II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 760 

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

of Commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission to hold 

nonpublic collaborative discussions. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 17, 2015 

Mr. HELLER (for himself and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

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. 

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 2015’’. 

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) the term ‘agency action’ has the 

20 meaning given the term in section 551 of title 

21 5, United States Code; and 

22 ‘‘(B) the term ‘bipartisan majority’ means, 

23 when used with respect to a group of Commis24 sioners, that the group— 


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1 ‘‘(i) is a group of 3 or more Commis2 sioners; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) includes— 

4 ‘‘(I) for each political party of 

5 which any Commissioner is a member, 

6 not less than 1 Commissioner who is 

7 a member of the political party; and 

8 ‘‘(II) if any Commissioner has no 

9 political party affiliation, not less than 

10 1 unaffiliated Commissioner. 

11 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY TO HOLD MEETINGS.—Not12 withstanding section 552b of title 5, United States 

13 Code, a bipartisan majority of Commissioners may 

14 hold a meeting that is closed to the public to discuss 

15 official business if— 

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

17 not taken at the meeting; 

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

19 a Commissioner, an employee of the Commis20 sion, a member of a joint board or conference 

21 established under section 410, or a person on 

22 the staff of such a joint board or conference or 

23 of a member of such a joint board or con24 ference; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) an attorney from the Office of Gen2 eral Counsel of the Commission is present at 

3 the meeting. 

4 ‘‘(3) DISCLOSURE OF NONPUBLIC COLLABO5 RATIVE DISCUSSIONS.—Not later than 2 business 

6 days after the conclusion of a meeting held under 

7 paragraph (2), the Commission shall publish a dis8 closure of the meeting, including— 

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

10 meeting; and 

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

12 at the meeting, except for any matters that the 

13 Commission determines may be withheld under 

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

15 ‘‘(4) PRESERVATION OF OPEN MEETINGS RE16 QUIREMENTS FOR AGENCY ACTION.—Nothing in this 

17 subsection shall limit the applicability of section 

18 552b of title 5, United States Code, with respect to 

19 a meeting of Commissioners other than that de20 scribed in paragraph (2).’’. 

Æ 


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