Brought to you as a Public Service by your local cable or satellite provider. Host this week the communicators is on capitol hill to interview members of congress about some pieces of legislation that theyve introduced. Joining us this week, Marsha Blackburn and Steve Scalise, both republicans, both members of the energy and Commerce Committee, as well as jared polis, a congressman and democrat from colorado. First up, heres Steve Scalise. Representative scalise, when it comes to Telecom Bills and the fcc, whats sure general philosophy, your approach . Guest my philosophy is that one of the things that weve seen in terms of great innovation, job creation and technology in the Technology Industry is the fact that technologies move so fast that government hasnt figured out how to regulate it and slow it down. And thats something that, i think, has been a great hallmark of an industry that has really been a Success Story in our economy, but also something thats given people so many great things to do to help change their lives. I mean, what technologys done especially in the video marketplace has been revolutionary, and in large part its happened because the government hasnt figured out how to slow it down. When you look at what the fcc proposes many times, weve had some pushback because we see them trying to come in and get the government involved in regulating the internet, for example, and interfering with some of the growth were seeing, and we push back, because we dont think thats a good thing for the economy or for people who love all these gadgets and devices that literally revolutionize and improve their lives. Host youve got a technical background, dont you . Guest yeah. I worked in the Technology Field for years, programmed computers for a number of years and helped design computer systems, so i enjoy that industry. Ive always been fascinated by new technologies, and its something that continues to, i think, make our lives easier. But i love the innovation and what its done to the economy. The United States is the world leader by far, and we want to keep it that way. We want to make sure that the United States continues to be the lead place for innovation in the Technology Arena. Host what do you think so far of tom wheelers fcc . Guest i think its still early to tell. You know, we did have some real issues recently with his intent of trying to get into newsrooms, for example, and literally try to police our newsrooms. Thats not a place for the fcc. You know, i think its very concerning when youve got a federal agency trying to come in and ask people why theyre broadcasting things and impeding their free speech rights. So i signed on to a letter with chairman upton and walden to tell them to back down, and ultimately, they did, and were going to make tour shah they make sure they dont try to reengage there. We want to make sure that hes not trying to take advantage of the Technology Arena that consumers enjoy. Host one of the issues that theyre currently working on is Net Neutrality and what to do now that the second court case has been struck down. Guest you know, and heres another example where the courts actually said that the federal government doesnt have the right to regulate the internet in the way that the fcc was trying to impose Net Neutrality rules. I would hope chairman wheeler would recognize that means they dont have the ability to do it and dont try and come to do some back door Net Neutrality 2. 0. So were going to be watching real close. A cosponsor of Marsha Blackburns bill which tells the government to stay out of regulating the internet. This is, you know, this has been a great, thriving private marketplace, and its been something thats been great for consumers, great for families who love all of the Different Things that they have available to them, and the government trying to interfere will only make that more complicated. Host representative scalise, you mentioned that the government cant really keep up with the Technology Changes that we see. Is it time to revamp the 96 telecom act . Should it be done whole piece, piecemeal . Guest its absolutely time. If you look over the history of congress, about every 20 Years Congress goes back and looks at these laws again because Technology Changes so much. And, of course, in the last 20 plus years even when you go back to the 1992 cable act, the laws have been on the books for a system that just doesnt exist anymore. When you look at all of the revolution thats happened for people that not just watch tv on big screen tvs instead of consoles that they used to watch in the 1990s, but i think the brick phone was the smartphone of the day back in 1992, and yet today on your smartphone you can watch Live Streaming of certain broadcasts, a tv show that was on any Major Network last night. And yet the laws are still built for a 1990s technology that didnt even include satellite or fiber options. You literally had one Cable Provider in every market with your rabbit ears, and that was the way that people watched tv back in the 1990s when these laws were on the books, and yet today its dramatically different. In fact, theres some people that dont even have a tv in their house because they watch everything on their smart or toni or laptops or ipads, and yet the laws dont really recognize that technology. So it needs to be revamped. Thats something ive been pushing very hard to do. Host how partisan are tech issues . Guest i dont think theyre that partisan, you know . We have philosophical divides on maybe the role of government, but when you look at the success of the Technology Industry, look, anna eshoo represents silicon valley, and shes the ranking democrat on the committee that i serve on. She and i have actually had some conversations where we have some agreement on areas. Clearly, we do have some areas of disagreement about the role of government in technology, but there are some areas where we agree in terms of the outdated laws that need to be revamped, you know . And just like as chairman walden and i have had conversations, you know, theres some issues between republicans and democrats. Where we do have agreement and making sure that the Technology Industry still is able to grow and flourish and come up with even more new, kind of new gapping led things that new feigning led things that people will be enjoying tomorrow. Host want to ask you about a couple of pieces of legislation youve introduced. The next Generation Television marketplace act. What is it . Guest thats a bill that goes to the heart of revamping our video law, the laws that literally go back to 1992 that are incredibly outdated that dont really work for todays marketplace. And, again, you know, back then when you just had a Cable Company negotiating against a local tv station, that might have been the way that it worked then, but today as a consumer youve got so many options. Not only do you have your local cable channel, but youve also got multiple fiber channels, satellite options, online streaming through the internet, you can buy a boxtop to go and pull movies, youve got netflix and other operators that are providing so many new options, and yet the law doesnt really recognize how the current marketplace works. So if you have an issue as a company or as a consumer, you dont have many options if except to go to the fcc and try to get a favorable ruling, and theyll literally pick a winner and a loser. That shouldnt with the way it finish be the way it works. We should go back to a competitive marketplace not how it was in the 1990s, but when you talk about where we are 2014, its a very different world. Yet the law still is based on an Old Technology that just doesnt work anymore. Host so specifically, what does that legislation do . How does it change the current law . Guest we repeal some of the outdated laws and basically put in place a new framework where companies negotiate with each other based on current technology. That way you have a fair negotiation where you dont have literally the heavyhanded government that used to recognize monopoly negotiating against a monopoly. When youre live anything a world where you dont have monopolies anymore, you have multiple Companies Competing for a consumer, for their options on tv, for example, that really doesnt work when the laws were written for a monopoly negotiation. So thats one of the reasons why consumers dont have as many options as they could have and why the prices are still going up for your Television Video services the way they should be going down because of more competition. Usually what happens when you have more competition, it leads to lower prices and Better Options, but because of these outdated laws going back to 1992, you dont have that same ability to get good competition, to get good, fair negotiations, and i think if we get back to an updated law, youll be able to have more options for consumers and ultimately lead to lower prices with those options. Host what are the chances of it passing in this Current Congress . Guest its going to be complicated to get something this big as a major reform thats needed, but weve started the conversation last congress. A lot more interest is there now, in fact, there are more members of our subcommittee that recognize that the laws are outdated. And so were going to continue building that coalition and whether its this year or next year, i think youre seeing a momentum grow that its time for congress to revisit these laws that are incredibly outdated, that make it hard for the market place to work where youve got the government picking winners and losers. Thats not the way we should be operating, and its not good for consumers. Host some consumer groups have voiced their opposition to the proposed comcast Time Warner Cable merger. Where are you on that . Guest well, if you look at that merger, i think the one thing you should look at is how does this benefit consumers. And the fact that in most markets where both comcast and time warner operate, they dont compete against each other. So its not like a consumers going to lose any options. In fact, i think consumers will get Better Options and maybe the ability to get lower costs through the efficiencies they would have with a merger. But right now the department of justice is looking at that. Im real concerned that the fcc is trying to play a heavy role in the negotiation because what weve seen in past negotiations with potential mergers, when the fcc gets involved, they try to, in essence, shake companies down and try to get them to agree to things that really are bad for consumers just to get their merger talks to continue going forward. That should be the role of the department of justice, and it should be based on whats best for consumers. And i dont think fig in this merger finish anything in this merger would hurt consumers, in fact, i think it may actually help in the long run. Host Steve Scalise is a member of the energy and Commerce Committee, a republican from louisiana. And that was congressman Steve Scalise, a republican of louisiana talking about some of the tech issues that the energy and Commerce Committee is looking at. Up next, representative jared polis, a democrat of colorado. Representative polis, youve been quite active in tech issues, telecommunications issues. Where did your interest in this stem from . Guest well, you know, it stems from what i did before i came to congress. I was an internet entrepreneur, started several internetbased companies, a flower company, and really saw firsthand the need for a highly educated work force. We need to do better in our schools to be able to accomplish that. And for schools to offer high grid learning, online learning, even just enrichment in regular coursework, they need to have high speed connectivity. And thats why president obama recently announced his initiative to bring high speed connectivity to 99 of schools within five years. I led a letter that over 20 other members signed about improvement toss the Erate Program which helps Fund High Speed infrastructure in School Districts across the country. But its really the infrastructure of the future that our schools and our students need in order to be able to succeed. Host what do you mean, the future . Guest well, look, more and more coursework, supplementary work, courses are being offered online. In some schools you might see ten different students on computers each doing their own thing, selfpaced learning, focusing in small groups and better spend their time. Its already happening. If you havent been to an element arely school recently, theyre or certainly all over the map in how theyre implementing it, but when you go to come some, youd be amazed how theyre using smart boards, computers. Kids are able to learn at a faster rate, these outcomebased measurements to see how kids. Learn. But all of the hardware and the Software Side cant work without the right connectivity to the school. And thats what erate is about. Just as our government had a role in the Highway Infrastructure that connected our cities for the 20th century, we have a role in the 21st century infrastructure information sector. Host at this point is the federal government doing enough . Guest were certainly stepping up with erate. There are additional funding implications for congress to deal with, but certainly, freeing School Districts up from paperwork, looking at the best ways to get there even if it involves capital expenses, some districts have even bonded to build the kind of broadband infrastructure that they need. So we need to get there. Some of it is policy driven, some of it is financial. Host how partisan is the issue of erate . Guest i dont think its totally partisan. I mean, you know, this town manages to make something partisan out of anything at times. Maybe now that, you know, president obamas embraced it, i hope that doesnt make it partisan. But in the past its been very bipartisan. Its of particular importance to rural areas. Many of them have republican representatives here, but its certainly something that they hear from their School Districts, from their superintendents first and foremost because they want to be able to compete with kids who are wired in the suburbs and the cities. Host how connected is your district around boulder, . Guest we have a pretty diverse district, so i have several small towns that are very much part of the information economy. Ive had major local initiatives. We also have a very large, more Rural Counties like grand county, you know, southern jefferson county. So in my district i represent we have a little bit of a microcosm of the country between small towns, suburban and rural. Host how tech is your district . Guest really a center for tech business and technology, fort collins and boulder, both were named among the top ten cities for entrepreneurship, and both have thriving tech sectors in part based on spinoffs from our top research universities, university of colorado at boulder, Colorado State university in fort collins, Major NationalCompanies Like intel, google, microsoft, have a presence, and theres a strong startup scene as well. Host congressman polis, recently you led a fight against the cell phone unlocking bill. What was that kerfuffle about . Guest well, you know, we had a good so this is about somebodys right to unlock their cell phone and change their carrier. Now, not if youre under contract to a carrier. Some people get a free cell phone because they sign up for that. It means if youre not in contract, you should be able to unlock your cell phone and choose your carrier. There was a a ruling by the librarian of congress that consumers couldnt. There was a good faith effort to change that. President obama announced the voluntary agreement by industry providers that got us there. This was supposed to enshrine that in statute, and there was a bill that was reported out of committee that did that, but at the last minute some language was added that really threw a little uncertainty around this bill because it created a question about bulk unlocking and the sale of bulk unlocked phones. This is important because many consumers lack the Technical Expertise themselves to unlock their cell phone, and theres no reason for us to have a vibrant market in communications technology. They shouldnt be available to consumers to buy. And so i wound up opposing the amendment, and it very their roarly it very narrowly passed. Host wanted to ask you about what you think about the fcc under chairman tom wheeler so far. Guest well, you know, ive been a fan of some of their directions. I mean, if were talking about Net Neutrality specifically, we had a setback in the courts. I think theres a little bit of a refocusing around what can be done to insure that theres open access to different content providers through our networks. Host are we fighting yesterdays battles in a sense when we talk about the comcast Time Warner Cable merger . Are we not is Congress Looking forward when it comes to a lot of these tech issues . Guest you know, what you see is just theres a whole lot of competition between completely different kinds of companies that didnt exist. When youre getting Internet Access in your home or even watching tv, it used to be you watched tv or you had a Cable Provider. Now theres everything from Cell Phone Companies offering Cable Services to Satellite Companies to just doing it over your internet with Everything Else like hulu. So theres a lot more consumer choice. Consumers are wearers at the end of the day, but that still means, of course, we need an antitrust approach. Host jared polis, democrat of colorado, joining us on the communicators. Guest thank you. Host and finally this week on the communicators, we talked with the vice chair of the energy and Commerce Committee, Marsha Blackburn, a republican of tennessee, about some of her views on the fcc and other issues. And now joining us on the communicators is the vice chair of the energy and Commerce Committee, representative Marsha Blackburn. Representative plaque burn, youve been very representative black burn, youve been very active in telecom issues, be why that as that taken on special resonance . Guest it is so important to my district, and i think its also important to freedom because look how we utilize Electronic Communications now. Its kind of the backbone of our communications process. And when we have an activist fcc and they are trying to reach in and control more of what people are hearing or how theyre receiving their information, that causes concern. Host brand new bill that you have introduced guest yes. Host dealing with Net Neutrality. What is that . Guest the Internet Freedom act. Basically what it says is that the fcc cannot implement Net Neutrality rules. Now, 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 the users utilize the internet system. And that would be dipping into how you nuance your speeds and how you prioritize value and content. On the internet. Now, this is not a new something that the fcc is trying. Theyve been down this road before, and theyve had legislation in congress, and congress on a bipartisan basis 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 21, 2010, and then again when they published it in november of 2011. After they did that, a lawsuit was filed. It ends up in the d. C. Court of appeals, federal court, and the court rules against the fcc in making these Net Neutrality rules. Now theyre saying, well, well 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 thats what my legislation does. Host overall, what do you think of tom wheeler so far as chair of the fcc . Guest mr. Wheeler, i think, is someone who is going to be interesting and active. Host Marsha Blackburn, youve also introduced an fcc reporting bill. What does that do . Guest what were wanting to do is make certain that the fcc releases all of their information in a timely manner. Were going to go through an entire process of fcc reforms this year. We think the agency should be more transparent, that they should focus on what they are doing with spectrum and licensing. That is their core mission. We dont want them getting off into Net Neutrality and trying to have governance of the internet. We dont want them off in privacy and Data Security issues. Those go to the ftc. So its time to narrow their focus and get them back to their core mission. Host you represent nashville guest yes. Host the nashville area. Theres several bills floating around in congress now dealing with songwriters, with copyright, with radio issues. Guest yeah. Host whats your philosophy . Guest individuals that create content need to be compensated for that contempt. Contempt. Just as individuals who create a widget or a new Software Program or an app that you load on your iphone need to be compensated for that creation. Its all about protecting innovators and allowing the creators of this nation to benefit from the ideas and the concepts they bring to the marketplace. Host do you hear from your constituents back in nashville about those radio issues . Guest to quote a country song, once a day, every day, all day long. Host Marsha Blackburn, one of the things weve been talking with members of congress about on the communicators is whether the 96 telecom act, its time to be revamped. Where do you draw the line in the sand to say, okay, now were going to start . How do you make sure, if you do, that its adjusted to evolving technology . Guest well, and the thing is you dont want a telecom act that is going to be focused on the technology. What you want to do is shift the focus to end use. And the, the light touch of the 96 act has served us well because it has allowed innovation to take place within the, within the spectrum of the internet and broadband. And that is what you want. Now, with the convergence of voice video and data technologies, youre having a reshaping of the marketplace. It gets costs down, it increases access. You also with the applications that are coming on smartphones, you have new means by which you can access voice, video and data. And because of this were going to need a light touch that focuses on end use and not on specific technologies. And what we should do is take issues one at a time and have a very thoughtful discussion about these and rook at the possibility and look at the possibilities for the future. Weve got some known knowns out there where innovation is taking place, but we also as we increase spectrum and as we pack down and tighten the bandwidth within that spectrum and our able to layer more slivers of voice video and data into the same width, its going to require us to not constrain those innovators, how them if you pack it, to split it back out and do an attachment to that particular part. Of. Host a lot of your colleagues have talked about a comprehensive bill. Guest there are always those that like comprehensive. What we have learned is that comprehensive does not serve us well. Whether it was obamacare, 2300 pages has now turned into 20,000 pages of rules and regulation. Comprehensive ill gration reform failed Immigration Reform failed. What we do well around here is what the American People want, take issues one at a time, be very precise where you can define a harm and twine define a solution and take an action. Host representative Marsha Blackburn, vice chair of the energy and Commerce Committee. As always, we appreciate your time. Guest good to be with you, thanks. Host the communicators airs every week, 6 30 p. M. On saturdays and 8 and 8 30 p. M. On mondays. If you go to cspan. Org, you can click on the communicators tab and watch all previous episodes online. Cspan, created by americas Cable Companies 35 years ago and brought to you as a Public Service by your local cable or satellite provider. We are live this morning at the Antidefamation League conference taking place here in washington looking at u. S. Policy in the middle east. Speaking now, israeli ambassador to the u. S. , ron dermer. Today we have a jewish state. Today we have an army that can defend that state. And israels not alone. We have the support of so many friends around the world, especially in this great country, the United States. Friends who know that israels cause is just. The jewish people have weathered the worst that history can thousand at us, and we will can throw at us, so on this holocaust day as we recommit ourselves as you will in this conference to the fight against antisemitism, racism, discrimination, all forms of prosecution, we should all stand very tall and very proud because we are uniquely blessed generation. A uniquelyblessed generation. Blessed to have the United States of america, the country that has been the greatest force for good in history. We are blessed to have the United States as the preeminent power of the world, and we are blessed to have witnessed the rebirth of jewish sovereign i in modern times, and with it, a renewed hope for a secure and peaceful jewish future, thank you very much. [applause] thank you, mr. Ambassador. We have a few questions from the audience. As time permits. First question is, whats the likelihood of fume rouse other countries numerous other countries obtaining Nuclear Weapons if iran gains nuclear capability, and whats the how does that play into the strategy for both the United States and israel . Well, i think its a huge concern. Its not something that i mentioned here today, but certainly it would basically turn all the Nuclear Proliferation efforts, you would essentially in attempting to stop one country from getting Nuclear Weapons, by leaving iran as a threshold nuclear power, you are going to open up what the Prime Minister of israel called at the United Nations a pandoras box of proliferation. Ill explain why. Because if you just allowed a country that has violated six u. N. Security Council Resolutions on its Nuclear Weapons program to actually have, to be a threshold nuclear power, to have enriched the right to enriched uranium on its soil, how are you going to possibly go to any country around the world and tell them you cant enrich uranium on your soil . Every country will demand that right. Its important to understand, the idea behind the peaceful spread of Nuclear Energy was so essentially prevent countries from domestically enriching your rain qualm. Theres a plutonium path and a uranium path. The plutonium path runs through a heavy water facility. If iran does not have a heavy water facility, it does not have a plutonium path to a bomb. And the way you can be sure that iran will not have a nuclear well is to not allow it the ability to enrich uranium on its soil. If you cede that to iran in this debate, what iran is insisting its right to enrich uranium, i know people of iran from a young age talk about life, liberty and the right to enrich uranium. Well, if you leave the iranian people with this ability, you will see many, many countries throughout the world, certainly in the middle east, that will demand that right. And how are you going to prevent them . What are you going to say to them . Youve just let the foremost sponsor of terrorism in the world with the ability to enrich uranium on its . Oil and now since im an israeli diplomat i wont name the countries, but you will see at least three or four in the middle east and beyond. Thats why were very concerned. Ill just say one other thing about it. Nuclear proliferation is not the most important concern we have. Because we have a regime in iran that is openly calling for our destruction. And so when people put the threat of Nuclear Proliferation as the number one concern, im a little puzzled. Im a little concerned that theyre not fully determined to prevent this threat. Because when my neighbor across the street says hes going to kill me, my big concern when that ak47 is being shipped in the mail to him is not that my other neighbors are going to get ak47s as well, its this guy. Our concern with iran ask unique because is unique because iran calls for our destruction. And the nature of the regime matters. Remember this as well. If all of what you have in north korea would move 50 miles to the south, no one would lose any sleep over it. All Nuclear Proliferation is bad, but it makes a difference whether holland has Nuclear Weapons or whether a country like iran has Nuclear Weapons. [applause]