As Wicker, Cantwell Negotiate, Moran and Blumenthal Weigh Own Privacy Bill

Introducing a privacy bill bilaterally with Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., separate from the Senate Commerce Committee working group, is a “thought,” Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., told reporters Thursday. After the group’s apparent fracturing, focus shifted (see 1908010043) to bilateral negotiations between Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. But Moran and Blumenthal are continuing their own talks, though Blumenthal claims the group is moving forward as one.

Cantwell hasn’t seen what Moran and Blumenthal are crafting but said she and Wicker continue discussing the “major package.” Leadership is “always interested in what our colleagues have to say, but it has to be strong” legislation, she said.

Blumenthal told us he'll continue working on legislation with whoever is “interested in achieving progress,” which includes Moran and the other four original working group members. “We want to be as inclusive as possible,” he said of discussions with Moran. On whether Cantwell asked his office to defer to committee leaders, Blumenthal said, “Not so far as I know.”

Wicker told us he’s “glad” Blumenthal and Moran are collaborating: “I don’t think we’re in a foot race, but if other people have ideas, we need all the brain cells we can muster. But we’re making fine progress.” There has been no signal Cantwell asked Moran and Blumenthal to defer, Wicker said. Wicker spoke with the ranking member Tuesday for their weekly meeting.

“We may not be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, but we’re seeing a glimmer as we round the last curve of that tunnel,” Wicker said. Asked about his prior hopes of delivering draft privacy bill text by Labor Day, Wicker said, “Well I know I said that, but I also wanted to get a new wagon for Christmas. … That didn't quite pan out, either. Okeydoke?”

Including a private right of action in privacy legislation, a Cantwell ask, remains a “contentious” issue that would have to be resolved “if we’re going to have a bill,” Moran said. “I still think it’s resolvable.” Blumenthal said he’s going to do “everything possible” to deliver a privacy bill.

Asked whether he would support a piece of legislation from Blumenthal and Moran, Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said, “It depends what’s in the bill.” There's no indication the other two are moving forward separately, Schatz said. The group's still in conversation, and staffs were in touch throughout August recess, he said: “We’re moving along at what I would call a decent Senate pace.” No group discussions are scheduled, but Schatz expects additional meetings.

Schatz told reporters he expects to “roll out” legislation on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in the “next month or so” (see 1906140051). He has made “good progress” on his review of the tech industry’s content liability shield, he said.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., continues weighing his own Section 230 legislation. “There’s more and more momentum to go after these tech companies," Graham said. "I don’t want to kill the goose that laid the golden egg, but boy, we’ve got to do something on privacy, content regulation because the dam is about to bust here.”