Four Telecom Bills Sail Through House

Four pieces of telecom-focused legislation passed the House by generous margins. Lawmakers passed by voice votes the PIRATE Act, H.R. 5709 (115), which would boost penalties for unlicensed radio broadcasters, and the ACCESS BROADBAND Act, H.R. 3994 (115), which would create an internet connectivity office within the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration. In roll call votes, lawmakers passed by 378-4 the Precision Agriculture Connectivity Act, H.R. 4881 (115), which would force the Federal Communications Commission and Department of Agriculture to assemble a task force looking at precision agriculture’s broadband needs, and by 379-1 the National Suicide Hotline Improvement Act, H.R. 2345 (115), mandating a study on creating an emergency dialing code for suicide prevention.