The House’s planned Communications Act overhaul is far...

The House’s planned Communications Act overhaul is far from any legislative drafts, House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., said Wednesday at a Capitol Hill briefing hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. (See separate report above in this issue.) “We're a long way from circulating a draft because we're collecting the information,” Walden said. “The concept here is actually absorb that information, value it.” He and colleagues have released four white papers to collect information about relevant topics, such as competition policy or the latest Tuesday white paper on interconnection. “I'd say we've averaged about 85 responses per white paper,” Walden said, saying more are to come later this year on media and public safety issues. Of the stakeholder comments, “you can see industry’s protecting status quo in some places and wanting status quo in others,” Walden said, saying any overhaul would shift “massive parts of the economy” and require caution so as not to “upend” it. Other factors affecting the legislative direction of the overhaul will include the makeup of the committee next year and the political leadership of the Senate following the 2014 midterm elections, he said. Walden also wants to make sure committee members understand the issues, he said. “The members better understand what they're engaging in here.”