Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo headed to Capitol Hill Tuesday to meet with lawmakers and continue pushing for Congress to pass its China package as quickly as possible. She met with the Senate Finance Committee and held a news conference with Sens. Todd Young, R-Ind., and Mark Warner, D-Va. “We have to decrease our dependence on other countries, and the way to do that is make more chips in America,” she said. “We need Congress to get it to the president’s desk as quickly as possible.”
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Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., and Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., expressed optimism Monday that Congress can begin conference negotiations on its China package before the end of the work period, as planned by Senate leadership (see 2203140059).
Bipartisan legislation introduced Friday would authorize the Library of Congress to designate mandatory technical measures for online platforms to combat piracy. Senate Intellectual Property Subcommittee ranking member Thom Tillis, R-N.C., secured a long-sought-after Democratic partner in subcommittee Chairman Patrick Leahy of Vermont (see 2109080077 and 2010050061).
The Senate will need to amend the House China package with upper chamber language and send it back to the lower chamber in order to begin conferencing the two measures, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Thursday. Calling it a procedural step, he noted a “small band of Republicans” is standing in the way of “quick action.”
It’s disappointing the FTC’s “temporary” suspension on granting early termination (ET) has dragged out for more than a year (see 2102080070), Commissioner Noah Phillips told us Tuesday. “Continuing to refuse ET for deals the agencies are not interested in investigating is nothing more than a gratuitous tax on normal market operations and the efficient allocation of agency resources,” said Phillips in a statement.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., are negotiating to begin conference on the China package this work period, a Senate aide told us Monday (see 2203010077). The work period is scheduled to end April 8.
Senate Homeland Security Committee ranking member Rob Portman, R-Ohio, supports cyber incident reporting legislation the House passed Wednesday in its omnibus package, he told us Thursday.
President Joe Biden signed an executive order Wednesday outlining a national policy on digital assets and directing agencies to explore a U.S. central bank digital currency. Democrats welcomed the news, highlighting crypto-related financial inclusion issues and risks associated with the technology like money laundering. Republicans took a pro-innovation stance, urging Congress to pass legislation to avoid anti-innovation policies.
Getting White House assistance in moving a comprehensive privacy bill is the most “realistic” near-term goal, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., told us as he contemplates stepping down as top Republican on the Senate Commerce Committee (see 2203030070).
House members are pushing competing kids' privacy bills in an attempt to keep pace with bipartisan efforts in the Senate (see 2202280060). But talks in the lower chamber have been fragmented, House Commerce Committee members told us Tuesday at a House Consumer Protection Subcommittee hearing.