Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz of Texas and two other panel Republicans pressed the Commerce Department Friday to withdraw the National Institute of Standards and Technology's August guidance to applicants for Chips and Science Act semiconductor manufacturing facility incentives that the lawmakers believe is racist and violates federal law. NIST's August guidance says it's "looking for applications with a supplier diversity plan that features a plan to track supplier diversity, sets targets, and conducts outreach in coordination with community partners." Cruz and the other Republicans, Sens. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming and J.D. Vance of Ohio, told Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo they view the guidance as making clear the department "will consider the race of an applicant’s suppliers when awarding CHIPS funding." That appears to violate the Fifth Amendment's due process clause, 1868 Civil Rights Act Section 1981 and 1964 Civil Rights Act Title VI, the Republicans said in a letter to Raimondo. NIST's "use of racial classifications, as set forth in the Guidance, does not serve a compelling governmental interest." Commerce "provides no evidence of disparities minority-owned suppliers face generally, let alone specific instances of discrimination that the Department is seeking to address," the senators said: "And it does not attempt to make any claim that this discrimination is necessary to avoid a prison race riot." Those are the two instances the Supreme Court had found justify race-based government actions. The guidance "intentionally treats certain applicants worse than others on the ground of the race of their suppliers," the senators said: "Title VI forbids such discrimination.” Section 1981, meanwhile, "makes it illegal for private companies to discriminate on the basis of race when making and enforcing contracts." Commerce "has not yet finalized a grant for any CHIPS funding to any applicants," the senators said: "Therefore, the Department still has time to reverse course before it breaks the law." They want Raimondo to respond by Feb. 29 that she's rescinded the guidance or detail "the reasons you believe the Guidance does not violate" the Fifth Amendment and civil rights laws. Commerce didn't immediately comment.

X joined Microsoft and Snap in supporting the Kids Online Safety Act, Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said Thursday (see 2401310081). The bill has 62 co-sponsors in the Senate, they said, urging final passage. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., a sponsor, said, “I look forward to working on a bipartisan basis with Senators Blumenthal and Blackburn to advance this bill in the Senate.” The list of bill supporters includes the NAACP, Nintendo of America, the Christian Camp and Conference Association, The Foundation United, Parents for Safe Online Spaces and Street Grace. In a statement Thursday, NetChoice said the updated version of the bill “has not meaningfully changed" the legislation "at all -- especially its privacy and constitutional problems.” NetChoice urged senators to abandon the proposal.

Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, are co-sponsoring the latest version of a bill that would update the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Bill Cassidy, R-La., announced Thursday. Cantwell and Cruz support the latest iteration of COPPA 2.0, which they said includes stakeholders' suggestions for technical corrections and small modifications. Cantwell recently explored options for seeking unanimous consent on COPPA 2.0 and the Kids Online Safety Act (see 2312040058). “Children and teens are uniquely vulnerable in the online world and can be unaware and overwhelmed by the ways social media platforms can use their personal information to target them,” Cantwell said in a statement. “This bill strengthens protections, closes loopholes and raises the age of kids covered under our privacy law to make sure more children and teens are protected.” Cruz said the bill would “empower parents to safeguard their children’s online privacy and hold tech companies responsible for keeping minors safe from data collection.”

USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter urged the Senate Wednesday to pass the House-approved Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act (HR-7024). The act includes language that extends a tax statute allowing businesses to fully deduct the purchase price of eligible assets. Some other communications industry groups are urging Senate leaders to attach language from the Broadband Grant Tax Treatment Act (HR-889/S-341) to HR-7024 (see 2401260073). First filed in 2022 (see 2209290067), HR-889/S-341 would amend the Internal Revenue Code, allowing broadband grants enacted via either statute not to be counted as gross income. “This is a crucial time for the broadband sector as we work alongside NTIA and state broadband offices as they allocate $42 billion in [broadband equity, access and deployment] funding toward projects aimed at ensuring every American has access to modern broadband service,” Spalter said in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; and ranking member Mike Crapo, R-Idaho. “While BEAD funding will help offset the high cost of many broadband projects that could not otherwise be built, providers will be required to invest substantial private capital to see these projects completed. Fully expensing capital equipment in the year it is purchased will free-up the essential additional resources needed to deploy fiber in rural and hard to reach areas.”

The House Communications Subcommittee plans a Thursday hearing on a set of five bills aimed at improving U.S. network security, including the Future Uses of Technology Upholding Reliable and Enhancing Networks Act (HR-1513), the House Commerce Committee said Friday. The other bills are the Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency Act (HR-820), Countering CCP Drones Act (HR-2864), draft Promote Secure Connectivity to Taiwan Act and draft Removing Our Unsecure Technologies to Ensure Reliability and Security (Routers) Act. First filed in 2022 (see 2210250067), HR-820 would require the FCC to publish a list of communications companies holding FCC licenses or other authorizations in which China and other foreign adversaries’ governments possess 10% or more ownership. HR-1513, which the House passed during the last Congress (see 2112020050), would direct the FCC to establish a 6G task force to provide recommendations on ensuring U.S. leadership in developing that technology’s standards. HR-2864 would add Chinese drone manufacturer Da-Jiang Innovations to the FCC’s covered entities list. The Promote Secure Connectivity to Taiwan Act would require NTIA assessment of “technologies available to increase the security and resiliency” of Taiwan’s communications networks. The Routers Act would have the Commerce Department “specify what transactions involving routers, modems, or devices that combine a modem and a router are prohibited” under then-President Donald Trump’s 2019 executive order, which bars transactions involving information and communications technologies that pose an “undue risk of sabotage to or subversion of” U.S.-based communications services (see 1905150066). “Our communications networks are an integral part of our lives, businesses, economy, and national security,” said House Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Communications Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio. “As we’ve grown increasingly connected and more reliant on technology, these networks have become a target for adversaries and bad actors. To remain competitive and secure, the U.S. must ensure our communications and technological infrastructure is protected against adversaries, in particular the Chinese Communist Party.” The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn.

House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., said Thursday she won’t seek reelection. “After much prayer and reflection, I’ve decided the time has come to serve … in new ways,” she said. “We will spend this year honoring the Committee’s rich history -- plowing the hard ground necessary to legislate on solutions to make people’s lives better and ensure America wins the future,” Rodgers said. She became the lead House Commerce Republican in 2021 after previous panel GOP head Greg Walden of Oregon retired (see 2012020070). Rodgers has had a lead role in many major communications and tech policy debates since succeeding Walden, including as lead sponsor of the House Commerce-cleared Spectrum Auction Reauthorization Act (HR-3565), the panel’s privacy legislative talks and scrutiny of the FCC’s affordable connectivity program (see 2312150068). House Commerce ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said he's “sad to hear” Rodgers is retiring, but “I’m glad we have about a year left to get some important priorities across the finish line together.” Getting “things done around here is hard work, but Cathy and I have been able to get important legislation” to “move the ball forward on establishing a comprehensive national data privacy standard,” Pallone said. “Her departure will be an incredible loss for Congress, which I know she cares about deeply.” House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, praised Rodgers’ “guidance and steady, principled leadership": “It would be an understatement to say her work within [House Commerce] has had a profound and positive impact on people and communities across the country." Rodgers’ departure means the House Commerce lead Republican seat for the next Congress is open. Some telecom lobbyists quickly tipped Latta as a likely contender, along with Congressional Spectrum Caucus co-Chair Brett Guthrie of Kentucky. Latta competed against Rodgers and Rep. Michael Burgess of Texas for the House Commerce GOP leadership in 2020 (see 2011180028). Burgess is among 11 other House Commerce members retiring at the end of this Congress. The others: Kelly Armstrong, R-N.D.; Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del.; Larry Bucshon, R-Ind.; Tony Cardenas, D-Calif.; John Curtis, R-Utah; Jeff Duncan, R-S.C.; Anna Eshoo, D-Calif.; Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz.; Greg Pence, R-Ind.; and John Sarbanes, D-Md. Ex-Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, was a House Commerce member when he resigned last month to become Youngstown State University president (see 2401020056).

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., on Tuesday blocked an attempt by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., to approve children’s online safety legislation by unanimous consent. Hawley sought UC for the Stop Children Suffering from Abuse and Mistreatment (Stop CSAM) Act, saying Big Tech won’t stop harming children until it faces liability in court. “This is the only industry in the country that can make a product that will literally kill you, and if it does, you cannot do anything about it," said Hawley. Wyden argued the bill would weaken encryption, which he said is the strongest online protection for children and families, because it would punish companies for offering strong encryption standards. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has separate plans to seek UC for the Stop CSAM Act and four other online safety bills the Senate Judiciary Committee approved (see 2402060084).

Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., and Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., backed the FCC’s NPRM that would make voice-cloning technology in robocall scams illegal (see 2401310082), telling Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel it’s needed because the use of AI to “impersonate trusted voices threatens to expose ... even greater harm” to consumer confidence in U.S. telecom systems. The FCC issued a cease-and-desist letter and K4 order Tuesday against Texas-based Lingo Telecom over robocalls to voters before the New Hampshire primary last month with an AI-generated voice impersonating President Joe Biden (see 2402060087). “We commend you for moving forward with this proposed Declaratory Ruling to clarify that existing statute already prohibits robocalls using AI-generated voices to wireless customers,” Lujan and Kelly said in a letter to Rosenworcel released Wednesday. “This ruling is particularly important given the increasing ease of access to generative-AI tools. Such tools can be used to clone a person’s voice with high levels of accuracy, and there are alarming cases of this technology being used to harm vulnerable families across the country.” The proposed ruling “is aligned with Congressional intent for the Telephone Consumer Protection Act,” which should empower consumers “to provide consent on whether to receive AI generated calls,” the senators said: The FCC should also “exercise its lawful enforcement authority to stop the use of generative AI for fraudulent misrepresentation, particularly in critical sectors like public safety, election integrity, and consumer protection.”

National Rural Electric Cooperative Association CEO Jim Matheson urged leaders of the House and Senate Commerce committees Monday night to “provide additional funding” for the FCC’s affordable connectivity program before its original $14.2 billion allocation runs out in April. Lawmakers are eyeing how to allocate as much as $7 billion in stopgap funding to keep ACP running through the end of this year (see 2401250075). FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel confirmed last week that the Wireline Bureau will freeze new ACP enrollments Thursday as part of winding down the program (see 2402010075). “As more cooperatives, and other internet service providers, work to build broadband networks in hard-to-reach rural and low-income areas, affordability will become increasingly critical to adoption of these essential services,” Matheson said in a letter to Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., House Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and their ranking members. “Should programs supporting affordability fail, it could jeopardize access to broadband services for millions of customers.” Ensuring “that there is a consistent, dependable, and effective low-income broadband program, such as the ACP, will allow rural providers to deliver the highest quality broadband service to their communities at an affordable price,” said Matheson, a former House Commerce member who represented Utah as a Democrat. Enacting the ACP Extension Act (HR-6929/S-3565), which would infuse $7 billion into the program for FY24 (see 2401100056), “or similar legislation would provide important short-term clarity and certainty ... while Congress works to address questions around the future of the program and develop a permanent funding solution.”

Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, raised concerns Thursday with the CPB-funded Independent Television Service (ITVS) about its Diversity Development Fund, which provides grants of up to $35,000 to filmmakers of color to develop documentaries for public media. ITVS reports it has funded 156 films via the diversity fund. “Because white filmmakers are facially ineligible for this seed money, the fund runs afoul of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866,” Cruz told ITVS CEO Carrie Lozano in a letter. “I therefore urge you to remove race as an eligibility criterion for” DDF. ITVS “can surely pursue its mandate to ‘expand the diversity and innovativeness’ of public programming without violating the law,” Cruz said. “Presumably, the goal of this racially exclusive funding opportunity is to further CPB’s directive to aid ‘producers of programs addressing the needs and interests of minorities.’ But programming need not be produced exclusively by minorities to address the needs and interests of minorities. Furthermore, ITVS’s requirement that an applicant ‘[i]dentify as a person of color’ violates federal law.” The fund may also “discriminate based on political ideology,” he said: “The ITVS website features an ‘Impact’ page demonstrating how its documentaries ‘inspir[e] audiences to take action’ on politically charged issues like criminal justice reform. These documentaries overwhelmingly reflect a liberal worldview” and “ITVS funds hardly any documentaries from a conservative perspective. A public organization that costs American taxpayers $17 million a year should not be a vehicle for left-wing agitprop.” Cruz wants Lozano to tell him by Feb. 15 whether ITVS will remove "race as an eligibility criterion” for DDF grants and detail how much money the fund has received since 2014. In addition, he wants more information about how ITVS will inject “objectivity and balance” as it decides on content befitting an entity receiving CPB funding. ITVS didn’t immediately comment. Cruz objected in December to CPB rules for member stations’ diverse workforce policies (see 2312110067). CPB CEO Patricia Harrison countered that the organization’s current and former diversity policies for Community Service Grants recipients “do not require any unlawful employment preferences or quotas” and are “no more discriminatory than the policies for federal agencies with which CPB, as a private corporation, voluntarily complies.”