The annual congressional circus of debating bills at the last minute with little or no formal reflection is here again, but this time Internet and telecom issues are taking center stage. The only bills Congress is required to pass each year are the ones that fund federal agencies and programs. During this Congress, more than in any other, members have begun to focus on the Internet as well as the more traditional telecom markets. Though the vast majority of Internet-related bills introduced in the last two years have failed to stand up to the close scrutiny of hearings and committee debates known as markups, that isn't stopping the failed bills' sponsors from trying to attach them to spending bills.
Riders are bills attached to spending packages.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. and chairman of the Commerce Committee, had been unable to move his bill requiring schools and libraries receiving federal funding for technology to obtain at their cost filtering equipment to protect children online. So this summer he successfully added it to the large spending package that includes the Education Department. That provision appears to have survived a conference with leaders of the House spending bill, and it is expected to be voted on and approved early next week. In fact, McCain's filtering bill may be one of the only riders to make it all the way into law. Rather, he expresses dismay that legislation can become law without undergoing the scrutiny of an authorizing committee, she said.