House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Ranking Member Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) issued the following statement on new, bipartisan draft legislation seeking to promote competition, innovation, national security, the interests of consumers, and American leadership in the thriving commercial satellite communications industry.
The discussion drafts work toward modernizing the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) satellite licensing rules and authorities under the Communications Act, with the goal of promoting responsible space management, incentivizing investment and innovation, and advancing U.S. leadership in next-generation, satellite communications networks. With these discussion drafts, Republicans and Democrats are beginning a robust process on these crucial objectives and seeking feedback from all interested stakeholders.
“American companies are at the forefront of developing and deploying broadband and other advanced communications services using satellite technologies, which is revolutionizing the communications marketplace as we know it. As leaders of the Energy and Commerce Committee, we must streamline our regulatory processes to usher in a new era of American innovation and investment in this growing sector, particularly as our economic competitors like China race to dominate this industry, and must ensure our laws and regulations fully protect the public. We are pleased to be working together on these discussion drafts as they are an important step towards developing a bipartisan solution, and we encourage all interested parties to engage with our staffs on these concepts as we fully evaluate these proposals.”