House releases draft of communications Act bill.
Another major step was taken toward major revisions to the Communications Act last week when the staff of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce released a draft bill for comment.The bill is an extensive treatment of advanced services using Internet Protocol, including video services offered using Internet Protocol.
The draft represents the thinking and work of a bipartisan group of staffers from the leadership of the House Commerce Committee, including Chairman Joe Barton (R-Texas), Ranking Member John Dingell (D-Mich.), Fred Upton (R-Mich.), Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Chip Picketing (D-Miss.).
The draft has not been endorsed by any Congressional members. The committee released the draft to provide insight about their thinking and to hear feedback from the public. The draft was released after extensive meetings with many important players, including many hours of meetings with representatives of the national local government organizations, including NLC.
"The National League of Cities appreciates the significant efforts of the House Commerce Committee to develop a draft that addresses the broad array of communications issues that have come before it, including those relating to cities," said Marilyn Mohrman-Gillis, NLC's director of policy and federal relations. "We have appreciated the opportunity to testify before the Committee and meet with staff. We look forward to offering our feedback on this draft and the continuing discussions considering changes to the Communications Act."
NLC staff are busy analyzing the bill and collaborating with other local government organizations. NLC will provide oral and written feedback to the committee.
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| Title Annotation: | House Committee on Energy and Commerce |
|---|---|
| Author: | Leanza, Cheryl A. |
| Publication: | Nation's Cities Weekly |
| Article Type: | Brief Article |
| Geographic Code: | 1USA |
| Date: | Sep 26, 2005 |
| Words: | 249 |
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