To meet the public’s growing demand for broadband devices and services, and to support the next generation of high-tech investment and innovation, Congress approved – and the president signed into law – a package of major spectrum reforms that originated in the Energy and Commerce Committee. The legislation clears the path for the long-awaited auction of additional spectrum – the airwaves on which wireless communications travel.
President Obama signed a comprehensive update to our nation’s pipeline safety laws into law on January 3, 2012. Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and former Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-MI) teamed up to develop legislation that was later combined with proposals from the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the U.S. Senate to develop this final, bipartisan legislation.
H.R. 1633, the Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act of 2011, removes the regulatory uncertainty surrounding EPA’s current and future regulation of rural dust. The legislation passed the House on December 8, 2011 by a bipartisan vote of 268 to 150.
H.R. 1633 would:
The Protect Life Act, authored by Health Subcommittee Chairman Joe Pitts (R-PA), respects the will of the majority of Americans and prohibits federal funding of abortions and abortion coverage under President Obama’s health care law.
The bill also provides conscience protection for health care professionals and ensures that private insurance companies are not forced to cover abortion.
On October 14, 2011 the House passed this bipartisan legislation to provide for the safe management and disposal of coal ash in a way that preserves jobs and encourages recycling. This legislation was also included in H.R. 4348, the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2012.
To protect jobs and guard against harmful regulation, the House approved H.R. 2250, the EPA Regulatory Relief Act. The bipartisan measure passed the House on October 13, 2011, by a vote of 275 to 142.