On May 31, the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a hearing on “International Proposals to Regulate the Internet.”

The Subcommittee discussed a resolution introduced by Rep. Mary Bono Mack [R, CA-45]:

H. Con. Res. 127, A congressional resolution expressing opposition to international regulation of the Internet

The House will consider several bills dealing with cybersecurity this week, while the Senate will spend much of the week on a bill to save the U.S. Postal Serviceom red ink.

The House will vote on four cybersecurity bills on Thursday and Friday. They are:

• H.R. 3523 — The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protect act, from Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-MI-8), which would allow the government to share information with companies to help protect their networks. This was the fourth-most discussed bill on POPVOX last week.
• H.R. 4257 — The Federal Information Security Amendments, from Oversight & Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA-49), is aimed at “improving the framework for securing information technology of federal government systems.”
• H.R. 2096 — The Cybersecurity Enhancement act, from Rep. Mike McCaul (R-TX-10), is meant to foster coordinated research between federal agencies to help address cyber threats.
• H.R. 3834 — The Advancing America’s Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) act, from Science, Space, and Technology Chairman Ralph Hall (R-TX-4), would reauthorize the government’s NITRD cybersecurity program.

In the Senate:

• S. 1789 — The 21st Century Postal Service act (number 8 on POPVOX), is a bipartisan bill that would allow the U.S. Postal Service restructure its retirement payments in a bid to keep the USPS fiscally sound. Starting on Tuesday, the Senate is expected to start voting on up to 39 amendments to the bill.
• S.J.Res. 36 — The Senate is expected to hold a procedural vote on this Republican resolution that disapproves of a 2010 ruling by the National Labor Relations Board meant to speed up union elections.
• S. 1925 — The Violence Against Women Reauthorization act should be debated later in the week.
• Highway funding — Also look for the House and Senate to start reconciling their differences over federal highway funding. Last week, the House passed an extension of highway programs through the end of the fiscal year, H.R. 4348. In March, the Senate approved a two-year extension, S. 1813.

Also in the House this week:

The early part of the week for the House will be filled with several non-controversial bills. On Tuesday, the House will consider six bills dealing with federal land use:

• H.R. 1038, to authorize the conveyance of two parcels of land in the Coconino National Forest,
• H.R. 2050, the Idaho Wilderness Water Resources Protection act,
• HR. 2157, to facilitate a land exchange in the Inyo National Forest,
• H.R. 2947, to release the U.S. interest in land conveyed to establish an airport in Minnesota,
• H.R. 491, to modify the boundaries of the Cibola National Forest, and
• H.R. 2240, the Lowell National Historical Park Land Exchange act.

And on Wednesday, members will consider two others:

• H.R. 3336, the Small Business Credit Availability act, and,
• H.R. 2146, the DATA act, a bill aimed at increasing the transparency of federal spending.

Other bills of interest:

• H.R. 4089, the Sportsmen’s Heritage act, the most-discussed bill on POPVOX last week, passed the House on April 17.
• S. 2230, the Paying a Fair Share act, the second-most discussed bill on POPVOX, failed to advance in the Senate last week. The bill would impose a minimum tax on all income above $1 million.
• H.R. 4170, the Student Loan Forgiveness act, sets up a program to ease the burden of student loans on students. This bill, the third-most discussed on POPVOX, is currently not being discussed in any of the committees to which it was referred.