The House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday abruptly canceled scheduled markup of a federal data privacy bill along with several other measures amid an outpouring of opposition to the privacy measure from the tech industry. and civil rights organizations.
Opponents of the measure have asked committee Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and top Democrat, New Jersey Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., to postpone the marking since the two lawmakers released a modified version of an earlier bill that was proposed by a subcommittee in May.
The updated version released on June 21 removed key provisions that would have prohibited companies from collecting, processing or retaining data about users that results in discrimination based on race, sex, religion and other categories. It also removed a section on consumers' right to opt out of algorithmic decisions, including in housing, health care and credit. Companies would have been required to offer users the opportunity to opt out of decision-making under the previous draft.
Nearly 50 civil rights groups led by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights called on Rodgers and Pallone to postpone the review because the latest version removed โkey civil rights protections and algorithmic auditing provisionsโ that were included in the previous version.
The tech industry, however, has strongly opposed the provisions that were retained. They include the ability for individuals to sue tech companies for privacy violations and the possibility that stricter state privacy laws could remain in place. TechNet, a trade industry group whose members include Amazon, Apple, Google, Etsy and others, wrote to Rodgers and Pallone on Wednesday, urging them to remove those provisions. Separately, a group of state attorneys general led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta has pushed lawmakers to allow states to set standards beyond federal law.
Rodgers, who is retiring from Congress at the end of his term, issued a statement that did not explain why the stipend was canceled but noted that "the American people are exhausted, anxious and losing hope with the status quo."
Pallone blamed House Republican leaders for the cancellation.
"It is outrageous that Republican leadership would interfere with the Committee's bipartisan regular business process," he said in a statement.
A tech industry lobbyist, speaking anonymously, said House Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., opposed the data privacy measure because it does not preempt state laws and retains provisions that allow private lawsuits.
Spokespeople for Rodgers and Pallone declined to offer additional details.
The cancellation reduces the likelihood that Congress will enact a federal privacy law in the current session. The last attempt at a bipartisan privacy bill emerged in April after Rodgers and Senate Commerce Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., announced they had reached an agreement on the broad outlines of the legislation.
In the absence of a federal privacy law, 18 states have enacted privacy laws and more state legislatures are considering legislation.
The committee also canceled passage of a bill on children's online privacy, a measure related to human cell and tissue transplants, a telehealth modernization bill, and resolutions related to greenhouse gas emissions and pollutants.
