A Congressional Research Service report dug into the constitutional questions and other issues raised by the possible creation of what it calls a “public advocate” for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which oversees government phone surveillance. Lawmakers and President Barack Obama have suggested variations on such an advocate position for several months now. “First and foremost is the question of what is the legal nature of the office of a public advocate,” CRS said in the 55-page report, dated March 21. “Some may argue that the advocate is functioning as a non-governmental entity, much like a public defender in an ordinary criminal prosecution, in serving as an adversary to the government’s position. On the other hand, a public advocate, unlike a public defender, would not be representing the views of any particular individual, but rather the general interests of society in ensuring that the government’s foreign surveillance efforts adequately protect the public’s privacy rights.” One big question is whether certain clauses of the Constitution on executive hires would apply to any advocate, it said. Several of its questions concern where such an advocate would be housed, such as whether it would constitutionally possible to keep it within the judiciary branch. “While there are no clear answers that exist to the novel questions raised by the establishment of an office for a FISA public advocate, generally the more modest and confined the role of the advocate in a given proposal is, the more likely that proposal, if made into law, would raise fewer constitutional issues,” CRS said.

Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., said Friday he won’t seek re-election to Congress. Rogers is chairman of the Intelligence Committee and a member of the Communications Subcommittee. “The genius of our institutions is they are not dependent on the individual temporary occupants privileged to serve,” he said in a statement, citing his long intentions for a career after politics. Rogers is excited to stay a voice for “American exceptionalism and support a strong national security policy agenda,” he said. He introduced legislation last week with Intelligence ranking member Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., that would nix the government’s role in bulk collection of phone metadata for surveillance. He has strongly defended government surveillance over the last several months of controversy and debate. Rogers’ next move will be into talk radio with Cumulus Media.

A bipartisan group of leaders from the House Judiciary Committee said President Barack Obama’s “many good ideas” on surveillance revamp “need to be implemented through legislation that protects our privacy.” Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., ranking member John Conyers, D-Mich., Crime Subcommittee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., and subcommittee ranking member Bobby Scott, D-Va., issued a joint statement Friday responding to the White House’s Thursday proposal, which would involve phone companies holding onto metadata rather than the government (CD March 28 p10). Judiciary members will “strengthen” Obama’s ideas, they said, emphasizing that Judiciary has primary jurisdiction over these issues. “It’s imperative that we reform our nation’s intelligence-gathering programs so that we better protect our civil liberties and regain the trust of the American people.”

NAB CEO Gordon Smith and NCTA CEO Michael Powell will both testify on the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization Tuesday. They are witnesses at a hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee, starting at 2:30 p.m. in 253 Russell. Also testifying are Bill Lake, chief of the FCC Media Bureau, DirecTV Executive Vice President Michael Palkovic, TiVo CEO Tom Rogers and Free Press Policy Director Matt Wood.

Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mark Pryor, D-Ark., worries about the FCC Wireline Bureau’s plans to hike its rate floor in July. “The rate floor, which is currently set at $14 will rise to over $20 on July 1, 2014,” Pryor said in a Wednesday letter (http://1.usa.gov/P1Fo93) to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. “Telecommunications providers offering service at rates below this rate floor could risk losing vital universal service support if they do not take action to immediately raise the telephone rates of their customers.” Wheeler acknowledged the concern during a separate Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing Thursday, which Pryor did not participate in. The FCC instituted a series of rate floor hikes as part of its November 2011 USF order to prevent what the agency would consider improper USF subsidies. The agency plans to phase in the increase and delay implementation beyond July, Wheeler said. The rate floor is part of the agency’s attempts to phase out excessive subsidies for basic phone service.

The House Homeland Security Emergency Preparedness Subcommittee cleared the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) Modernization Act, HR-3283, on Thursday during a markup of three bills (http://1.usa.gov/1jaud9x). The bill “seeks to ensure that the system works reliably, effectively and efficiently to ensure the appropriate use of taxpayer funds,” said subcommittee Chairman Susan Brooks, R-Ind., in her opening statement. “It provides the IPAWS program with needed direction.” CTIA “appreciate[s] the Subcommittee’s effort to modernize IPAWS while respecting and protecting the work that wireless carriers have put in to deliver Wireless Emergency Alerts,” said CTIA Vice President-Government Affairs Jot Carpenter. “Since WEA debuted two years ago, the system has been used more than 9000 times to protect the public. We are pleased that the Subcommittee recognizes the value of the WEA program and applied the old maxim ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ in crafting the legislation it approved today.”

Four more House members signed on as co-sponsors of the Local Radio Freedom Act, a resolution opposing new performance royalties (http://1.usa.gov/1mKPXwI), said a National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) release. Democratic Reps. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon and David Price of North Carolina, and Republican Reps. John Mica of Florida and Marlin Stutzman of Indiana, are new co-sponsors. The resolution (H. Con. Res. 16) now has 206 House sponsors, NAB said.

The FCC should ensure strong incentives for carriers to participate in the AWS-3 auction, the heads of the House Spectrum Working Group told FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler in a letter Tuesday. “We urge the Commission to put forth a band plan that allows for robust competition, maximizing revenue through vigorous auction participation,” said Reps. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., and Doris Matsui, D-Calif. (http://1.usa.gov/NUeTBD). “We recognize the FCC must balance many competing public interest goals in designing spectrum band plans, geographic license areas, and block sizes. We understand that is not an easy task."

The FCC should create a publicly searchable database of consumer complaints accessible from the agency homepage, Sens. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and Tom Udall, D-N.M., told FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler in a letter Tuesday. The 400,000 consumer complaints and inquiries the agency receives are made public “on a very limited basis,” they said. Such a database would “enhance transparency, help the FCC empower consumers, and spur greater innovation in the telecommunications marketplace,” they said. The database would also help the agency in “identifying emerging issues,” the lawmakers added. Consumers Union backs the move and will file comments with the FCC on such a database next week, it said of the letter. “An easily accessed, searchable database would help consumers see similar complaints and how they were resolved,” said policy counsel Delara Derakhshani in a statement. “By making consumer complaints public and searchable, it is easier to identify key trends or issues that need to be addressed."

Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., introduced a spectrum bill Tuesday. S-2155 would “amend the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization Act to create a Federal Spectrum Reallocation Commission, to provide for the use of a portion of the proceeds from the auction of reallocated Federal spectrum for deficit reduction, and for other purposes,” said the long title listed so far. The bill’s text hadn’t been posted, nor supplied upon request, by our deadline. No co-sponsors are listed, and the legislation has been referred to the Senate Commerce Committee. Kirk is not a member of that committee.