Lawmakers mixed Comcast-NBC deal

Lawmakers mixed on Comcast-NBC deal

News that federal regulators signed off on the merger of Comcast and NBC Universal on Tuesday met mixed reviews on Capitol Hill.

Statements of support arrived late Tuesday from Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), who separately praised the reviews conducted by the Federal Communications Commission and Department of Justice. But more critical were Sens. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), longtime merger opponents, and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WVa.), who said he had hoped regulators had been tougher on the companies.

At the same time, new House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and other GOP panel members criticized the FCC in particular for its handling of the Comcast-NBC review, which they likened in part to a “Chicago-style shakedown.”

Upton, as well as telecom subcommittee Chair Greg Walden (R-Ore.) and vice Lee Terry (R-Neb.), also promised to examine “whether changes in the FCC’s transaction review process are needed as we exercise congressional oversight in the weeks to come.”

“We are glad Comcast can now get back to doing business and creating jobs, but the price of doing so should not be coerced compliance with the heavy-handed tactics of an overreaching FCC,” the lawmakers said in a joint statement.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas), is also concerned about some of the conditions.

“I am concerned that the Justice Department and FCC used this merger to impose the Obama Administration’s net neutrality agenda on Comcast and its customers,” Smith said. “The merger review process is designed to protect competition and the public interest, not to expand the power of federal regulators of the private economy.”

The Comcast-NBC merger review, finalized Tuesday, capped off a year-long inquiry into the combination of the country’s largest cable company with one of the nation’s biggest networks. Along the way, the Hill has been following the debate closely — more than 100 House members earlier this month urged the agencies to expedite their approval of the Comcast-NBC deal.

Among the supporters late Tuesday was Kerry, communications subcommittee chairman, who said regulators’ work “reflects a thoughtful effort” to balance consumer protections with business advances.




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