The House Innovation Subcommittee voted to forward the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (HR-8449) (see 2404300067) to the full committee without additional amendments. At Thursday's markup hearing, the subcommittee also discussed the American Privacy Rights Act and the Kids Online Safety Act (see 2405230056). Representatives from both parties praised the AM radio bill, which drew no criticisms at the markup. “From the very beginning this has been totally bipartisan on the committee,” said House Commerce Committee ranking member Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J. “I have heard from almost every member of the committee about why they want to do this.” Removing AM radio from vehicles is “inappropriate and premature,” said House Innovation Chairman Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla. The bill would direct the Department of Transportation -- in consultation with the FCC and Federal Emergency Management Agency -- to issue a rule requiring automakers to maintain AM radio in cars and provide disclosures for existing cars that don’t have AM receivers. The bill would also require the Government Accountability Office to study AM and possible improvements to the emergency communications system.

Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., announced legislation Tuesday that would have the Commerce Department leading a “government-wide approach” to monitoring and identifying gaps in U.S. supply chains. The Promoting Resilient Supply Chains Act targets supply chains for “emerging technologies” and “critical industries.” Cantwell’s office cited supply chain disruptions, including a global chip shortage, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic as motivation for introducing the bill. The legislation would direct that the Commerce Department create a program to “map, monitor and model U.S. supply chains.” The department would identify and anticipate gaps for “critical goods,” including “any gaps in manufacturing, warehousing, transportation and distribution.” Commerce would create an “early warning supply chain disruption system” using AI and quantum computing to “identify potential supply chain shocks before they occur.”

The House Innovation Subcommittee will mark up two bipartisan privacy bills and a radio broadcast-related bill Thursday, the House Commerce Committee announced Wednesday. The markup agenda includes: the American Privacy Rights Act (see 2404080062), the Kids Online Safety Act (HR-7891) and the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (HR-8449) (see 2404300067).

The Senate Commerce Committee should reject the Kids Off Social Media Act (see 2405100028) because it would harm children’s privacy, safety and First Amendment rights, more than 30 consumer advocate groups wrote Thursday. Signees included the American Civil Liberties Union, Center for Democracy & Technology, Chamber of Progress, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Fight for the Future, Free Press Action, New America’s Open Technology Institute and Public Knowledge. Introduced by Sens. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii; Ted Cruz, R-Texas; Chris Murphy, D-Conn.; and Katie Britt, R-Ala., the Kids Off Social Media Act (S-4213) incentivizes schools to “spy on children,” imposes unconstitutional restrictions on access to online services and undermines existing child protections, the consumer advocates said. For example, the legislation would hinder children from using chronological feeds, which help create “age-appropriate online experiences,” they said. The legislation was scheduled for a markup Thursday, which the Senate Commerce Committee postponed (see 2405160066).

The House's passage Wednesday night of the NTIA Reauthorization Act (HR-4510) was met with industry group applause. The Computer & Communications Industry Association said Thursday reauthorization "is critical to wireless innovation and advancement" and that the Senate should consider reauthorization expeditiously. ACA Connects said the reauthorization "will help ensure NTIA manages resources effectively to close the digital divide, enhance cyber security, and secure supply chains." The bill passed 374-36. During Wednesday's House Communications Subcommittee oversight hearing (see 2405150020), NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson said updating NTIA's authorizing statute -- last done in 1992 -- was long overdue. He said reauthorization would bring needed clarity to NTIA's role in internet policy, spectrum and cybersecurity.

Tech companies should share concrete examples of how they’re detecting and identifying AI-generated synthetic content, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., said Tuesday. Warner sent letters to every company that signed the Tech Accord to Combat Deceptive Use of AI in 2024 Elections. Signers include Amazon, Google, IBM, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Meta, OpenAI, Snap, TikTok and X. He asked them to describe how they’re labeling synthetic content, the resources devoted to the effort, communication with candidates, detection tools and third-party collaboration. “While the public pledge demonstrated your company’s willingness to constructively engage on this front, ultimately the impact of the Tech Accord will be measured in the efficacy -- and durability -- of the initiatives and protection measures you adopt,” he wrote.

The House Commerce Committee on Sunday announced bipartisan draft legislation that would sunset Communications Decency Act Section 230 in December 2025. Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., issued a discussion draft that encourages "Congress and stakeholders to work together over the next 18 months to evaluate and enact a new legal framework that will allow for free speech and innovation while also incentivizing these companies to be good stewards of their platforms.” Rodgers and Pallone said in a Wall Street Journal joint opinion piece Sunday: “Section 230 is now poisoning the healthy online ecosystem it once fostered. Big Tech companies are exploiting the law to shield them from any responsibility or accountability as their platforms inflict immense harm on Americans, especially children.” The legislation offers the tech industry a choice, they said: “Work with Congress to ensure the internet is a safe, healthy place for good, or lose Section 230 protections entirely.” CTA CEO Gary Shapiro opposed the draft bill, saying in a statement Monday that “Section 230 has propelled the U.S. to global leadership in tech and given us the world’s most dynamic startup ecosystem. Eliminating Section 230 would be a huge gift to our economic rivals abroad. Congress should say NO to this bill.” Similarly, NetChoice opposed the measure, with Vice President Carl Szabo saying Section 230 doesn’t shield violators from federal criminal law. Sunsetting Section 230 won't achieve Congress’ intended goal of holding bad actors accountable, he said. NetChoice recommended Congress craft laws that increase resources for law enforcement as it investigates and prosecutes “digital criminals.” In the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chair Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and ranking member Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., have explored repealing Section 230 as a way of protecting children from social media harms (see 2403110033).

The House is set to vote as soon as Tuesday night on a revised version of the NTIA Reauthorization Act (HR-4510) under suspension of the rules, the office of Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said Friday night. The House Commerce Committee-cleared measure would elevate the NTIA administrator from assistant secretary to undersecretary of Commerce. It also proposes other steps aimed at improving coordination of federal spectrum (see 2307270063). Chamber leaders pulled HR-4510 from consideration in early March amid objections from leaders of the House Armed Services Committee over the fight between NTIA and DOD about allowing 5G use of the 3.1-3.45 GHz band (see 2403060062). In addition, the House will consider the Senate-passed FAA Reauthorization Act (HR-3935) amid questions about whether backers of additional funding for the FCC’s affordable connectivity program and Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program will attempt to attach money for those initiatives to it. Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., and other senators unsuccessfully sought an amendment aimed at including $6 billion for ACP and $3.08 billion for rip and replace in HR-3935 (see 2405100046).

The Senate’s bipartisan AI working group will “very soon” issue a policy “road map” with areas of consensus for committees to pursue legislation, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Wednesday. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., told us previously that committees are expected to lead legislative efforts (see 2401220047). Schumer and Rounds formed the working group with Sens. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and Todd Young, R-Ind. “AI is so complex, so rapidly evolving, so broad in impact that it will take all of us working together to maximize its potential and minimize its harms,” Schumer said on the floor Wednesday. The Senate leader said he was pleased to see President Joe Biden's Wednesday announcement about Microsoft’s $3.3 billion investment for a new AI center in Wisconsin. Microsoft President Brad Smith said the company "will use the power of AI to help advance the next generation of manufacturing companies, skills and jobs in Wisconsin and across the country. This is what a big company can do to build a strong foundation for every medium, small and start-up company and nonprofit everywhere.”

Reps. Ben Cline, R-Va., and Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, renewed concerns with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo about NTIA’s implementation of the $42.5 billion broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program. Their comments came during a Wednesday House Appropriations Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing. Cline faulted NTIA for previously rejecting the Virginia Office of Broadband’s BEAD Volume 2 application because that office “declined” to use the program to regulate broadband prices. Conservative groups previously latched onto the Virginia BEAD issue, which stemmed from NTIA’s requirements on participants offering a low-cost connectivity option (see 2403070065). “It’s been nearly five months since NTIA approved Louisiana’s [BEAD] plan, which was submitted at the same time as Virginia,” Cline said. “There are no outstanding issues,” so the Commerce Department should “commit to approving” Virginia’s application given it follows language in the authorizing 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act barring rate regulation. Raimondo declined to commit to approving the Virginia proposal but said NTIA approves state plans that comply with the rate regulation ban. “I will look in on Virginia” after the hearing, Raimondo said. “What I can promise you is we aren’t regulating” broadband prices. “We are not telling any state, including yours, ‘If you don’t provide [service] at X dollars, we’re not going to give you the money.’ But the statute requires us to have low-cost options” as a requirement for BEAD funding, she said. Gonzales noted prospective BEAD participants in his southwest Texas district worry “about their potential ability to participate” in the program “due to the large size of the [service] areas” and the low-cost option requirement. “My job in implementing this $42 billion is to make sure every American has access everywhere,” Raimondo told Gonzales. “We’re working very closely with” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) “using our maps to figure out who's not covered and providing subsidies to companies so that they” can cover rural areas.