I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4167 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to authorize 3 or more Commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission to hold nonpublic 

collaborative discussions, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 1, 2009 

Mr. STUPAK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to authorize 

3 or more Commissioners of the Federal Communications 

Commission to hold nonpublic collaborative discussions, 

and for other purposes. 

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 Collaboration Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Commissioners of the Federal Communica2 tions Commission (in this section referred to as the 

3 ‘‘Commission’’), past and present, have stated that 

4 they support the intent of section 552b of title 5, 

5 United States Code, but that its implementation has 

6 hindered the Commission’s ability to have a sub7 stantive exchange of ideas and hold collective delib8 erations on issues pending before the Commission. 

9 (2) Congress’s principal purpose in creating a 

10 multimember agency is to obtain the benefits of col11 legial decisionmaking by the agency’s members, who 

12 bring to the decisionmaking process different philo13 sophical perspectives, experiences, and areas of ex14 pertise. 

15 (3) Commissioners have relied primarily on an 

16 inefficient combination of written messages, commu17 nications among staff, and a series of meetings re18 stricted to 2 Commissioners at each such meeting to 

19 discuss complex telecommunications matters pending 

20 before the Commission. 

21 (4) Extensive use of such methods of commu22 nication has harmed collegiality and cooperation at 

23 the Commission. 

24 (5) Numerous regulatory matters have been 

25 pending before the Commission for years, and conVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:33 Dec 02, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4167.IH H4167

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1 tinued inaction on these issues has the potential to 

2 hinder innovation and private investment in the do3 mestic communications industry. 

4 (6) The Commission must be able to work more 

5 collaboratively and efficiently than in the past to 

6 meet the current challenge of expanding broadband 

7 Internet access to the extent necessary to serve the 

8 business, educational, health, and cultural needs of 

9 all Americans. 

10 SEC. 3. NONPUBLIC COLLABORATIVE DISCUSSIONS OF THE 

11 FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION. 

12 Section 4 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

13 U.S.C. 154) is amended by adding at the end the following 

14 new subsection: 

15 ‘‘(p) NONPUBLIC COLLABORATIVE DISCUSSIONS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 

17 552b of title 5, United States Code, 3 or more Com18 missioners may hold a meeting that is closed to the 

19 public to discuss official business if— 

20 ‘‘(A) a vote or any other agency action, as 

21 such term is defined in section 551(13) of title 

22 5, United States Code, is not taken at such 

23 meeting; 


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1 ‘‘(B) each person present at such meeting 

2 is a Commissioner or an employee of the Com3 mission; 

4 ‘‘(C) for each political party of which any 

5 Commissioner is a member, at least 1 Commis6 sioner who is a member of such respective polit7 ical party is present at such meeting, and, if 

8 any Commissioner has no political party affili9 ation, at least one unaffiliated Commissioner is 

10 present at such meeting; and 

11 ‘‘(D) an attorney from the Office of Gen12 eral Counsel of the Commission is present at 

13 such meeting. 

14 ‘‘(2) DISCLOSURE OF NONPUBLIC COLLABO15 RATIVE DISCUSSIONS.—Not later than 5 days after 

16 the conclusion of a meeting held under paragraph 

17 (1), the Commission shall publish on its Web site a 

18 disclosure of such meeting, including— 

19 ‘‘(A) a list of the persons who attended 

20 such meeting; and 

21 ‘‘(B) a summary of the matters discussed 

22 at such meeting, except for such matters as the 

23 Commission determines may be withheld under 

24 section 552b(c) of title 5, United States Code. 


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1 ‘‘(3) PRESERVATION OF OPEN MEETINGS RE2 QUIREMENTS FOR AGENCY ACTION.—Nothing in this 

3 subsection shall limit the applicability of section 

4 552b of title 5, United States Code, with respect to 

5 a meeting of Commissioners other than that de6 scribed in paragraph (1). 

7 ‘‘(4) SUNSET.—This subsection shall cease to 

8 be effective 5 years after the date of enactment of 

9 the Federal Communications Commission Collabora10 tion Act.’’. 

Æ 


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