Budget

The Defense Department announced a new top official on Tuesday to oversee its cyber programs.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta appointed Eric Rosenbach, a former Senate staffer and private security consultant, as deputy assistant secretary of defense for cyber policy in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Strategic Affairs.

Rosenbach will oversee DOD efforts to develop and implement cyber-related policies, strategies, and plans. Over the summer, Robert Butler ended his two-year stint in the job.

Rosenbach previously worked for D.C.-based Good Harbor Consulting, as well as national security advisor for Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., and as a staff member on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

On Tuesday, members of the House Intelligence Committee called on government officials to do more to combat cyberthreats, especially alleged spying by China.

A range of companies say the latest continuing resolution proposed in Congress lacks promised language designed to prevent appropriators from raiding fees paid to the Patent and Trademark Office.

ISeveral groups that advocate on a behalf of both large and small companies complained that the CR undermines the gentleman's agreement that allowed the landmark patent reform bill to be passed earlier this month.

In a compromise with House appropriators, the sponsors of the America Invents Act agreed to strip out language that prohibited Congress from allocating patent fees to different programs.

"Unfortunately, now, just days after the enactment of the act, we are deeply concerned to learn that the CR does not contain the promised language," the Innovation Alliance, which represents a range of smaller tech companies, wrote in a letter to leaders in the Senate and the House. "We strongly believe that for the reforms to work as intended, the promised language ending fee diversion must be included in all bills making appropriations for the USPTO."

In a letter of its own, the Coalition for 21st Century Patent Reform, which includes companies like Johnson & Johnson and General Electric, pointed out that even if Congress doesn't actually take patent fees for other purposes, without the language, the PTO cannot access new fees.

"Unless an anomaly is included in the CR, the USPTO will lose $50 million each month the CR is in effect," the letter said. "The problem is that during the 7 weeks of the CR, the USPTO is held to a spending rate based on last year's appropriations - this rate ignores the fact that the USPTO will be collecting significantly more fees to support implementation of the act."

The America Invents Act was signed by President Obama on Friday and is the most significant reform of the U.S. patent system in about 60 years.

The Intellectual Property Owners Association also sent a letter urging lawmakers to include the language in the latest CR.

The Congressional Budget Office has estimate that a Senate spectrum bill will not produce as much money for deficit reduction as its supporters had predicted.

The CBO, which analyzes the budget implications of congressional legislation, released its "score" of legislation approved in June by the Senate Commerce Committee and found it would produce $6.5 billion for deficit reduction -- far below the $10 billion that the measure's supporters predicted it would provide.

Despite this, Senate Commerce Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and ranking member Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, issued a statement late Wednesday touting the bill's benefits.

"The Congressional Budget Office's estimate reconfirms that our bill builds a robust public safety network, pays for itself, and still generates real deficit reduction," they said. "This is just another step along the path to final passage. S.911 has strong bipartisan support, and we look forward to getting it through the Senate."

The Senate legislation is aimed at helping public safety officials build a national broadband network to improve communications during emergencies and also free up more spectrum for wireless broadband. It would allocate a chunk of spectrum known as the D-block to public safety officials for their broadband network instead of auctioning it off to commercial bidders as required by current law. CBO said giving the D-block to public safety would cost $2.5 billion.

The Senate bill also would authorize the Federal Communications Commission to conduct incentive auctions aimed at enticing broadcasters to give up some of their spectrum in exchange for a share in the proceeds from the auction of those airwaves.

The CBO said the auction of this spectrum and other spectrum now used by federal agencies would generate about $24.5 billion over the next decade. The CBO noted that it is still difficult to predict how much spectrum would be available for auction by 2021 because no one knows how many broadcasters will decide to give up their spectrum. Still, the agency estimated that between 150 megahertz and 225 megahertz of spectrum could be available for auction by 2021.

The bill would direct that some of the auction money be used to build the public safety network and other provisions, while the rest would be available for deficit reduction. The CBO estimated that the network would cost $11.5 billion to build.

Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee released a draft spectrum bill last week that would maintain current law and require that the D-block be auctioned to commercial bidders. They say that public safety officials have enough spectrum now to build their broadband network and that giving the D-block away would leave a hole in the budget at the same time Congress is trying to find ways to reduce the deficit.

The issue of how much money could be generated for deficit reduction from spectrum auctions has gained new attention amid reports that lawmakers may include the spectrum legislation in a deal to raise the debt ceiling in exchange for measures aimed at reducing the deficit.

President Barack Obama is no fan of lobbyists, priding himself on running an administration he says is unswayed by undue influence.

But he seems to have swallowed his distaste long enough to entertain one of Microsoft's top lobbyists Monday at the White House, where the tech giant announced a $15 million investment in immersive learning technologies like game-based instruction.

Microsoft SVP Fred Humphries sat in for CEO Steve Ballmer, who couldn't make the education roundtable that featured other high-powered current and former executives like United Way's Brian Gallagher and former Intel chief Craig Barrett, who were both registered to lobby until several years ago.

"At least Humphries is registered, unlike so many of his counterparts who lobby under the radar," complained one GOP tech lobbyist.

Humphries lobbies on copyright, immigration reform, broadband, taxes, free trade and, appropriately for today's White House meeting, "promoting excellence in technology, education, standards, and science," according to the company's latest lobbying disclosure.

"Microsoft is making a significant investment in education today announcing a new $15 million investment in research and development," said White House spokesman Eric Schultz. "They are committing over the next three years to train 150,000 educators and leaders and provide access to professional learning communities."

Still, the meeting left some on K Street grumbling about what they see as the president's double standard, regularly knocking lobbyists until they can help his administration.

The nation's top broadcasters appear to be trying to get ahead of any possible deal on the debt ceiling that might include a provision providing authority to conduct auctions involving spectrum relinquished by television stations.

Broadcasterswrote House leaders Thursday, urging them to ensure television stations are not harmed if debt ceiling legislation includes a provision to give the Federal Communications Commission authority to conduct incentive auctions.

Such auctions are aimed at enticing broadcasters and others to voluntarily give up their spectrum in exchange for a share in the proceeds.

"Broadcasters are not opposed to granting the FCC voluntary incentive auction authority, so long as the authorizing legislation includes specific safeguards," the top executives with the nation's top four broadcast network affiliate groups wrote.

Supporters of incentive auctions say they could generate as much as $10 billion for deficit reduction. The White House and Congress are currently in talks over GOP demands that raising the debt ceiling be contingent on deficit reduction.

In their letter to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the broadcasters note that if the incentive auction provision is included as a revenue raiser in the debt ceiling deal, they want four "essential safeguards" included.

These include ensuring that the quality of a station's signal is not harmed if it is forced to relocate; that the incentive auction process does not hamper broadcasters' ability to offer new digital services; that the FCC be permitted to conduct only one round of incentive auctions; and that broadcasters be reimbursed for any costs associated with the process.

Senate Commerce Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., has a long list of ideas for reducing the deficit and one of them calls for generating tax revenue by legalizing online gambling.

Last week, Rockefeller released 18 proposals that he said could generate $1.29 trillion over 10 years in deficit savings. The list includes a proposal for regulating and taxing online gambling, which he said could result in more than $41 billion in tax revenues over 10 years.

"Establishing online gambling regulations will protect consumers, state's rights and state sovereignty, and eliminate a huge illegal market that today benefits only countries and companies overseas," Rockefeller's office said in a statement.

Rockefeller is considering offering legislation to legalize online gambling, his spokesman said Wednesday. Either way, he said, Rockefeller believes the proposal should be on the table in deficit reduction talks.

While most online gambling websites are based outside of the United States, a 2006 U.S. law has tried to combat online gambling here by barring credit card companies, banks and others from processing payments from online gambling bets.

Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, introduced bipartisan legislation last month that would legalize online poker by authorizing online betting on poker and direct the Commerce Department to set up a licensing and consumer-protection regime.

The House Appropriations Committee has waded into the controversy surrounding LightSquared's efforts to deploy its wireless broadband network and concerns that it will interfere with the use of global positioning systems used by both the government and private sector.

The committee Thursday adopted an amendment to the fiscal year 2012 appropriations bill for the Federal Communications Commission that would bar the agency from allowing LightSquared or any other broadband provider to move forward with a service that would interfere with GPS services.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held a hearing on the issue Thursday to examine concerns that LightSquared's proposed service will interfere with GPS systems used by the Coast Guard, Defense and Transportation departments and others.

"We must ensure that before any final approval is granted those concerns of possible harmful interference to GPS are completely addressed," Rep. Steve Austria, R-Ohio, who authored the amendment to the appropriations bill, said in a statement. "This amendment does not prohibit expanding broadband services, but ensures it is done in a responsible manner and does not interfere with existing GPS technology that we depend on each day."

The bill including the amendment must still pass the House and it's unclear whether the Senate will include a similar proposal in its version of the spending bill.

House Republicans are not giving up on their quest to block the Federal Communications Commission from implementing its open Internet rules.

The House Appropriations Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee is set to take up a fiscal 2012 spending bill on Thursday that includes language barring the FCC from using any of its funding to put into effect the rules, which bar broadband providers from discriminating against Internet content, services or applications.

The appropriations bill also would cut funding for the FCC by $17 million over the fiscal 2011 level and would provide $40 million less than what President Obama asked for in his budget request.

While many supporters of net neutrality complained that the FCC's rules didn't go far enough, they have opposed congressional Republican efforts to kill the commission's open Internet order. Republicans say the rules amount to government control of the Internet and say the administration has colluded with advocates.

"Even much of the telecommunications industry, including AT&T and the cable industry, has accepted the rather weak rules the commission approved," Public Knowledge President Gigi Sohn said in a statement. "That the committee majority would reopen this debate through back-door legislative tactics only adds insult to the injury of the attack on the fundamental concept of an equal-opportunity Internet."

House Republicans added similar language blocking the FCC from using any funding to implement its open Internet order, also known as network neutrality, to their version of the 2011 spending bill approved earlier this year .

Even if the House passes the bill with the defunding language still in it, it will likely be blocked by Senate Democrats or President Obama, who supports the FCC's open Internet rules.

The Sunlight Foundation has figured out just how much the continuing resolution will cost the Obama administration's open government programs.

"The returns from these government initiatives in terms of transparency are priceless. They help the government operate more effectively and efficiently, thereby saving taxpayer money and aiding oversight," the foundation's Daniel Schuman said in a statement. "In fact, we were able to calculate how much was spent on Data.gov by using the Office of Management and Budget's IT Dashboard - one of the initiatives that would face virtual extinction if Congress does not rescind these proposed budget cuts."

Read more about the group's findings here.

Congress agreed to eliminate $20 million for network security programs in the major bill to keep the government operating through March 18, as the Republican-controlled House and Democratic-led Senate began negotiations on further cuts for the rest of the fiscal year ending in September, Nextgov.com reported.

The short-term continuing resolution signed into law on Wednesday will trim the Homeland Security Department account that safeguards critical networks and facilities far less than the $60 million cut House appropriators had proposed last month. The stopgap bill deleted earmarks -- monies requested by individual lawmakers -- for the DHS infrastructure protection and information security program. The dropped funding had not been allocated for specific projects yet, House aides said.

"Part of Congress' challenge is that a lot of programs and projects get labeled cybersecurity in order to secure funding," said Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, who oversees coordination of cyber legislation across House committees, in defending the cuts. "Our job is to sort through what is really necessary and try to see that the money that is spent is spent wisely. More money does not automatically mean more security."

The short-term continuing resolution also cuts $29 million for a broadband direct loan subsidy program operated by the Agriculture Department. House appropriators noted that the Agriculture inspector general has detailed abuses and other problems with the program. President Obama zeroed out funding for the program in his proposed budget.