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 b