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Union Calendar No. 136 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2844 

[Report No. 113–189] 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to consolidate the reporting 

obligations of the Federal Communications Commission in order to improve congressional oversight and reduce reporting burdens. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 26, 2013 

Mr. SCALISE (for himself, Mr. WALDEN, and Ms. ESHOO) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

SEPTEMBER 9, 2013 

Additional sponsor: Mr. HARPER

SEPTEMBER 9, 2013 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July 26, 2013] 

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A BILL 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to consolidate 

the reporting obligations of the Federal Communications 

Commission in order to improve congressional oversight 

and reduce reporting burdens. 

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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Communica5 tions Commission Consolidated Reporting Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. COMMUNICATIONS MARKETPLACE REPORT. 

7 Title I of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

8 151 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 14. COMMUNICATIONS MARKETPLACE REPORT. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the last quarter of every even11 numbered year, the Commission shall publish on its website 

12 and submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of 

13 the House of Representatives and the Committee on Com14 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report 

15 on the state of the communications marketplace. 

16 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS.—Each report required by subsection 

17 (a) shall— 

18 ‘‘(1) assess the state of competition in the com19 munications marketplace, including competition to 

20 deliver voice, video, audio, and data services among 

21 providers of telecommunications, providers of com22 mercial mobile service (as defined in section 332), 

23 multichannel video programming distributors (as de24 fined in section 602), broadcast stations, providers of 

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1 satellite communications, Internet service providers, 

2 and other providers of communications services; 

3 ‘‘(2) assess the state of deployment of commu4 nications capabilities, including advanced tele5 communications capability (as defined in section 706 

6 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 

7 1302)), regardless of the technology used for such de8 ployment, including whether advanced telecommuni9 cations capability is being deployed to all Americans 

10 in a reasonable and timely fashion; 

11 ‘‘(3) assess whether laws, regulations, or regu12 latory practices (whether those of the Federal Govern13 ment, States, political subdivisions of States, Indian 

14 tribes or tribal organizations (as such terms are de15 fined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination 

16 and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b)), or 

17 foreign governments) pose a barrier to competitive 

18 entry into the communications marketplace or to the 

19 competitive expansion of existing providers of commu20 nications services; 

21 ‘‘(4) describe the agenda of the Commission for 

22 the next 2-year period for addressing the challenges 

23 and opportunities in the communications marketplace 

24 that were identified through the assessments under 

25 paragraphs (1) through (3); and 

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1 ‘‘(5) describe the actions that the Commission 

2 has taken in pursuit of the agenda described pursuant 

3 to paragraph (4) in the previous report submitted 

4 under this section. 

5 ‘‘(c) EXTENSION.—If the President designates a Com6 missioner as Chairman of the Commission during the last 

7 quarter of an even-numbered year, the portion of the report 

8 required by subsection (b)(4) may be published on the 

9 website of the Commission and submitted to the Committee 

10 on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives 

11 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor12 tation of the Senate as an addendum during the first quar13 ter of the following odd-numbered year. 

14 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) ASSESSING COMPETITION.—In assessing the 

16 state of competition under subsection (b)(1), the Com17 mission shall consider all forms of competition, in18 cluding the effect of intermodal competition, facilities19 based competition, and competition from new and 

20 emergent communications services, including the pro21 vision of content and communications using the 

22 Internet. 

23 ‘‘(2) ASSESSING DEPLOYMENT.—In assessing the 

24 state of deployment under subsection (b)(2), the Com25 mission shall compile a list of geographical areas that 

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1 are not served by any provider of advanced tele2 communications capability. 

3 ‘‘(3) INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS AND DEMO4 GRAPHIC INFORMATION.—The Commission may use 

5 readily available data to draw appropriate compari6 sons between the United States communications mar7 ketplace and the international communications mar8 ketplace and to correlate its assessments with demo9 graphic information. 

10 ‘‘(4) CONSIDERING SMALL BUSINESSES.—In as11 sessing the state of competition under subsection 

12 (b)(1) and regulatory barriers under subsection 

13 (b)(3), the Commission shall consider market entry 

14 barriers for entrepreneurs and other small businesses 

15 in the communications marketplace in accordance 

16 with the national policy under section 257(b).’’. 

17 SEC. 3. CONSOLIDATION OF REDUNDANT REPORTS; CON18 FORMING AMENDMENTS. 

19 (a) ORBIT ACT REPORT.—Section 646 of the Commu20 nications Satellite Act of 1962 (47 U.S.C. 765e; 114 Stat. 

21 57) is repealed. 

22 (b) SATELLITE COMPETITION REPORT.—Section 4 of 

23 Public Law 109–34 (47 U.S.C. 703) is repealed. 

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1 (c) INTERNATIONAL BROADBAND DATA REPORT.—Sec2 tion 103 of the Broadband Data Improvement Act (47 

3 U.S.C. 1303) is amended— 

4 (1) by striking subsection (b); and 

5 (2) by redesignating subsections (c) through (e) 

6 as subsections (b) through (d), respectively. 

7 (d) STATUS OF COMPETITION IN THE MARKET FOR

8 THE DELIVERY OF VIDEO PROGRAMMING REPORT.—Sec9 tion 628 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

10 548) is amended— 

11 (1) by striking subsection (g); 

12 (2) by redesignating subsection (j) as subsection 

13 (g); and 

14 (3) by transferring subsection (g) (as redesig15 nated) so that it appears after subsection (f). 

16 (e) REPORT ON CABLE INDUSTRY PRICES.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 623 of the Commu18 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 543) is amended— 

19 (A) by striking subsection (k); and 

20 (B) by redesignating subsections (l) through 

21 (n) as subsections (k) through (m), respectively. 

22 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

23 613(a)(3) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

24 U.S.C. 533(a)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘623(l)’’ 

25 and inserting ‘‘623(k)’’. 

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1 (f) TRIENNIAL REPORT IDENTIFYING AND ELIMI2 NATING MARKET ENTRY BARRIERS FOR ENTREPRENEURS

3 AND OTHER SMALL BUSINESSES.—Section 257 of the Com4 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 257) is amended by 

5 striking subsection (c). 

6 (g) SECTION 706 REPORT.—Section 706 of the Tele7 communications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 1302) is amend8 ed— 

9 (1) in subsection (b)— 

10 (A) in the last sentence, by striking ‘‘If the 

11 Commission’s determination is negative, it’’ and 

12 inserting ‘‘If the Commission determines in its 

13 report under section 14 of the Communications 

14 Act of 1934 that advanced telecommunications 

15 capability is not being deployed to all Americans 

16 in a reasonable and timely fashion, the Commis17 sion’’; and 

18 (B) by striking the first and second sen19 tences; 

20 (2) by striking subsection (c); 

21 (3) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘this sub22 section’’ and inserting ‘‘this section’’; and 

23 (4) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection 

24 (c). 

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1 (h) STATE OF COMPETITIVE MARKET CONDITIONS

2 WITH RESPECT TO COMMERCIAL MOBILE RADIO SERV3 ICES.—Section 332(c)(1)(C) of the Communications Act of 

4 1934 (47 U.S.C. 332(c)(1)(C)) is amended by striking the 

5 first and second sentences. 

6 (i) PREVIOUSLY ELIMINATED ANNUAL REPORT.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 4 of the Communica8 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 154) is amended— 

9 (A) by striking subsection (k); and 

10 (B) by redesignating subsections (l) through 

11 (o) as subsections (k) through (n), respectively. 

12 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The Commu13 nications Act of 1934 is amended— 

14 (A) in section 9(i), by striking ‘‘In the 

15 Commission’s annual report, the Commission 

16 shall prepare an analysis of its progress in devel17 oping such systems and’’ and inserting ‘‘The 

18 Commission’’; and 

19 (B) in section 309(j)(8)(B), by striking the 

20 last sentence. 

21 (j) ADDITIONAL OUTDATED REPORTS.—The Commu22 nications Act of 1934 is further amended— 

23 (1) in section 4— 

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1 (A) in subsection (b)(2)(B)(ii), by striking 

2 ‘‘and shall furnish notice of such action’’ and all 

3 that follows through ‘‘subject of the waiver’’; and 

4 (B) in subsection (g), by striking paragraph 

5 (2); 

6 (2) in section 215— 

7 (A) by striking subsection (b); and 

8 (B) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub9 section (b); 

10 (3) in section 227(e), by striking paragraph (4); 

11 (4) in section 309(j)— 

12 (A) by striking paragraph (12); and 

13 (B) in paragraph (15)(C), by striking 

14 clause (iv); 

15 (5) in section 331(b), by striking the last sen16 tence; 

17 (6) in section 336(e), by amending paragraph 

18 (4) to read as follows: 

19 ‘‘(4) REPORT.—The Commission shall annually 

20 advise the Congress on the amounts collected pursuant 

21 to the program required by this subsection.’’; 

22 (7) in section 339(c), by striking paragraph (1); 

23 (8) in section 396— 

24 (A) by striking subsection (i); 

25 (B) in subsection (k)— 

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1 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking sub2 paragraph (F); and 

3 (ii) in paragraph (3)(B)(iii), by strik4 ing subclause (V); 

5 (C) in subsection (l)(1)(B), by striking 

6 ‘‘shall be included’’ and all that follows through 

7 ‘‘The audit report’’; and 

8 (D) by striking subsection (m); 

9 (9) in section 398(b)(4), by striking the third 

10 sentence; 

11 (10) in section 624A(b)(1)— 

12 (A) by striking ‘‘REPORT; REGULATIONS’’ 

13 and inserting ‘‘REGULATIONS’’; 

14 (B) by striking ‘‘Within 1 year after’’ and 

15 all that follows through ‘‘on means of assuring’’ 

16 and inserting ‘‘The Commission shall issue such 

17 regulations as are necessary to assure’’; and 

18 (C) by striking ‘‘Within 180 days after’’ 

19 and all that follows through ‘‘to assure such com20 patibility.’’; and 

21 (11) in section 713, by striking subsection (a). 

22 SEC. 4. EFFECT ON AUTHORITY. 

23 Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 

24 Act shall be construed to expand or contract the authority 

25 of the Federal Communications Commission. 

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1 SEC. 5. OTHER REPORTS. 

2 Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 

3 Act shall be construed to prohibit or otherwise prevent the 

4 Federal Communications Commission from producing any 

5 additional reports otherwise within the authority of the 

6 Commission. 

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Union Calendar No. 136 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2844 

[Report No. 113–189] 

A BILL 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to condens. congressional oversight and reduce reporting bur- Communications Commission in order to improve solidate the reporting obligations of the Federal 

SEPTEMBER 9, 2013 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 

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