Commerce Committee Republicans Oppose Inclusion of Expanded FTC Authority in Financial Services Bill
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Republican members of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee today released a letter to the conferees of the financial services reform legislation recently approved by the Senate, outlining their opposition to the inclusion of expanded Federal Trade Commission (FTC) authority in the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010. The letter was signed by every Republican member of the Committee, including Ranking Member Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), and Senators Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), John Ensign (R-Nev.), Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), John Thune (R-S.D.), George S. LeMieux (R-Fla.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), David Vitter (R-La.), Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), and Mike Johanns (R-Neb.). The FTC expansions were not included in the Senate-passed version of the bill, but were in the legislation approved by the House, and are scheduled to be debated by the conferees.
Bicameral Bipartisan Telecommunications Update Statement
WASHINGTON, DC — The bipartisan leaders of the committees of jurisdiction over communications matters today announced that they will hold a series of staff-led stakeholder sessions regarding communications policy.
Hutchison and LeMieux Introduce Legislation to Provide Assistance to Oil Spill Clean Up Effort
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), Ranking Member on the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, Committee member Senator George LeMieux (R-Fla.), and Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), today introduced legislation that would temporarily allow foreign marine vessels to assist with the oil cleanup effort in the Gulf of Mexico. The bill, titled the WAIVER (Water Assistance from International Vessels for Emergency Response) Act, would temporarily waive the Jones Act, which requires that all goods and people transported by water between United States ports be carried in American flagged, owned, and crewed ships. The waiver would allow foreign flagged vessels with crucial equipment to travel between U.S. ports to provide needed assistance. The Jones Act was put into place in 1920 to ensure that the United States was able to maintain a fleet of merchant ships.
Hutchison Calls for Bureaucratic Red Tape to be Cut So Foreign Vessels Can Aid in Gulf Cleanup
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) delivered a speech on the U.S. Senate floor calling for an emergency waiver of the Jones Act, which requires many foreign vessels to go through a lengthy bureaucratic approval process in order to assist with the oil cleanup effort in the Gulf of Mexico. Sen. Hutchison, who is the Ranking Republican on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, said she will introduce legislation to temporarily waive the Jones Act to allow foreign marine vessels to help with the cleanup. This extended waiver would be applied for a period of time that is necessary to respond and restore the waters of the Gulf.
Rockefeller Statement on FAA Bill and FedEx Provision
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation issued the following statement:
Commerce Committee Unanimously Reports Out TSA Administrator Nominee
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, issued the following statement after the Commerce Committee unanimously reported out the nomination of Mr. John S. Pistole, to be Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration and an Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security:
Chairman Rockefeller’s Statement on FCC’s Decision to Seek Public Comment on Broadband Regulation
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, issued the following statement today in response to the FCC’s notice of inquiry (NOI) to seek public comment on reclassifying broadband Internet service under existing law:
Rockefeller Pushes for Two Year EPA Suspension Legislation
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and longtime member of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following statement on his two year EPA suspension legislation, the Commerce Committee’s work on the crisis in the Gulf, and his continued efforts toward an energy policy that will work for West Virginia:
Hearing Summary: The Financial State of the Airline Industry and the Implications of Consolidation
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a full committee hearing today on the financial state of the airline industry and the implications of consolidation.
Hutchison: FCC Move Will Stifle Internet’s Growth through Burdensome Regulations
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), Ranking Member on Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, today said she was disappointed with the decision by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to move forward with burdensome regulations after the FCC voted to reclassify broadband as a telecommunications service, the first step in implementing net neutrality rules for the Internet.