Though a mix of key wireless, telecom and Internet bills are supposedly in play on Capitol Hill, keeping lawmakers focused on them could get increasingly difficult in coming weeks and months. House and Senate legislating has given way to intense political strategizing by the two major parties over future control of Congress and the White House.
Republicans, who control Congress, appear to be running as fast as they can from a president in political free-fall even as they benefit from his prolific fund raising. It is straightforward stuff. They fear the Iraqi quagmire, rising gas prices, political immigration immolation and other issues that put their grip on the House and possibly the Senate in jeopardy. That fear and its potential consequences-rather than whether a bill has merit or contributes to national good-are driving what’s left of the political process in Congress.
What does it mean then for telecom and high-tech legislation that occupies the daily lives of lawmakers, lobbyists and journalists because of its worldly importance? It means any and perhaps all such bills are effectively a crapshoot this year as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle prepare for the 2006 midterm elections. And when political times are uncertain, the pundits are there to fill the void.
What about the FCC? One might ask the meaning of Republican Robert McDowell’s addition to the GOP-controlled Federal Communications Commission. Does it really give FCC Chairman Kevin Martin the majority that eluded him until now? On paper, Martin looks stronger and better able to beat back feisty Democratic Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein. But is it guaranteed McDowell and Martin will see eye-to-eye on the proposed $67 billion AT&T Inc.-BellSouth Corp. merger that attracted so much opposition last week? One of the groups urging the FCC to deny the deal is Comptel, a trade association of Bell competitors that McDowell lobbied for prior to joining the telecom agency.
And what about Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate? Her concurring-in-part statement in the FCC decision to largely uphold controversial changes to designated-entity bidding rules caught many Washington insiders by surprise and could signal she will be more than a me-too vote for Martin. Martin now faces DE litigation and the possibility that the much-heralded advanced wireless services auction could end up one loud dud. But that’s just one of the many dicey issues beginning to mount at the Martin FCC. There’s the question of federal pre-emption in connection with early termination fees to be resolved.
Martin’s political agility is about to be tested like no time before. Too bad he cannot count on congressional friends in his time of need. Lawmakers have their own challenge: survival.
