Congressman Joe Barton (R-TX) will replace William “Billy” Tauzin, (R-La) as the Chairman of the House Committee on Energy & Commerce, which oversees telecommunications related issues in the U.S. House of Representatives. In recent years, Tauzin has been an outspoken critic of the FCC and its decision to allow state commission to set rates for unbundled network element (UNE). In 2002, he sponsored the Tauzin-Dingell Broadband Legislation (H.R. 1542), which was widely seen as favoring the Regional Bell Operating Companies. The U.S. House of Representatives voted 273 to 157 to approve the legislation, but the U.S. Senate never acted on the bill and it was never signed into law. http://www.house.gov
- Speaking at the USTA Telecom show in Las Vegas in October 2003, Congressman Joe Barton (R-Texas) predicted that Congress most likely will not consider any major new telecommunications legislation in 2004 due to the presidential election and other higher priority issues. Barton, who sits on the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce, said it is “obvious that we need to revisit the Telecom Act of 1996.” Whereas many people anticipated that the Telecom Act would lead to extensive facilities-based competition, Barton said FCC policies had instead led to the mess of UNE-p. Barton suggested that we “may need a legislative fix” for other industry issues, such as the challenge of how to increase broadband penetration rates in the U.S. and what to do about the Universal Service Fund.