roger F. Wicker ....................................................................................... 118 Hon. Roy Blunt ................................................................................................. 120 Hon. Deb Fischer .............................................................................................. 121 Hon. Jerry Moran ............................................................................................. 123 Hon. Dan Sullivan ............................................................................................ 129 Hon. Dean Heller .............................................................................................. 130 Hon. Maria Cantwell .......................................................................................
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