Week of June 20, 2022
Congress has one more week of votes before getting out of Washington for a two week 4th of July recess. While the slow pace of congressional action may be disappointing, it’s not as concerning as the recent discovery by scientists of a black hole so large that it swallows an Earth-sized chunk of matter every second — a good reminder that it could always be worse.
There are some significant potential deals that could get done as we hit the midpoint of the summer legislative schedule:
A bipartisan deal on gun safety legislation has been announced by Senate negotiators with legislative text expected as early as today.
The China Competition conference committee has stalled, but now leadership in both chambers are looking at a paired down package likely closer to the original Senate bill.
Renewed talks on a budget reconciliation package are taking place as the focus shifts to reining in inflation and steadying the economy.
Rumors continue on Senator Klobuchar’s (D-MN) big tech antitrust legislation, but the timeline keeps slipping as concerns continue to come up.
Editor’s Note: The Tech Weekly will return on Monday, July 11, 2022
What We’re Watching:
Privacy Legislation Heats Up: The House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce is expected to markup the American Data Privacy and Protection Act (ADPPA) on Wednesday. This markup is not expected to produce any fireworks, as committee Members will save their amendments for the full committee markup in July. Even so, this week’s action is a necessary step in moving this bill forward, as the bipartisan legislation gains a bit of momentum and industry groups and advocacy organizations are able to lobby on the bill.
China Competition Conference Narrows Scope: Rumors have circulated of a leadership-driven deal to scale down the USICA/COMPETES conference committee package in an effort to find an agreeable solution that can be sent to the president. Time is running out on the larger conference committee product, and a “skinny” compromise may be the only hope for getting a China bill done this year. It remains unclear whether a trimmed down deal would be able to pass either chamber — is the deal sufficient for Majority Leader Schumer to maintain a bipartisan bloc of 60+ votes? Can Speaker Pelosi muster 218 of Members of her caucus or does she need Republican votes? And how many in the House GOP may be on board with a China deal that they have not supported so far and had no input in drafting?
Patents Get Spotlight in House and Senate: The House and Senate Judiciary IP Subcommittees are each holding hearings this week to examine the PTAB — the Patent Trial Appeal Board. The Senate Committee will be focused on legislation introduced by Subcommittee Chairman Leahy (D-VT), Ranking Member Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Senator Cornyn (R-TX). The bill is a modest compromise package the Senators have worked on over the past few months and it just might have a chance of moving later this year. We will be watching to see how the witnesses and other Senators react to the new bill.
What’s Happening This Week:
Tech Hearings
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on FY23 budget for Office of U.S. Trade Representative - Wednesday, June 22 at 9:30 AM ET
House Armed Services Committee FY23 NDAA markup - Wednesday, June 22 at 10:00 AM ET
House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on DOJ’s National Security Division oversight - Wednesday, June 22 at 10:00 AM ET
House Financial Services Committee markup - Wednesday, June 22 at 10:00 AM ET
House Homeland Security Subcommittee hearing on emerging technologies - Wednesday, June 22 at 2:30 PM ET
Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on patents - Wednesday, June 22 at 2:30 PM ET
House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress hearing - Thursday, June 23 at 9:00 AM ET
House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on patents - Thursday, June 23 at 10:00 AM ET
House Agriculture Subcommittee hearing on digital asset regulation - Thursday, June 23 at 10:30 AM ET
Tech Events
FTC listening forum on merger guidelines - Tuesday, June 21 at 1:00 PM ET
NSF and OSTP public listening session on the findings and recommendations of the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource Task Force - Thursday, June 23 at 1:00 PM ET
Edison Electric Institute 2022 (Orlando, FL) - June 20-22
Third Way - “Will China’s Authoritarianism Dominate the Digital World Order?” - Tuesday, June 21 at 11:00 AM ET
CISA Cybersecurity Advisory Committee (Austin, TX) - Wednesday, June 22 at 12:00 PM ET
U.S. Small Business Administration - “Export Compliance - GDPR - Privacy” - Wednesday, June 22 at 9:00 AM ET
R Street Institute - “Deep Dive: Water Cybersecurity” - Wednesday, June 22 at 4:30 PM ET
Brookings Institution - "The democratic future of the internet" - Wednesday, June 22 at 2:00 PM ET
The National Academies, Health and Medicine Division - "Interpretable and Explainable AI and Machine Learning” - Tuesday, June 21 at 12:30 PM ET
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) - "The Future of Quantum – Powering the Innovation Ecosystem from the Private Sector" - Tuesday, June 21 at 3:00 PM ET
What’s Interesting This Week:
Celebrating Juneteenth! The newest federal holiday marks June 19, 1865, the date when General Granger stood on Texas soil, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, and read General Orders No. 3: “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.”
