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The Minority Media and Telecommunications Council will hold a panel
Monday at noon at the Westin Georgetown Hotel on the impact of Universal
Service Reform (USF) on minorities and under-served communities.
Speakers include USTelecom senior vice president Jonathan Banks, Google
telecom policy counsel Adrienne Biddings and Comcast policy counsel Rudy
Brioche.
Six of the major telecom carriers have proposed a USF reform plan that
would shift the high-cost portion of the plan toward broadband
deployment, but critics say the plan would favor incumbent service
providers.
Also Monday, Health and Human Service Secretary Katherine Sebelius will
host a consumer health information technology summit aimed at showing
consumers the best ways to leverage their own health information to be
more active participants in their care. National Coordinator for Health
IT Dr. Farzad Mostashari will be on hand.
The Internet Innovation Alliance will hold a symposium Tuesday on
wireless broadband deployment at the Newseum featuring former FCC
Commissioner Henry Rivera and former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell.
The House Science, Space and Technology Committee will hold a hearing
Tuesday morning on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics
(STEM) education and how to inspire the next generation to take up those
fields. Experts and industry have warned repeatedly that the U.S. does
not produce enough graduates with advanced skills in those areas to
compete with rising economies such as India and China.
On Wednesday, the House Financial Services Committee’s Financial
Institutions subpanel will hold a 10 a.m. hearing on cybersecurity and
threats to the financial sector. Financial firms are likely to be
covered under any comprehensive cybersecurity legislation, such as the
proposal unveiled by the White House in March. A Justice Department
official indicated at a hearing this week that the administration is
willing to consider instituting penalties for critical infrastructure
firms that don’t comply with DHS security standards, but none are
included in the plan as released.
The House Judiciary’s Immigration Policy subcommittee will hold a
hearing after lunch on the investor visa program, which has been pushed
as a job creation measure. Investors and tech firms have pushed for
Congress to relax immigration restrictions for entrepreneurs and
investors, and lawmakers have shown some willingness if said applicants
are able to create high-paying tech-sector jobs in the U.S.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to mark up a series of
privacy and data breach notification bills on Thursday designed to
amalgamate the patchwork of state laws. Some of the legislation calls
for stiff penalties against firms that don’t protect consumer data, and
all the bills require firms to notify consumers when their data has been
breached.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Manufacturing subpanel will
examine the impact and burden of European Union Internet privacy
regulations Thursday at a 9:30 a.m. hearing.
The Senate has indicated it plans to move on consumer privacy
legislation this year, placing the onus on the House to define what
types of protections and enforcement it deems acceptable. The key will
be striking a balance between the GOP’s anti-regulatory tone and the
need to appeal to voters concerned about being tracked online.