The House passed the Department of Homeland Security Interoperable Communications Act (HR 4289) in a vote of 393-0 Tuesday. Its sponsor, Rep. Donald Payne, D-N.J., introduced it in March and House Homeland Security Chairman Mike McCaul, R-Texas, and Emergency Preparedness and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Susan Brooks, R-Ind., also backed it as co-sponsors. The legislation would “amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the Under Secretary for Management of the Department of Homeland Security to take administrative action to achieve and maintain interoperable communications capabilities among the components of the Department of Homeland Security,” said the bill’s report (http://1.usa.gov/1zpWNvk). The report underscores the need for DHS radio communication to be interoperable, including the exchange of voice, data and video. “The Committee is disappointed that the Department has spent $430 million on communications capabilities without effectuating the changes within practices in the components [of the department] to achieve interoperability,” it said. “The [Homeland Security] Committee believes that to advance interoperability goals at the Department, there needs to be leadership at the highest level and that implementation of interoperability-related directives by components should be mandatory, not voluntary.” DHS would have to come up with a better communications strategy for its agencies within 120 days of the bill’s enactment. The legislation has not yet been introduced and advanced in the Senate.

Two House Judiciary Republicans formally introduced their five-year Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization legislation Wednesday, said a committee news release (http://1.usa.gov/1oI0PJT). The committee had earlier this week announced a markup of this legislation, now with the number of HR-5036, to take place Thursday at 10 a.m. in 2141 Rayburn. Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and IP Subcommittee Chairman Howard Coble, R-N.C., issued statements backing its passage and stressing the need for reauthorization. The bill is a clean reauthorization that does not include any revamps to video marketplace rules. Top committee Democrats did not comment on the bill.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler plans to “present proposed final rules to my fellow Commissioners yet this year” on the agency’s broadband deployment rulemaking focused on wireless facilities siting, he told House Republicans in a June 27 letter released this week. House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., and House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., had expressed concerns in a May 29 letter to Wheeler. Commission staff is reviewing the record from comments filed with the FCC earlier this year, Wheeler said.

Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., joined Free Press at an event at the Capitol Tuesday to press the FCC to approve strong net neutrality protections, while also forbidding paid prioritization deals. Franken blasted “fast lanes” and suggested net neutrality protections led the Internet to flourish. “This has been the architecture of the Internet from the beginning,” Franken said. “Everyone should understand that. … Some of my colleagues in the Congress don’t understand that.” He criticized the May FCC net neutrality NPRM for saying “maybe we should allow fast lanes” and insisted the Internet’s innovation is on account of net neutrality. “I hope the press is here to listen and report, and I hope your content gets to the consumer of the content as fast as the anti-net neutrality content does,” Franken said. “And I think it will now -- and that’s the point.” Free Press President Craig Aaron also spoke at the event, backing this message, and moderated a panel of speakers pushing for such protections. Free Press circulated a handout slamming what it called “myths” about FCC reclassification of broadband as a Title II telecom service, which Free Press backs. The group believes Title II reclassification will give the agency authority to create what Free Press believes will be stronger net neutrality rules.

The House Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade Subcommittee will take up a bill to curb misleading or inadequate patent demand letters Wednesday afternoon, said a Monday news release (http://1.usa.gov/U0T7Q6). Subcommittee Chairman Lee Terry, R-Neb., released an updated draft of the Targeting Rogue and Opaque Letters Act (HR-4450) Monday(http://1.usa.gov/1n4Ljn3). The bill would make patent demand letters written in “bad faith” an “unfair or deceptive act” under the FTC Act. “We have spent months examining different ideas and challenges to address the growing threat of patent trolls, and the text we will consider this week is a product of those discussions amongst members and stakeholders,” said Terry in a statement. The updated draft is not significantly different from the original discussion draft (CD July 3 p9), but did name the measure. The bill is one small component of broader patent revamp legislation that has been all but booted until after the midterm elections, which may make passage of a demand letter bill difficult, stakeholders have agreed (CD May 23 p3).

The House Judiciary Committee will mark up a clean bill (http://1.usa.gov/1r67pL0) to reauthorize the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act (STELA) Thursday, it said. The markup session is scheduled for 10:15 a.m. in 2141 Rayburn. The bill is two pages and narrow, as lobbyists have widely expected, and is similar to the STELA legislation cleared by the Senate Judiciary Committee last month. Both of the Judiciary bills are called the Satellite Television Access Reauthorization Act of 2014. The only committee with STELA jurisdiction that has yet to release legislation is now the Senate Commerce Committee. Two groups fired off letters to Senate Commerce ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., urging a clean STELA bill. “We recognize the opportunity to update our nation’s video marketplace policies, but STELA should not be used as a vehicle for regulatory riders or special-interest ‘reforms,'” Americans for Limited Government said (http://bit.ly/VG90fM), defending the rights of broadcasters and attacking any revamps of retransmission consent rules. The American Consumer Institute backs “comprehensive” overhaul of the video marketplace but said “moving ahead with a STELA reauthorization that includes any anemic attempts at deregulation that apply to only one of the many players in the dynamically competitive marketplace could inadvertently jeopardize much needed comprehensive reforms,” according to its letter (http://bit.ly/1oF3B2t). “In other words, adding new regulations and provisions now to STELA will only complicate holistic reforms in the future.”

The Senate Special Committee on Aging scheduled a hearing on phone scams. It will take place July 16 at 2:15 p.m. in 562 Dirksen. Witnesses weren’t announced.

The Senate Judiciary Committee plans to consider its bipartisan compromise version of Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act (S-517) at its Thursday executive session, set for 9:30 a.m. in 226 Dirksen. The committee had announced the compromise last month and initially had scheduled it for consideration then but later decided to postpone consideration.

The House Rules Committee will consider this week the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, HR-5016, in addition to HR-4718, which would amend the Internet Revenue Code to make bonus depreciation provisions permanent. The bonus depreciation provision of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 expired in December. Both items are slated for consideration Wednesday at 3 p.m. in H-313 of the Capitol. The Financial Services appropriations bill for FY 2015 includes funding for the FCC and FTC. The Rules Committee reviews items before they advance to the House floor.

At least one Senate candidate wants to overhaul the 1996 Telecom Act. Larry Pressler, a former Republican senator from South Dakota, is running for the state’s open Senate seat in the 2014 midterm elections as an independent. “I have repeatedly stated that there should be a new Telecommunications Act every few years, and once again, we are long overdue,” Pressler wrote in a Saturday Argus Leader op-ed (http://argusne.ws/1jhojX8). “I have already announced that when I get back to the Senate, I shall immediately sponsor the Telecommunications Update Act of 2015, another much-needed piece of legislation that has not been created because of the poisonous partisan deadlock in Washington, but that as your Independent U.S. senator, I would be able to work with both parties to achieve.” Pressler is proud of his role in the 1996 act, when he was a U.S. senator, he said. Pressler chaired the Commerce Committee and authored the Senate version of the act, he said on his website (http://bit.ly/1xHDUlN).