I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 734 
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to consolidate the reporting 
obligations of the Federal Communications Commission in order to im-
prove congressional oversight and reduce reporting burdens. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 4, 2015 
Mr. SCALISE (for himself, Mr. WALDEN, and Ms. ESHOO) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Communica-
tions Commission Consolidated Reporting Act of 2015’’. 
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SEC. 2. COMMUNICATIONS MARKETPLACE REPORT. 
Title I of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 151 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘SEC. 13. COMMUNICATIONS MARKETPLACE REPORT. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the last quarter of every even- 
numbered year, the Commission shall publish on its 
website and submit to the Committee on Energy and Com-
merce of the House of Representatives and the Committee 
on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 
a report on the state of the communications marketplace. 
‘‘(b) CONTENTS.—Each report required by sub-
section (a) shall— 
‘‘(1) assess the state of competition in the com-
munications marketplace, including competition to 
deliver voice, video, audio, and data services among 
providers of telecommunications, providers of com-
mercial mobile service (as defined in section 332), 
multichannel video programming distributors (as de-
fined in section 602), broadcast stations, providers 
of satellite communications, Internet service pro-
viders, and other providers of communications serv-
ices; 
‘‘(2) assess the state of deployment of commu-
nications 
capabilities, 
including 
advanced 
tele-
communications capability (as defined in section 706 
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of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 
1302)), regardless of the technology used for such 
deployment, 
including 
whether 
advanced 
tele-
communications capability is being deployed to all 
Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion; 
‘‘(3) assess whether laws, regulations, or regu-
latory practices (whether those of the Federal Gov-
ernment, States, political subdivisions of States, In-
dian tribes or tribal organizations (as such terms are 
defined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination 
and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b)), or 
foreign governments) pose a barrier to competitive 
entry into the communications marketplace or to the 
competitive expansion of existing providers of com-
munications services; 
‘‘(4) describe the agenda of the Commission for 
the next 2-year period for addressing the challenges 
and opportunities in the communications market-
place that were identified through the assessments 
under paragraphs (1) through (3); and 
‘‘(5) describe the actions that the Commission 
has taken in pursuit of the agenda described pursu-
ant to paragraph (4) in the previous report sub-
mitted under this section. 
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‘‘(c) EXTENSION.—If the President designates a 
Commissioner as Chairman of the Commission during the 
last quarter of an even-numbered year, the portion of the 
report required by subsection (b)(4) may be published on 
the website of the Commission and submitted to the Com-
mittee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Rep-
resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation of the Senate as an addendum during 
the first quarter of the following odd-numbered year. 
‘‘(d) SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) ASSESSING
COMPETITION.—In assessing 
the state of competition under subsection (b)(1), the 
Commission shall consider all forms of competition, 
including the effect of intermodal competition, facili-
ties-based competition, and competition from new 
and emergent communications services, including the 
provision of content and communications using the 
Internet. 
‘‘(2) ASSESSING
DEPLOYMENT.—In assessing 
the state of deployment under subsection (b)(2), the 
Commission shall compile a list of geographical 
areas that are not served by any provider of ad-
vanced telecommunications capability. 
‘‘(3) INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS AND DEMO-
GRAPHIC INFORMATION.—The Commission may use 
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readily available data to draw appropriate compari-
sons between the United States communications 
marketplace and the international communications 
marketplace and to correlate its assessments with 
demographic information. 
‘‘(4) CONSIDERING SMALL BUSINESSES.—In as-
sessing the state of competition under subsection 
(b)(1) and regulatory barriers under subsection 
(b)(3), the Commission shall consider market entry 
barriers for entrepreneurs and other small busi-
nesses in the communications marketplace in accord-
ance with the national policy under section 257(b). 
‘‘(5) CONSIDERING CABLE RATES.—In assess-
ing the state of competition under subsection (b)(1), 
the Commission shall include in each report required 
by subsection (a) the aggregate average total 
amount paid by cable systems in compensation 
under section 325 during the period covered by such 
report.’’. 
SEC. 3. CONSOLIDATION OF REDUNDANT REPORTS; CON-
FORMING AMENDMENTS. 
(a) ORBIT ACT REPORT.—Section 646 of the Com-
munications Satellite Act of 1962 (47 U.S.C. 765e; 114 
Stat. 57) is repealed. 
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(b) SATELLITE COMPETITION REPORT.—Section 4 of 
Public Law 109–34 (47 U.S.C. 703) is repealed. 
(c) INTERNATIONAL BROADBAND DATA REPORT.— 
Section 103 of the Broadband Data Improvement Act (47 
U.S.C. 1303) is amended— 
(1) by striking subsection (b); and 
(2) by redesignating subsections (c) through (e) 
as subsections (b) through (d), respectively. 
(d) STATUS OF COMPETITION IN THE MARKET FOR 
THE DELIVERY OF VIDEO PROGRAMMING REPORT.—Sec-
tion 628 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 
548) is amended— 
(1) by striking subsection (g); 
(2) by redesignating subsection (j) as sub-
section (g); and 
(3) by transferring subsection (g) (as redesig-
nated) so that it appears after subsection (f). 
(e) REPORT ON CABLE INDUSTRY PRICES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 623 of the Commu-
nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 543) is amended— 
(A) by striking subsection (k); and 
(B) 
by 
redesignating 
subsections 
(l) 
through (o) as subsections (k) through (n), re-
spectively. 
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(2) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Section 
613(a)(3) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 533(a)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘623(l)’’ 
and inserting ‘‘623(k)’’. 
(f) TRIENNIAL REPORT IDENTIFYING AND ELIMI-
NATING
MARKET
ENTRY
BARRIERS
FOR
ENTRE-
PRENEURS
AND OTHER SMALL BUSINESSES.—Section 
257 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 257) 
is amended by striking subsection (c). 
(g) SECTION 706 REPORT.—Section 706 of the Tele-
communications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 1302) is amend-
ed— 
(1) by amending subsection (b) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(b) DETERMINATION.—If the Commission deter-
mines in its report under section 13 of the Communica-
tions Act of 1934, after considering the availability of ad-
vanced telecommunications capability to all Americans (in-
cluding, in particular, elementary and secondary schools 
and classrooms), that advanced telecommunications capa-
bility is not being deployed to all Americans in a reason-
able and timely fashion, the Commission shall take imme-
diate action to accelerate deployment of such capability 
by removing barriers to infrastructure investment and by 
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promoting competition in the telecommunications mar-
ket.’’; 
(2) by striking subsection (c); 
(3) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘this sub-
section’’ and inserting ‘‘this section’’; and 
(4) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub-
section (c). 
(h) STATE OF COMPETITIVE MARKET CONDITIONS 
WITH RESPECT TO COMMERCIAL MOBILE RADIO SERV-
ICES.—Section 332(c)(1)(C) of the Communications Act 
of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 332(c)(1)(C)) is amended by striking 
the first and second sentences. 
(i) PREVIOUSLY ELIMINATED ANNUAL REPORT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 4 of the Commu-
nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 154) is amended— 
(A) by striking subsection (k); and 
(B) 
by 
redesignating 
subsections 
(l) 
through (o) as subsections (k) through (n), re-
spectively. 
(2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The Commu-
nications Act of 1934 is amended— 
(A) in section 9(i), by striking ‘‘In the 
Commission’s annual report, the Commission 
shall prepare an analysis of its progress in de-
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veloping such systems and’’ and inserting ‘‘The 
Commission’’; and 
(B) in section 309(j)(8)(B), by striking the 
last sentence. 
(j) ADDITIONAL OUTDATED REPORTS.—The Com-
munications Act of 1934 is further amended— 
(1) in section 4— 
(A) in subsection (b)(2)(B)(ii), by striking 
‘‘and shall furnish notice of such action’’ and 
all that follows through ‘‘subject of the waiver’’; 
and 
(B) in subsection (g), by striking para-
graph (2); 
(2) in section 215— 
(A) by striking subsection (b); and 
(B) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub-
section (b); 
(3) in section 227(e), by striking paragraph (4); 
(4) in section 309(j)— 
(A) by striking paragraph (12); and 
(B) in paragraph (15)(C), by striking 
clause (iv); 
(5) in section 331(b), by striking the last sen-
tence; 
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(6) in section 336(e), by amending paragraph 
(4) to read as follows: 
‘‘(4) REPORT.—The Commission shall annually 
advise the Congress on the amounts collected pursu-
ant to the program required by this subsection.’’; 
(7) in section 339(c), by striking paragraph (1); 
(8) in section 396— 
(A) by striking subsection (i); 
(B) in subsection (k)— 
(i) in paragraph (1), by striking sub-
paragraph (F); and 
(ii) in paragraph (3)(B)(iii), by strik-
ing subclause (V); 
(C) in subsection (l)(1)(B), by striking 
‘‘shall be included’’ and all that follows through 
‘‘The audit report’’; and 
(D) by striking subsection (m); 
(9) in section 398(b)(4), by striking the third 
sentence; 
(10) in section 624A(b)(1)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘REPORT; REGULATIONS’’ 
and inserting ‘‘REGULATIONS’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘Within 1 year after’’ and 
all that follows through ‘‘on means of assuring’’ 
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and inserting ‘‘The Commission shall issue such 
regulations as are necessary to assure’’; and 
(C) by striking ‘‘Within 180 days after’’ 
and all that follows through ‘‘to assure such 
compatibility.’’; and 
(11) in section 713, by striking subsection (a). 
SEC. 4. EFFECT ON AUTHORITY. 
Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 
Act shall be construed to expand or contract the authority 
of the Federal Communications Commission. 
SEC. 5. OTHER REPORTS. 
Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 
Act shall be construed to prohibit or otherwise prevent the 
Federal Communications Commission from producing any 
additional reports otherwise within the authority of the 
Commission. 
Æ 
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