Johnson sponsors legislation to bolster telecom security review process

U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson (R-OH) on July 10 sponsored legislation that would establish an interagency national security review process for the United States telecommunications industry. 

“As we continue to see foreign countries such as Russia and China continually try and undermine the United States’ telecommunications market, we must provide the FCC with all the tools they need to keep our American telecom industry safe from manipulation,” Rep. Johnson said. “Passing this legislation would be a concrete step towards taking a larger, more forceful stand against our foreign adversaries, an act which is sorely needed.

“I hope my colleagues will support this commonsense effort to add another line of protection for the American telecommunications industry,” he said.

Rep. Johnson introduced the Timely Evaluation of Acquisitions, Mergers, or Transactions External, Lawful Entities to Clear Owners and Management Act, also known as the TEAM TELECOM Act, H.R. 4506, which would amend current law to develop and issue procedures for the newly established review process.

The term Team Telecom, according to Rep. Johnson, is the informal name for a makeshift interagency working group composed of representatives from the U.S. Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, and Justice, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who assess and address national security and law enforcement issues associated with foreign applicants of certain categories of applications submitted to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

“This legislation, which I’m re-introducing this session of Congress, would codify Team Telecom, making it a permanent part of the FCC’s official application process,” Rep. Johnson said. “The importance of getting this done hasn’t abated; if anything, it’s increased.

“This legislation would ensure this process will be viewed through the lens of national security while giving the team the ability to make recommendations to the FCC to dismiss, deny, or modify any applications they deem a threat,” added the congressman.

And in addition to formalizing the existing review process, Rep. Johnson said that H.R. 4506 builds on the policy coordination role of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) in communicating executive branch views with the FCC as they do in other contexts.

Specifically, the bill would codify the Team Telecom review process at NTIA and standardize the information required from each applicant and require the information to be publicly available on NTIA’s website, according to a bill summary provided by the lawmaker’s office.

Additionally, H.R. 4506 would formalize deadlines for the interagency review of an application; notification of an extension or determination of the application; requested provisional information to be submitted by applicants to NTIA; or disclosure on the status of an application should NTIA receive an inquiry from the applicant, the summary says.

The bill is under consideration by the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee.