WASHINGTON, D.C. – At National Journal’s “Conversation with the Chair” this morning, U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, announced an oversight hearing on March 18, 2015, with all five FCC Commissioners, including Chairman Tom Wheeler.  

Thune explained that the hearing “will allow me and my colleagues to directly question the Chairman about his overreaching broadband reclassification Order, which is fraught with controversy” and expressed his concern that “Chairman Wheeler’s regulations will spawn years of uncertainty that discourages Internet innovation and investment that would otherwise benefit consumers.”  

Thune also announced that the committee will convene a hearing with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials in March, discussed key freight and passenger rail challenges, and emphasized oversight as a committee priority.  

Sen. Thune’s full speech at “Conversation with the Chair” may be viewed here. Below are nine key highlights:

Announcement of hearing with FCC on March 18:  

As the FCC Chairman presses ahead, I want to announce today that the Senate Commerce Committee will hold an oversight hearing with all five Commissioners on March 18th.  The hearing will have a broad scope covering every aspect of the agency, and it will allow me and my colleagues to directly question the Chairman about his overreaching broadband reclassification Order, which is fraught with controversy.  I am deeply concerned that Chairman Wheeler’s regulations will spawn years of uncertainty that discourages Internet innovation and investment that would otherwise benefit consumers.  I am also disturbed by reports about the highly partisan nature of Chairman Wheeler’s process and by reports indicating the FCC has attempted to gloss over the influence of White House officials on that process.  

On Chairman Wheeler breaking a pledge from his confirmation:  

Many observers are shaking their heads and wondering how we ended up here.  During his confirmation before the Commerce Committee in 2013, Chairman Wheeler committed to me that he would return to Congress if the court struck down the FCC’s net neutrality rules.  Even when he failed to do that after the D.C. Circuit stuck them down last spring, most observers still expected him to use tools other than Title II.    

Optimism for a legislative solution:  

Despite my Scandinavian descent, I am optimistic that my Senate colleagues on the other side of the aisle are more interested in finding a bipartisan legislative solution than an administration that will never be on a ballot again. Why am I optimistic? Three reasons.    

First, our legislative approach makes sense for the vast majority of online consumers and stakeholders who want assurances that they will not face barriers or interference on the Internet.  

Second, as stakeholders and lawmakers alike see the FCC proposal mired by legal challenges, it will become increasingly clear that a legislative proposal is the ONLY way to ensure that protections go into effect quickly and will survive any legal challenge.  

Third, unlike the administration, my Democrat colleagues have been willing to sit down and discuss real solutions. We are in dialogue with them, we are open to their ideas, and the case for legislation is fundamentally stronger than anything the FCC Chairman or the President has articulated. Already, we have had success in getting support for pursuing a legislative solution from diverse voices like Amazon, the Washington Post editorial board, and columnists like Timothy Lee of Vox.  

On background in railroads:  

Although I am passionate about technology policy, I have a fairly strong background when it comes to transportation infrastructure and railroads in particular … Like the Internet today, the great economic transformations of the railroad era saw America brought closer together through the cutting-edge technology of the time. The Golden Spike that connected the first transcontinental railroad and the advent of the Sears catalog about twenty years later were transformative events of not only railroad commerce, but our nation’s history.  

On rail derailments and new oil tanker rule:  

Recently, there has been an increase in rail related accidents, including the crude oil unit train that derailed in West Virginia a few weeks ago. Although railroads are already the second most efficient and safest way of transporting bulk commodities, the Department of Transportation is moving forward with new tanker car safety rules, which have the potential to bring about greater protections when moving certain hazardous commodities.  

On the potential for disaster from the Positive Train Control deadline:  

Positive Train Control is an important advancement in railway safety that uses remote and automated systems to prevent train-to-train collisions, excessive speeds, and unintended incursions by trains on tracks that are under repair or otherwise restricted. Unfortunately, we are again getting a lesson in what happens when the federal government tries to mandate innovative technology with guesstimates about implementation deadlines. We all saw the disastrous result of corner cutting and running past warnings when the Administration refused to budge on the launch date for HealthCare.gov … Barring another solution, the Commerce Committee will take up legislation this year that offers a sensible extension of the implementation of the Positive Train Control deadline so that we make sure we get this right.    

Announcing a March hearing on unmanned aerial systems:  

I will bring top officials before the Committee to testify on the FAA’s new proposed rules for unmanned systems next month. I expect this hearing will shed light on the FAA’s decision-making and on how our committee will approach the issue when we take up the larger reauthorization bill.  

Oversight as a committee priority:  

Finally, one of my goals as Chairman is to vigorously pursue an oversight agenda that prioritizes both consumer welfare and a watchdog role over agency waste and mismanagement. There is a missed opportunity when the focus is exclusively on failures of the private sector or failures of government … Ranking Member Nelson and I recently sent a document request to the National Science Foundation after the agency’s inspector general identified continued financial management failures by the agency in projects that totaled over a billion dollars.  

Responding to consumer safety:  

After this morning’s event, I will be headed straight to the Commerce Committee’s first legislative business meeting where we will approve the Motor Vehicle Safety Whistleblower Act that Senator Nelson and I initially introduced last Congress. This bill is directly related to serious safety situations involving General Motors and Takata, a company that has been a subject of our oversight after a number of injuries and deaths related to defective airbags.  

Background:  On February 24, 2015, National Journal published a special report on the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, including articles on “Commerce Panel Aims to Flex Its Muscle on Big Issues” and “The Leader and the Chairman.”