I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 539 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to authorize a bipartisan majority 

of Commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission to hold 

nonpublic collaborative discussions, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 6, 2013 

Ms. ESHOO (for herself, Mr. SHIMKUS, and Mr. DOYLE) 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 

a bipartisan majority of 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 of 2013’’. 

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 while they support the intent of section 552b of title 

5 5, United States Code, the implementation of that 

6 section has hindered the ability of the Commission 

7 to have a substantive exchange of ideas and hold col8 lective deliberations on issues pending before the 

9 Commission. 

10 (2) The principal purpose of Congress in cre11 ating a multimember agency is to obtain the benefits 

12 of collegial decisionmaking by the members of the 

13 agency, who bring to the decisionmaking process dif14 ferent philosophical perspectives, experiences, and 

15 areas of expertise. 

16 (3) Commissioners have relied primarily on an 

17 inefficient combination of written messages, commu18 nications among staff, and a series of meetings re19 stricted to 2 Commissioners at each such meeting to 

20 discuss complex telecommunications matters pending 

21 before the Commission. 

22 (4) Extensive use of such methods of commu23 nication has harmed collegiality and cooperation at 

24 the Commission. 


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1 (5) Numerous regulatory matters have been 

2 pending before the Commission for years, and con3 tinued inaction on these issues has the potential to 

4 hinder innovation and private investment in the do5 mestic communications industry. 

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

7 collaboratively and efficiently than in the past to 

8 meet the current challenge of expanding broadband 

9 Internet access to the extent necessary to serve the 

10 business, educational, health, and cultural needs of 

11 all people in the United States. 

12 SEC. 3. NONPUBLIC COLLABORATIVE DISCUSSIONS OF THE 

13 FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION. 

14 Section 4 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

15 U.S.C. 154) is amended by adding at the end the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(p) NONPUBLIC COLLABORATIVE DISCUSSIONS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

19 ‘‘(A) AGENCY ACTION.—The term ‘agency 

20 action’ has the meaning given the term in sec21 tion 551 of title 5, United States Code. 

22 ‘‘(B) BIPARTISAN MAJORITY OF COMMIS23 SIONERS.—The term ‘bipartisan majority of 

24 Commissioners’ means a group of not less than 

25 3 Commissioners that includes— 


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1 ‘‘(i) for each political party of which 

2 any Commissioner is a member, not less 

3 than 1 Commissioner who is a member of 

4 that political party; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) if any Commissioner has no po6 litical party affiliation, not less than 1 un7 affiliated Commissioner. 

8 ‘‘(2) NONPUBLIC COLLABORATIVE DISCUS9 SIONS.—Notwithstanding section 552b of title 5, 

10 United States Code, a bipartisan majority of Com11 missioners may hold a meeting that is closed to the 

12 public to discuss official business if— 

13 ‘‘(A) a vote or any other agency action is 

14 not taken at the meeting; 

15 ‘‘(B) each person present at the meeting is 

16 a Commissioner, an employee of the Commis17 sion, a member of a joint board established 

18 under section 410, or a person on the staff of 

19 such a joint board; and 

20 ‘‘(C) an attorney from the Office of Gen21 eral Counsel of the Commission is present at 

22 the meeting. 

23 ‘‘(3) DISCLOSURE OF NONPUBLIC COLLABO24 RATIVE DISCUSSIONS.—Not later than 2 business 

25 days after the conclusion of a meeting held under 


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1 paragraph (2), the Commission shall publish on the 

2 website of the Commission a disclosure relating to 

3 the meeting that includes— 

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

5 meeting; and 

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

7 at the meeting, except for any matters that the 

8 Commission determines may be withheld in ac9 cordance with section 552b(c) of title 5, United 

10 States Code. 

11 ‘‘(4) PRESERVATION OF OPEN MEETINGS RE12 QUIREMENTS FOR AGENCY ACTION.—Nothing in this 

13 subsection shall limit the applicability of section 

14 552b of title 5, United States Code, with respect to 

15 a meeting of Commissioners other than a meeting 

16 described in paragraph (2).’’. 

Æ 


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