Tech

Waxman goes to radio silence on sinking 9/11 communications bill over net neutrality

Josh Peterson Tech Editor
Font Size:

Ten years after the attacks of September 11, 2001, a new amendment to a House bill to provide police officers and firemen with the electromagnetic spectrum frequencies needed to improve their communications networks could possibly sink the whole bill in the Senate. The communications bill is designed to prevent the problems during September 11, when first responders died because police and fire departments could not communicate with each other. (RELATED: Spectrum: What it is, and why it matters)

House Democrat Henry Waxman warned colleagues on Thursday that the bill could be defeated when sent to the Senate if Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn’s “net neutrality” amendment remained a part of it. When asked if the removal of the amendment would increase the bill’s chances of success Waxman and his office, however, remained silent on the issue.

The Federal Communications Commission’s rules to restrict Internet service providers (ISPs) from managing traffic — a regulation called “net neutrality” — was pushed forward by the Democratic commissioners of the FCC and took effect in November, despite a GOP-led campaign to overturn the regulation.

Blackburn’s amendment would restrict the FCC from imposing network-neutrality conditions on wireless companies that purchase licenses to spectrum reallocated by the 2005 Digital Transition and Public Safety Act.

The bill’s full approval in the GOP-controlled House would send it to the Democrat-controlled Senate, where Democratic senators John Kerry and Al Franken are committed defenders of the regulations.

Waxman’s office did not return The Daily Caller’s several requests for comment on if the removal of Blackburn’s amendment would raise the chances of the bill’s approval in the Senate.

Waxman’s spokesman told TheDC on Friday that they would ask the congressman for comment, but neglected to reply to during a follow up request.

A GOP staffer told The Daily Caller that the full House Energy and Commerce Committee could debate the bill later this week.

The FCC is one of two agencies — the other being the National Telecommunications Information Administration — that regulates the use of spectrum in the United States.

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 currently gives the FCC the authority to regulate only wire and radio communications, not wireless communications.

Follow Josh on Twitter

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel