T-Mobile CEO John Legere’s latest sweep through Washington this week included a visit with a member of Senate Democratic leadership. “Very nice to meet Senator Schumer of NY today in DC,” Legere said in a Wednesday Instagram post of a photograph of himself and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in an office. “They asked to meet, they have a big New York presence,” Schumer said in an interview Thursday. “I met with them. No specifics, no special agenda.” He affirmed the meeting’s goal was about getting to know one another. Schumer is widely expected to take over as Democratic leader after the retirement of current leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. Legere also posted on his Capitol Hill visits last month during what Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, told us was a meeting to become acquainted with Legere, a “character” (see 1512080047).

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wants New Yorkers to report to him what he calls “cell phone dead zones” and plans to transmit that data to the relevant carriers. “Cell phones are essential for New Yorkers, but what good is a cell phone unless you have good coverage?” Schumer, a member of Democratic leadership, said in a news release Tuesday. “New Yorkers are using wireless carriers far more than landlines to keep in touch with loved ones and to place important calls and so, our wireless carriers need to make sure our cell phone coverage is uninterrupted. I’m urging New Yorkers from all over to submit dead zone locations to my website so that wireless carriers can make sure they are fixed.” The form on his website asks New Yorkers to rate the coverage 1-5 in quality and asks for precise information on where these dead zones exist.

President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union speech, to be delivered Tuesday night, is “a marker for his last year in office and... a reference point (and foil) for candidates on both sides of the 2016 presidential race,” Information Technology and Innovation Foundation President Robert Atkinson said in a blog post Monday. He flagged ITIF’s policy wish list for 2016 contenders, a set of priorities “to foster innovation, boost productivity, and make the United States more competitive in the global economy,” and hoped to hear those same issues raised Tuesday: “So the State of the Union speech that ITIF would hope to hear the president deliver and the campaign stump speech we would hope to hear his would-be successors deliver are one and the same.” CTA President Gary Shapiro wrote a Monday blog post stressing his own policy goals for Obama’s speech -- the president should “set his sights” on the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal awaiting congressional approval; “renew his call for congressional passage of patent reform legislation to stop patent trolls”; and “push for regulations that help promote disruptive innovation,” including a repeal of Department of Labor rules on overtime-pay thresholds. The Software & Information Industry Association sent Obama an open letter advocating its own priorities. The administration must recognize the value of IoT and the “new U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework must be finalized and new trade agreements should build upon the data flow provisions in the Transpacific Partnership Agreement,” SIIA said. It also urged patent litigation overhaul and “support for strong encryption.”

House Democrats kicked off the start of a process to create “Innovation Agenda 2.0,” an assembly of priorities including telecom issues. Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., first mentioned reviving the decade-old initiative during an event in Silicon Valley Monday evening. “Before House Democrats launched the Innovation Agenda in 2005, they led forums across the country with leaders from academic, high-technology, venture capital, biotech, and telecommunications sectors, as well as with students and young entrepreneurs to seek their advice and guidance,” a Democratic aide told us Tuesday about Democrats’ next steps in creating the agenda in 2016. “The event in Silicon Valley yesterday marked the beginning of that process for an Innovation Agenda 2.0. Leader Pelosi is looking forward to continuing the conversation, including on how to ensure broadband is available and affordable for all Americans. As we are still in the listening phase, right now there is not a specific timeline for when Innovation Agenda 2.0 will be released.” Monday, Eshoo said much has “changed in a decade,” progress that’s “nothing short of extraordinary.” She said the original innovation agenda “also expanded the deployment of broadband, which is part of our national infrastructure.” Pelosi said there’s a “responsibility to give us your input” on priorities going forward as part of a new agenda. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew cited the importance of holding services “to the same core standards” and consumer protections when they manifest in new forms, despite changes in technologies. The “availability of information” also aids in policymaking and is part of administration innovation, Lew said when asked about how government can use big data.

President Barack Obama will visit Germany in late April to attend the annual Hannover Messe industrial technology trade show, the White House announced Wednesday. Obama, who will be the first sitting U.S. president to attend the show, plans to showcase “American innovation and ingenuity” and tout the U.S. as a sound investment destination. Obama also plans to discuss advancement of negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the White House said.

Apple CEO Tim Cook “omitted critical facts” about data encryption (see 1512100032) when he said during his 60 Minutes interview broadcast Sunday that the company doesn't have to answer government warrants regarding encrypted communication, said Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark. Cook claimed that Apple "does not comply with lawful subpoenas because it cannot," said Cotton in a statement Monday. "While it may be true that Apple doesn't have access to encrypted data, that's only because it designed its messaging service that way." In the interview, Cook said, according to a CBS transcript, that "if the government lays a proper warrant on us today then we will give the specific information that is requested. Because we have to by law. In the case of encrypted communication, we don't have it to give. And so if like your iMessages are encrypted, we don't have access to those." By providing a back door to an encrypted device "that back door's for everybody, for good guys and bad guys," Cook said. But Cotton said, "As a society, we don't allow phone companies to design their systems to avoid lawful, court-ordered searches. If we apply a different legal standard to companies like Apple, Google, and Facebook, we can expect them to become the preferred messaging services of child pornographers, drug traffickers, and terrorists alike -- which neither these companies nor law enforcement want."

The FCC should hold off on a proposal to expand communications infrastructure in commercial aviation until after careful review of the proposal with the intelligence community and others, said the Association of Flight Attendants and Global Business Travel Association in a joint FCC filing. “Especially in light of the recent horrific events in France, Beirut, and Egypt, we think the intelligence community needs to lead such a high-level committee with the appropriate Federal agencies, including the military, and industry stakeholders, in order to conduct a thorough assessment of existing and potential threats and vulnerabilities, and develop and evaluate appropriate risk reduction measures as necessary,” said the comment filed in docket 13-114.

The White House confirmed it hired Ashkan Soltani, a privacy expert who until recently was the FTC's chief technologist (see 1512030034) and before that helped with The Washington Post's coverage of NSA document leaker Edward Snowden (see 1410290060). The Office of Science and Technology Policy hired Soltani as senior adviser to U.S. Chief Technology Officer Megan Smith, who used to work for Google and tweeted about Soltani's hiring. "Ashkan will focus on consumer protection, big data, and privacy issues, including algorithmic accountability, data ethics, and data discrimination," an OSTP spokeswoman emailed Thursday. "Ashkan will also help with capacity building for technologists in government, including working with agencies to build career paths for technologists across government."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., sees longtime kinship with ex-telecom industry lobbyist David Hoppe, hired this fall as chief of staff to new House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis. Hoppe had worked for telecom and media heavyweights throughout the past decade and was seen as especially familiar with the Senate and McConnell’s chief staffer (see 1511060043). “Paul’s been around a long time,” McConnell said Tuesday during an event hosted by Politico. “He’s a pretty young guy but he’s been around a long time. … He hired a guy that I was thoroughly familiar with, longtime friend Dave Hoppe. We knew each other well, so we didn’t have to start from scratch.” McConnell called the transition to the Ryan speakership “quite smooth.” McConnell also said he hasn’t made up his mind on when the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a wide-ranging trade deal that includes telecom and tech provisions, would come to the Senate floor. Ryan is “still scrubbing” the deal, he said at the event. “I don’t have a set date in my mind [for floor consideration].” McConnell is “disappointed at the outcome” of the trade deal, which could be better, he said. McConnell, considered a national security hawk, also sees potential for tackling encryption in the Senate in 2016. “The encryption issue is another reason for revisiting that whole subject, and that could happen next year,” McConnell said. He called the issue “a growing and serious problem” given international events and called Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., an Intelligence Committee member, “a leader” on this front. He also mentioned the interest from Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., who may be preparing bipartisan encryption legislation for next year (see 1512090062). McConnell opposed the USA Freedom Act surveillance overhaul earlier this year, and Tuesday emphasized his objections. “Weakening the Patriot Act is a mistake,” McConnell said. “The metadata system was lost in the bill we passed in early summer. I didn’t vote for it.”

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and other commissioners joined Commissioner Mike O’Rielly and industry interests in lauding the Senate Commerce Committee for approving Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel’s renomination Wednesday (see 1512090059). “Jessica’s commitment to public service, commitment to tackling important issues and focus on improving Americans’ lives through better access to technology have been assets to the Commission,” Wheeler said. Commissioner Mignon Clyburn called Rosenworcel “a tireless advocate for E-rate and smart spectrum management policies for both unlicensed and licensed spectrum.” Commissioner Ajit Pai is “pleased” and “enjoyed working with her on a wide range of important issues over the last three-and-a-half years,” he said. Consumer Technology Association President Gary Shapiro dubbed her “a champion for our digital future, leading the way on issues that impact consumers' and innovators' access to modern communications networks, advance the nation's economy and promote technological innovation.”