Washington Update - June 2006
I. Legislative Branch Activity
The legislative news of the month surrounded the three-day markup and subsequent passage on June 28 of the Senate telecom bill (S.2686) by the Commerce Committee. The bill passed by a vote of 15-7. Perhaps more importantly, there was an 11-11 tie on the primary network neutrality amendment offered, which Chairman Stevens then broke to defeat the measure. One Republican, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), a co-sponsor of the bill, crossed over to vote with the Democrats. If the network neutrality amendment had passed, the overall bill likely would not have made it through the full Senate and any subsequent conference with the House, because the issue is so divisive.
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