Transcripts For CSPAN2 The Communicators 20140217 : vimarsan

Opportunity to leverage everything that is there not only in communications and the internet and technology, but how that is applied to, increasingly, to health care, the other jurisdictions, the fda, the nih. And so its very exciting, and i think that i have a skill set that fits with that and the leadership style that can leverage that. So i did announce my candidacy earlier this week and is will work hard at it. But itll be a long effort as well. And i look forward to it. I think the competition is very important, the competition of ideas the candidates have, and then members will take their decision. Host how would you describe your working relationship with your current chair, greg walden, on the subcommittee, and fred upton, the full chair . Guest i think we have an excellent relationship. We respect one another, we have, of course, weve served together for some time before i was the Ranking Member of the subcommittee. And i think that weve produced important legislation on a bipartisan basis. I remember saying to the chairman, greg walden, you know, in our day, in our time the congress is really dysfunctional. But we can set a different model and an example here, and we did with the large spectrum bills that we did last year. We worked on that for almost a year of and a half. And im proud of that. And thats what the American People want. Host well, joining our conversation about Technology Issues is Kate Tummarello of the hill. Thanks, peter. Following up on the Ranking Member question, i mean, youve been such a big player in the tech and telecom space. If you were to become Ranking Member, what would change on the committee . How would the democratic focus shift . Guest well, i think that whats important to, first of all, appreciate is the very broad talent thats on the committeement and i think that committee. And i think that its very important to be collaborative with members, number one. Finish and to enhance the opportunity of service at the committee. It has to be more than just showing up and waiting for an hour to ask five minutes of questions, pause thats really the only because thats really the only time that you have there. So i think that thats very important. Every member of congress was motivated by something to run for congress. They have passions about things. And i think to harness that with the jurisdictions of the committee and look for opportunities to create opportunities for people, i think that thats very important. And so i think i do bring a different skill set to the committee. I served for many years on the Health Subcommittee and produced a lot of legislation that was signed into law by both republican and democratic president s. So i think that those z very broad jurisdictions of the committee, i have a very deep and broad understanding of and have worked on them, so im excited about it. You can tell i am, you know . The other big announcement recently is your Net Neutrality bill guest yes. After the Court Decision overturning the fccs Net Neutrality rules. It seems that theres already opposition, which im sure you expected. What are you hoping the fcc does in addition to responding to the Court Decision and also responding to the pressure your bill puts on hem . Guest uhuh huh. Well, i did introduce a bill that essentially keeps in place the rules of the road if it were adopted, which it will not be but i think setting a bill down in the congress of united e United States in the form that it is in really reflects millions and millions and millions of people in our country and, most frankly, around the world that want the internet to remain accessible, accessible and open and free to them. So thats a very important principle. Now, i read the case in what the, you know, what the federal court said. Very interesting. A couple of elements. Verizon brought the case. They sued. Why did they sue . They did not want the fcc to have any kind of authority in broadband. That says something in and of itself. Two, the courts response was the fcc does retain authority in broadband. Where they, what they struck down was how the fcc had interpreted the different sections of authorities that they draw from. But very interestingly, the court said it shouldnt be this way, but you should consider the following items. Which is unusual for a court to do that. Im not a lawyer, but i think that thats unusual. So this now will be in the hands of the fcc. I think that they have a road map. I think that they have a deep and broad awareness of what has made the internet the powerhouse that it is and that i dont think theres anyone that uses the internet that would say i want blocking, and i want discrimination. So lets see what they do. I think its important for the commission to be cautious, of course, because the court case, you know, was kind of split. But i think upside of it is is that the court gave them a direction where discrimination and blocking can still be addressed in a way that would meet the muster of the court. Host anna eshoo, could you support broadband being reclassified as a common carrier . Guest i think its you know, as a legislator im not so much in in the weeds on that. If thats the best way to accomplish it and the fcc believes thats the best way to accomplish it, what i want to see is that the internet remain free, accessible, open, no blocking, no discrimination. Thats my overall goal. Thats what has made it what it is. This is now one of the great entrepreneurs of the United States of america. We invented this. This is our genius. This is our ingenuity. And so thats why i wanted to continue and prosper the way it is thats why i want it to continue and prosper the way it is. This is not, i dont believe, a democratic issue, republican well, it certainly isnt a republican issue, because they dont see it my way. I think this is all about the consumer and their experience and what should be retained so regardless of who you are, where you live in the country, where your color is what your color is, what you do, what your economic background is, its all neutral when it comes to the internet. And thats what i want to see. Thats what i want to see retained. I think we have a strong case to continue that. Host what have you been hearing from the companies in your district, the googles, the netflix, etc. Guest well, there are varying positions from companies, and thats not a surprise because their economic interests are tied to that. And i believe that my position helps them. I dont think any company is congratulated or viewed in a positive, through a positive lens if they block or discriminate. Thats not what consumers want. So i think that this can be structured so that it retains the original values and the structure of the internet but, of course, it has to go through a regulatory body, the language that they use, the sections of the law that have given them, the congress has given them, and theyre more than capable of doing that. We have five excellent commissioners, a full commission, a new chairman of the commission who is skilled, very full background in this area. They all do. So im looking forward to working with them on it. Host Kate Tummarello. So not directly related to the Net Neutrality rules, at t announced its sponsor data plan which they say will help consumers because they wont have to take data away from their data caps. I mean, excuse me, how do you perceive that argument . Is that kind of treading on the ground of Net Neutrality violation in spirit if not in the letter of the law . Guest well, i think it does. Why . Because it affects the consumer. It starts splitting up an audience. Its as if youre doing, breaking down different groups and users and segmenting them. Thats not what the internet has been about, and i believe if it had begun that way, then it would not be what we know it to be. So i understand a companys interest. I mean, they have of to have they have a bottom line. They have to perform for their shareholders. I understand that. But i think overall in terms of consumers its not the track that is attractive to me, let me just put it that way, you know . On the topic of wireless carriers, there are rumors about a sprint tmobile merger. I know youve talked about the importance of competition in the wireless marketplace. You know, tmobile and sprint advocates could say that this would help them compete against at t and verizon. Weve already seen signs from the administration that they think it could decrease competition. Where do you stand on the reported guest well, first of all, there is not an actual proposal thats been placed before the fcc. But there is a lot of conversation about it. What i would say about this particular case that youve raised is that they all have to be subjected to the scrutiny in the following way what produces the most competition in our country . We essentially have a duopoly that operates today relative to communications in our country. How healthy is that . If thats what is best for consumers, is that what is going to bring the price down for consumers in terms of what they want to buy . So i dont know all the things that are in the proposal. I certainly will look at it. But the agencies that have to examine this, i hope, will examine it in terms of what will produce the most competition in our country. Thats part and parcel of capitalism in our country. And when there is fierce competition, we know who wins. The consumer wins. People are under a lot of pressure. The average consumer today is under a lot of pressure in the terms of their bills and what they pay. And, you know, in many cases it just keeps going up. So i think that theyd like to see i know my constituents say we want more competition. So i think it has to be examined with that as a major operating principle. Host youre watching the communicators on cspan. Anna eshoo is our best. She is the top democrat on the energy and commerces communications and technology subcommittee. Kate tunnel tummarello of the s a Technology Reporter with that publication. Anna eshoo, you recently announced the congressional student apps program. What is that . Guest very excited about it. Congressman bob good last goodlatte, a republican, and myself are cochairs of this effort. Launched in the house, the seal of approval from the House Administration committee because it is officially congressional. Its not an individual effort, it is a congressional effort. And the reason for it is the following. We know looking into the future to 2020 what the demand will be in the area of s. T. E. M. , science, technology, engineering and math. We also can project what the shortfall will be for those jobs, those very important jobs leading out into the future. And so the decision was made that we would challenge young People High School students to come forward and participate in this challenge. And they will design their own apps, they all High School Students in each Congressional District in the country. As of yesterday, 129 House Offices members have signed on, so its totally bipartisan. But what i find so exciting about it is i know that this challenge is going to be responded to. And it can be transformational for students. And what career paths they follow. And so i think its just terrific, and you can see by the response of members that they really, they see in this, i think, what i do. So im excited to cochair it with congressman bob goodlatte. Weve worked together as members as the cochairs of the internet caucus, and so i think this is a wonderful opportunity for young people in our country, and its going to, i think, reap a great deal. Host is there a time frame on it . Guest there is. There are some deadlines relative to when applications have to be in host so people who are interested, could they go to your web site . Guest they go to our web site, absolutely. And if they dont know who their member of congress is, there is a tool to find out. You just type in where you live, and then you can call that congressional office. I know the house energy and Commerce Committee has dedicated itself to kind of rewriting the Communications Act which governs the fcc. This seems like a long process. What are you kind of anticipating from that . Is. Guest uhhuh. Well, when i paris went to the committee, when i became a member of the committee in january of 1995, the committee was writing the teleCommunications Act. Its important to note that it took many, many attempts, many attempts before it was actually successful. So this is a very long, winding road. This is not something that gets done in nine months, in 18 months. I think that i mean, im open to it, but i also think that we should examine, because its a longterm effort, that we have an appreciation of the things that we can accomplish in the short term and not put them off for certain years or six years for seven years or six years from now. I think its also important to know what you want to accomplish. Just to say you want to do it, well, thats, i guess its interesting. But i think you need some markers in this. But overall, im open to it, and i will work with all of my colleagues to help shape the direction, and what i think we can take onboard short term as well as those that are longerterm issues in our country relative to communications and technology. Is retransmission consent one of the issues you think should be taken up sooner finish. Guest i think thats short term. I think thats short term. And i think we could accomplish that with the reauthorization of stella. And representative scalise and myself both have bill withs, were working together. We have a lot of enthusiasm between us in terms of understanding whats broken and what needs to be fixed. So we have more work to do, but i do think that we have the capacity to address this because i dont think its a sustain bl Business Model sustainable Business Model. I think that consumers really are at the short end of the stick when these blackouts occur. I dont think anyone can defend these blackouts. And so theres work to be done. We need video reform. We shouldnt have to wait five, six, seven years for that. Host can you give us an update, representative eshoo, on yours and mike rogers work on the securing of the communication links in the u. S. . Guest well, congressman rogers, as you know, is not only a member of the energy and Commerce Committee, but hes also the chairman of the house intelligence committee. And i served on the house intelligence committee. We have term limits there, so i was there when he was there, so we have partnered on many things even more successfully at energy and commerce. We had a real meeting of the minds in different matters. Theres no question that we have to address cybersecurity in our country. Interestingly enough, federal government represents 5 of the pie. 95 is in the private sector. So how do we leverage what needs to take place between the private sector and the government . Sharing is very important, but there has to be some guarantees for companies to share. So there are parts of the legislation that i didnt like or didnt agree with, but overall the has to be addressed this has to be addressed in our country. This takes place every single day. All you have to do is ask anyone thats walking in or out of target or nieman marcus. I mean, we have a problem. We have a Security Management problem in our systems. And the snowden revelations, what that says to me is that in our Intelligence Community that we didnt have the Security Management that is necessary to secure, essentially, the family jewels. So this is a huge issue. And the jurisdictions of our committee weigh in on this and the Homeland Security committee as well, the house intelligence committee. This is going to take a real bipartisan, grownup effort on the part of members to address this, because it is the public and the private sectors. And now we see these huge incursions relative to consumers and what that does. I think we need far better reporting, i think, to consumers. But before we thats after something has happened. We need to be able to prevent these things. Host do you foresee this year legislation on data breaches . Guest i dont know. I have to tell you, i dont know. I hope so. I hope that that will be nearly at the top, because were living with this every today now. Almost every week every day now. Almost every week or every month, something comes out. And, you know, the average person cant fix this themselves. I read that theyre writing checks and using cash because they dont trust the system. And we need one of the most important factors in our economy and the reason we have the broadest, deepest markets in the world is the confidence factor. And when that is chipped away at, its not good for us. It just is not good for our country and our economy. Host Kate Tummarello. Shifting gears, i know you were very involved with patent reform. Guest yes. Im curious what you think of the innovation act which passed the house as compared to congressman goodlattes bill which some would say got watered down a bit but some would say got more reasonable. What are your thought on whats happening in the senate now . How closely are you following that . Guest well, im proud to have been an original cosponsor of the legislation with chairman goodlatte, and the things that you mentioned that were changed in the bill, i welcome that. That means that that is a result of building consensus which you have to do in order to get something through. No one gets 100 in these things. In fact, if they do, i question it. So strong bipartisan effort, and it addresses a huge issue in the terms of these patent troves. If companies have to spend that are actually innovating some 29 billion and that has increased over a handful of years 400 , something is broken. Something is wrong. So i think that we did a very good job with the bill in the house. Now the senate will take it up. They will scrutinize it as is often the case. The senate doesnt agree with everything in the house, thats our system. But i do think that this must be addressed. This really calls out for a remedy in this area. You also have a federal i. T. Procurement bill. Guest i do. It seems like a lot of talk happened after the Health Care Web site problem. Do you think that provides enough momentum to kind of get this bill off the ground . Guest well, i think one of the things thats really important in this is, you know, they say timing is everything. That the American People, the congress of the United States saw the rollout of healthcare. Gov and bungled comes to mind, and it goes downhill from there. What i said when we had the hearing at our committee in asking questions of the contractors, i said if the congress is really interested in doing something about this, we need to pursue i. T. Reform. So it is not only the example of that, but my knowledge also from being a member of the house intelligence committee. The federal government spends 80 billion with a b dollars a year on i. T. Procurement alone. This is an area that cries out for reform. The gao has listed since the 90s high risk. Its estimated by some that 20 billion is wasted. Thats a lot of money. So ive introduced the bill that, based on my experience but also meeting with many, many stakeholdersings, and its bipartisan which is very important. And i think addresses this in a very clear, workable manner and what the bill calls for. But this is a lot of money, taxpayer money, and we can do much, much better. We can do much, much better. And we have to open the door for more competition in terms of smaller Innovative Companies that may, indeed, be able to build out a much better system. Hay dont apply they dont apply now because you need a team of lawyers to pull together a 1900page application, you know, response to an rfp and then agencies have their own supplement that may be up to a thousand pages. They simply cant compete. So i think that this is an area that is really ripe for reform. Taxpayers would benefit from it and the product that comes out of the executive branch, all of the agencies, i. T. Is absolutely part and parcel of all of this. So its not just one part of the government, but we can learn a great deal, i think, from the private sector, come up with a better, workable product hopefully for a better price but also, as i said, save taxpayers a great deal of money. Its an important area. Host and finally, anna eshoo, recently we taped this program with the head of the internet board, and he talked about hes pushing for a loosening of the u. S. Stewardship of the internet and making it a more International Stakeholder management board. Do you have any initial thoughts on that . Guest i dont know what the specifics are in terms of that principle that he has put out there. So i cant do a deep dive on it. I think that we know as the country that mothered this, that gave birth to it and how it has operated that i certainly have a vision of how that needs to be retained. But im always open to robust ideas on how to improve that. As long as its not diminished, as long as its not diminished. And many countries around the world have a different view. You know, they really regulate the internet. And from societies that are not open, democratic societies. I dont want to go there. I dont want to see that. But i dont want to discolor what he may be putting on the table. Host anna eshoo is Ranking Member of the energy and Commerce Communications and technology subcommittee. Kate tummarello is a Technology Reporter with the hill. This has been the communicators on cspan. Cspan, created by americas Cable Companies 35 years ago and brought to you today as a Public Service by your television provider. Booktv continues with historian will swift. Mr. Swift recounts the relationship between president Richard Nixon and his wife, pat. The author utilized recentlyreleased correspondences between the nixons and interviewed trends and family members to examine the couples marriage amidst Richard Nixons political career and president ial tenure. This is about half an hour. First of all, thank you all for coming, and thank you so much to sandy and the foundation for inviting me. The book, pat and dick, literally came out on