104th Congress: Democratic Perspectives 103rd-107th
Congress Committee Activity We dissent from the majority for two fundamental reasons: the process that the Republicans have utilized to approve this legislation, and the lack of meaningful oversight before proceeding to extend the Federal Communications Commission's authority to issue licenses using competitive bidding procedures.
Our procedural objections are based on the fact that this bill was approved in a vacuum. Ordinarily, before this Committee approves a revenue raising measure of this magnitude, Congress will have approved a Budget Resolution setting forth spending and revenue projections that provide an overall context in which to consider a bill such as H.R. 1218. The size of the budget will be known ahead of time. If there is to be a tax cut, as well as a serious attack on the deficit, Members of the Committee will have had the opportunity to decide whether or not approving this bill represents a responsible course of action.
In this case, however, the House has not approved a Budget Resolution. No reconciliation instructions were issued. The size of the overall Federal budget, the size (if any) of the deficit, and the magnitude of any tax cut are, at this point, unknown.
Yet despite the lack of an overall context to provide the basis for making a responsible decision to extend competitive bidding authority, the majority saw fit to move the legislation to the full House anyway. The Democratic amendment to earmark the estimated $2 billion for deficit reduction was defeated on a party line vote. In our view, approval of this bill by the Republican majority was both premature and irresponsible.
In addition, we also object to the fact that the legislation was approved without a hearing or any attempt to determine whether, in fact, competitive bidding authority ought to be extended. The authority has been used by the Federal Communications Commission for only six short months. It has been used to issue only three classes of licenses, and there are significant differences among each of the classes. We are all pleased that the broadband MTA licenses in the Personal Communications Service (PCS) appear to have raised in excess of $7 billion. However, in our view, the decision to extend this authority ought to be based on more than a newspaper headline announcing the total amounts bid.
For example, several members--both Republicans and Democrats--expressed concern about the manner in which the Commission was utilizing this authority with respect to licenses in the Specialized Mobile Radio Service (SMR). During the course of the mark-up, the Subcommittee Chairman announced that a briefing was going to be held to give Members a better understanding of the Commission's decisions and intentions. In our view, the Committee ought to have held that briefing before deciding to extend the authority to utilize competitive bidding procedures.
Ironically, during the same week that H.R. 1218 was introduced and approved by the Committee, a court issued a stay to prevent the Commission from utilizing its competitive bidding authority to issue licenses for one group of licenses for broadband PCS. These are blocks of frequencies reserved for `Designated Entities,' including small businesses, firms owned by minorities and women, and small telephone companies.
Many of us support the `Designated Entity' approach adopted by the Commission. No matter what our position, however, in our view it is irresponsible to approve H.R. 1218, thereby blessing the Commission's `Designated Entity' policies, without conducting the necessary oversight so as to determine whether the underlying statute ought to be modified or in some way clarified.
We understand that the funds resulting from the extension of competitive bidding authority will be used to offset some portion of the tax cut that will soon be brought to the House floor. Whether or not we end up voting for the tax cut, we object to the irresponsible manner in which H.R. 1218 was brought before the Committee.
The combination of the lack of both an overall budget resolution upon which to base our decisions, and any oversight whatsoever, particularly given the limited experience with competitive bidding, have led us to oppose the enactment of H.R. 1218.
John D. Dingell.
Henry A. Waxman.
Edward J. Markey.
Billy Tauzin.
Ron Wyden.
Ralph M. Hall.
John Bryant.
Rick Boucher.
Thomas J. Manton.
Gerry E. Studds.
Frank Pallone, Jr.
Sherrod Brown.
Blanche Lambert Lincoln.
Bart Gordon.
Elizabeth Furse.
Peter Deutsch.
Bobby L. Rush.
Anna G. Eshoo.
Ron Klink.
Bart Stupak.
104th Congress: Democratic Perspectives
103rd-107th
Congress Committee Activity