I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4167 
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to authorize 3 or more Commis-
sioners 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. 
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 Collaboration Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Commissioners of the Federal Communica-
tions Commission (in this section referred to as the 
‘‘Commission’’), past and present, have stated that 
they support the intent of section 552b of title 5, 
United States Code, but that its implementation has 
hindered the Commission’s ability to have a sub-
stantive exchange of ideas and hold collective delib-
erations on issues pending before the Commission. 
(2) Congress’s principal purpose in creating a 
multimember agency is to obtain the benefits of col-
legial decisionmaking by the agency’s members, who 
bring to the decisionmaking process different philo-
sophical perspectives, experiences, and areas of ex-
pertise. 
(3) Commissioners have relied primarily on an 
inefficient combination of written messages, commu-
nications among staff, and a series of meetings re-
stricted to 2 Commissioners at each such meeting to 
discuss complex telecommunications matters pending 
before the Commission. 
(4) Extensive use of such methods of commu-
nication has harmed collegiality and cooperation at 
the Commission. 
(5) Numerous regulatory matters have been 
pending before the Commission for years, and con-
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tinued inaction on these issues has the potential to 
hinder innovation and private investment in the do-
mestic communications industry. 
(6) The Commission must be able to work more 
collaboratively and efficiently than in the past to 
meet the current challenge of expanding broadband 
Internet access to the extent necessary to serve the 
business, educational, health, and cultural needs of 
all Americans. 
SEC. 3. NONPUBLIC COLLABORATIVE DISCUSSIONS OF THE 
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION. 
Section 4 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 154) is amended by adding at the end the following 
new subsection: 
‘‘(p) NONPUBLIC COLLABORATIVE DISCUSSIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 
552b of title 5, United States Code, 3 or more Com-
missioners may hold a meeting that is closed to the 
public to discuss official business if— 
‘‘(A) a vote or any other agency action, as 
such term is defined in section 551(13) of title 
5, United States Code, is not taken at such 
meeting; 
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‘‘(B) each person present at such meeting 
is a Commissioner or an employee of the Com-
mission; 
‘‘(C) for each political party of which any 
Commissioner is a member, at least 1 Commis-
sioner who is a member of such respective polit-
ical party is present at such meeting, and, if 
any Commissioner has no political party affili-
ation, at least one unaffiliated Commissioner is 
present at such meeting; and 
‘‘(D) an attorney from the Office of Gen-
eral Counsel of the Commission is present at 
such meeting. 
‘‘(2) DISCLOSURE
OF
NONPUBLIC
COLLABO-
RATIVE DISCUSSIONS.—Not later than 5 days after 
the conclusion of a meeting held under paragraph 
(1), the Commission shall publish on its Web site a 
disclosure of such meeting, including— 
‘‘(A) a list of the persons who attended 
such meeting; and 
‘‘(B) a summary of the matters discussed 
at such meeting, except for such matters as the 
Commission determines may be withheld under 
section 552b(c) of title 5, United States Code. 
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‘‘(3) PRESERVATION OF OPEN MEETINGS RE-
QUIREMENTS FOR AGENCY ACTION.—Nothing in this 
subsection shall limit the applicability of section 
552b of title 5, United States Code, with respect to 
a meeting of Commissioners other than that de-
scribed in paragraph (1). 
‘‘(4) SUNSET.—This subsection shall cease to 
be effective 5 years after the date of enactment of 
the Federal Communications Commission Collabora-
tion Act.’’. 
Æ 
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