Rules Panel’s Foray Into Online Video A Bit More Collegial

Publication: Congress Daily

Andrew Noyes
July 11, 2008

The Senate Rules Committee will soon consider a proposal that would modify the chamber’s Internet usage rules in an effort to clarify the circumstances under which members are allowed to place videos on external Web sites.

Rules Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein and ranking member Robert Bennett hope to offer a final version of their language in the next two weeks, Committee Staff Director Howard Gantman said Thursday.

Current regulations date back to 1995 and ban senators from using third-party platforms to do official business. Feinstein believes it is “time to open the door” to an array of technologies that have emerged in the last decade, Gantman said, pointing out that when the existing rules were established, video-sharing site YouTube had just been launched and many other popular tools had not been invented.

Revamping the rules must be done “in a way that does not break the law or embarrass the Senate,” he said.

House Minority Leader Boehner and Rep. Michael Capuano, D-Mass., have exchanged blows this week over a similar proposal. Capuano, chairman of the Commission on Mailing Standards, wants to spell out what is communication worthy of taxpayer support and what is not.

Boehner characterized the proposal as “an attack on free speech” and a number of Internet activists have championed his message. Capuano’s proposal must be approved by the House Administration Committee before the new rules take effect.

Following a letter Boehner sent Thursday to her, House Speaker Pelosi wagged a finger at Boehner and other critics of the Internet rule revision on Thursday, saying in a letter that “inaccurate rumors have been circulated” that suggest non-video online communications would be affected.

“Dissemination of this false information does a disservice to the vital dialogue on using technology to increase citizen involvement, education, and transparency in the House,” she wrote. Pelosi assured Boehner that “it is not the intention, nor will it be the result, of the final regulations to stifle, censor, or deprive members of communicating.”

The Senate Rules Committee has been working on its proposal for more than six months and has gotten input from the offices of Majority Leader Reid, Minority Leader McConnell — both of whom are on the panel — and other members.

The Senate Ethics Committee also weighed in with concerns that existing rules ban offices from accepting free technological resources and hosting a video on an outside server could pose a problem unless the firm running the site was paid.

The latest version of draft regulations, which have not been made public, calmed the Ethics Committee’s fears, Gantman said.

YouTube, which was bought by Google in 2006 for $1.65 billion, has also had a seat at the table. The service has been broadly embraced as a communications tool by political campaigns and the Senate seems to want in on the action.

Federal agencies like the Defense Department, U.S. Coast Guard and State Department have all used the platform to distribute videos, Gantman said, noting that YouTube is prepared to offer a branded Senate channel that would be clean of commercial and political ads.

Members have expressed an interest in other technologies like Twitter, a service that lets users post short messages on a Web site from their cellular phones or computers, he said.

Feinstein and Bennett also want to find a way for the revised rules to ban data-mining and selling private information about people who visit Senate-maintained sites.

They are seeking to ensure that the public is aware that the sites in question are maintained by Senate offices and not being produced independently by members of the public or by campaign committees, Gantman said.

Senate leaders from both parties seem eager to work together to update the Internet regulations, which can be implemented with the approval of the Rules Committee and do not require a floor vote.

“We need their support — we won’t do anything that doesn’t get their support,” Gantman said of Reid and McConnell.

During the discussions, questions have arisen about what happens to senators’ ability to use online video if the committee does not come to an agreement. Gantman said the panel will cross that bridge if it comes to it but so far the negotiations have been productive.

Meanwhile, in response the public uproar over the House debate, the Sunlight Foundation has launched LetOurCongressTweet.org — an attempt to rally support for lawmakers’ ability to join online conversations.

Within hours of its launch, the initiative led by the government transparency group had garnered hundreds of virtual supporters, including Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, an avid Twitter user, who promoted the campaign on his Twitter page.