WASHINGTON-The Senate Commerce Committee Thursday morning gutted a bill that attempted to pre-empt states from imposing access charges and universal service fees on Voice over Internet Protocol services.
Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) offered an amendment that he described as reserving the status quo for states. But the sponsor of the VoIP Regulatory Freedom Act of 2004, Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.), said the amendment was a 180-degree turn.
Sununu had already negotiated late into the night with various members of the committee on a substitute that only asserted federal jurisdiction for three years and did not impact the law enforcement debate regarding wiretap access.
The final bill was delivered to colleagues at 2:15 a.m. Thursday, angering Dorgan, who offered his amendment later this morning.
Additionally, the committee added a 911 obligation to VoIP services in an amendment offered by Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), chairman of the Congressional E911 Caucus. The Burns amendment imposed an E911 obligation that Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), incoming chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, said was more stringent than what is imposed on the telecommunications industry at large.
