House Commerce Extends Deadline for CEOs to Commit to Sept. 7 Net Neutrality Hearing

The House Commerce Committee extended the deadline for eight CEOs of top tech and telecom firms to commit to testifying at a planned Sept. 7 hearing aimed at reaching a consensus on net neutrality, a spokesman confirmed Monday. House Commerce originally gave the CEOs of Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, AT&T, Charter Communications, Comcast Cable, Facebook, Netflix and Verizon until Monday to respond (see 1707250059). The committee “has been engaging in productive conversations with all parties and will extend the deadline for response in order to allow for those discussions to continue,” the spokesman said. The deadline extension is “unspecified” for now, he said. None of the eight invited CEOs reportedly had made a final commitment at our deadline to testify and none of the companies commented. House Commerce is seeking feedback from the invited companies and other stakeholders on the contours of a “bipartisan legislative solution” on net neutrality, with a 2015 discussion draft crafted by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., now-House Commerce Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., and then-committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich. (see 1506040046), as a starting point. Walden “has no interest in wasting anyone's time in this process,” said House Communications Subcommittee Chief GOP Counsel Robin Colwell in an email to stakeholders we obtained. The committee is asking stakeholders to identify “what needs to stay, what needs to be added, and what needs to go” from the 2015 draft to reach a consensus. House Commerce staff plan to meet with interested parties Aug. 7 about how to modify the 2015 draft, with the aim of determining by the end of that week “whether there is any chance of moving forward together,” Colwell said in the email. Perceived prospects for a compromise bill have remained dim this year amid significant opposition from many high-ranking congressional Democrats, though a few of the party’s lawmakers called publicly for consensus legislation (see 1707130063 and 1707210038).