House Commerce Adds 13 GOP Members, Many New to Telecom

Those new members who are known to the communications industry include Greg Walden of Oregon, believed to be in line to be picked this week to head the Communications Subcommittee (CD Dec 10 p1), industry lobbyists and lawyers said. “It may take a lot to get some of the” new members “up to speed, whereas I think Greg is already there,” said broadcast lawyer Scott Flick of Pillsbury Winthrop. Walden was one of the few new members that a veteran industry lobbyist said he knew.

Also known to many in the industry is Charlie Bass of New Hampshire, who was on the committee before he lost his re-election campaign in 2006. He'll be back for the 112th Congress. Bass is “a long-time member of” the committee, noted GOP lobbyist Norm Lent of Dow Lohnes Government Strategies. Morgan Griffith of Virginia, who won the seat held by outgoing Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, a Democrat, had some experience with communications competition in the Virginia legislature, where he was majority leader since 2000, Lent noted. “He’s a member to watch as a freshman” and seen by some on Capitol Hill as an up-and-comer, he said.

All told, the GOP will have 30 members on the full committee, up from 23 in the 111th Congress, said a spokesman for Upton. Including Upton, the committee will have 17 members held over from the last session, the spokesman said. His boss will work with incoming speaker John Boehner of Ohio and other Republican leadership to determine who will serve as subcommittee chairmen, the spokesman said. A decision will be made as soon as this week, he said. The only Commerce subcommittee chairman picked is Joseph Pitts of Pennsylvania, who will head the Health Subcommittee.

Others newly named to the committee are: Brian Bilbray of California, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Cory Gardner of Colorado, Brett Guthrie of Kentucky, Gregg Harper of Mississippi, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, David McKinley of West Virginia, Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, Pete Olson of Texas and Mike Pompeo of Kansas. Returning are: Joe Barton of Texas, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Mary Bono Mack of California, Michael Burgess of Texas, Phil Gingrey of Georgia, Bob Latta of Ohio, Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania, Sue Wilkins Myrick of North Carolina, Mike Rogers of Michigan, Steve Scalise of Louisiana, John Shimkus of Illinois, Cliff Stearns of Florida, John Sullivan of Oklahoma, Lee Terry of Nebraska and Ed Whitfield of Kentucky.

Having many freshman members on House Commerce gives high-tech companies “a real opportunity to present our case, and in many ways it provides a fresh slate,” said Vince Jesaitis, government affairs director for the Information Technology Industry Council, whose members include Google, Microsoft, Qualcomm and Sony. “It is generally a younger group of members that have grown up at a time when technology has played an increasing role in our daily lives. While they may not all be as steeped in the policy, they are familiar with the real-world benefits of increasing broadband access and speeds, or making more spectrum available so mobile sites load faster and there are fewer dropped calls.” Universal Service Fund Reform “is far from an easy lift,” but there’s “general agreement it should be brought” into this century, Jesaitis said. Harder to predict is what new members will want to do with the D-block, he said.

Executives at several associations said telling legislators about their issues remains an ongoing effort. “Hill staff come and go, and congressional committee members and their interests change,” so lobbying is a constant practice, said President John Rose of the Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies. “Every new Congress presents new challenges for every trade association, in terms of education and outreach,” said an NAB spokesman. “We're encouraging our broadcasters at the local level to begin the education process. No trade association wins just with their national trade association -- the grassroots have to play a role as well."

Communications is an area, except for net neutrality, that’s been “apolitical” and “now we'll find out whether that’s going to continue, when you have a new group of members who are going to change the way Washington operates altogether,” said communications lawyer David Goodfriend, a former Hill Democratic aide. On USF, “will the new crowd be interested in modifying a big government program or blowing it up?” The freshman Republicans will have a “heightened awareness of how the issues play out” in their home districts, Goodfriend said, something for lobbyists to keep in mind when coming in for meetings.