4/21. Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) introduced S 2325, the "Telehealth Improvement Act of 2004". This bill would amend the Social Security Act to expand the list of facilities that qualify for Medicare's telehealth coverage.

Specifically, it would amend 42 U.S.C. § 1395m(m) pertaining to "Payment for telehealth services". Currently, Subsection (m)(4)(C)(ii) lists as eligible sites the following: "The office of a physician or practitioner", "critical access hospital", "rural health clinic", "Federally qualified health center" and "hospital".

Sen. Edwards' bill would add to this list the following: "skilled nursing facility", "assisted-living facility", "board-and-care home", "county or community health clinic", "community mental health center", "facility operated by the Indian Health Service or by an Indian tribe, tribal organization, or an urban Indian organization", and "site in a State in which the respective State medical board has adopted a formal policy regarding licensing or certification requirements for providers at distant sites who do not have a license to practice medicine at the originating site".

The bill has no original cosponsors. It was referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Sen. Edwards is a member.

Sen. Edwards (at right) issued a release that states that "A recent study found that 36 million Americans, including 1.7 million North Carolinians, live in areas without enough doctors. Many in the medical community see the expansion of health programs using the Internet and other technologies, known as telehealth, as the key to providing adequate health care for Americans in all parts of the country."

It adds that "Present policy limits Medicare beneficiaries to telehealth services at hospitals or doctors’ offices. Senator Edwards’ legislation would expand Medicare’s telehealth coverage to other medical facilities, including assisted living centers and skilled nursing facilities."

The bill would also create three demonstration projects, and establish a Joint Working Group on Telehealth at the Department of Health and Human Services.

4/22. Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) introduced HR 4208, "Executive Stock Option Profit Recapture Act" a bill to require the five top officers and directors of publicly traded companies who exercise stock options to reimburse the company for the gains realized from the sale of the stock if its price declines by a material amount within one year.

This bill would not effect stock options for most employees. It would only apply to the "five most highly compensated executive officers or the directors".

The bill was referred to the House Financial Services Committee. Rep. Frank (at right) is the ranking Democrat on the Committee. The bill has no original cosponsors.

This bill provides that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) "shall prescribe rules requiring that, if, at the end of a period ending one year after one or more of the five most highly compensated executive officers or the directors of an issuer have exercised options on securities of an issuer granted to the executive officer or director as compensation, the stock of the issuer has declined by a material amount, as determined by the Commission by rule, then such executive officer or director shall be required to reimburse the issuer for all gains realized on the sale of securities obtained as a result of the option exercise that are in excess of any gains that would have been realized had the securities been sold at the stock price at the end of such one-year period."

The bill does not define the term "material amount".

The bill recites that its purposes are "to reduce the perverse incentive created by executive stock options for executives to take actions to inflate the value of their shares prior to exercising options" and "to prevent the resulting losses to shareholders by limiting the ability of executive officers and directors to profit from the exercise of stock options when shareholders have suffered substantial losses."

On November 21, 2003, Rep. Richard Baker (R-LA), Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Rep. David Dreier (R-CA) and others introduced HR 3574, the "Stock Option Accounting Reform Act". This is the House companion bill to S 1890, introduced by Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY), Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) and others on November 19. These bills would require the expensing of stock options, but only for the top five executives of companies, with exemptions for small businesses and start ups.

HR 3574 was referred to the House Financial Services Committee. Rep. Baker is the Chairman of its Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises. See also, story titled "Senators Introduce Bill to Require Expensing of Stock Options Granted to Officers" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 784, November 21, 2003.

HR 3574 now has 107 sponsors, including all of the Representatives from the Silicon Valley area -- Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA), Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA), Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), and Rep. Eshoo -- and numerous other House technophiles. Rep. Frank is not a sponsor.

See also, story titled "FASB Proposes Expensing of Stock Options" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 867, April 1, 2004, and story titled "Senators Bash FASB Stock Options Proposal and Class Action Lawyers" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 869, April 5, 2004.

4/22. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) wrote a letter to other Senators explaining S 1544, the "Data-Mining Reporting Act of 2003", and requesting that they become cosponsors of the bill. This bill would require federal agencies engaged in data mining to submit a report to the Congress explaining their data mining activities.

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) introduced the bill on July 31, 2003. See, story titled "Sen. Feingold Introduces Data Mining Reporting Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 712, August 6, 2003.

Sen. Leahy and Sen. Feingold (at right) wrote that "The bill addresses the controversial intelligence procedure known as data-mining. The bill would require all federal agencies to report to Congress on their use and experience with data-mining but in the interim would not impose any limits on the use of data-mining. This legislation will enable Congress to engage in effective oversight of federal agencies using this emerging technology."

They added that "We are in a new age where technologies allow for the massive collection, manipulation and assessment of personal information in sophisticated databases. It is possible that these databases may assist law enforcement. But while it is important to provide law enforcement the necessary tools to secure our safety, if left unchecked, the collection of this data and the use of data-mining technologies could threaten the privacy and civil liberties of each and every American. Congressional oversight is an important part of preventing this outcome."

They concluded by stating that "We hope that you will join us in cosponsoring the Data-Mining Reporting Act of 2003".

4/22. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) gave a speech in Washington DC in which he responded to recent speeches made by President Bush regarding extending and expanding the USA PATRIOT Act.

Sen. Leahy (at right) stated that "Maybe you have heard what the President is saying about the sunset provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act, in his Saturday radio address, and again this week in Pennsylvania and New York. He implies that Congress made the most sensitive parts of the PATRIOT Act subject to review and renewal because of a belief in Congress that the threat of terrorism itself would soon pass. That is simply wrong, and it is irresponsible to mislead the public with assertions like that."

President Bush stated in a speech in Hershey, Pennsylvania on April 19 that "many of the Patriot Act's anti-terrorism tools are set to expire next year, including key provisions that allow our intelligence and law enforcement agencies to share information. In other words, Congress passed it and said, well, maybe the war on terror won't go on very long, and, therefore, these tools are set to expire. The problem is, the war on terror continues."

Sen. Leahy continued that former Representative "Dick Armey and I -- a political odd-couple, to say the least -- insisted on the sunset clauses to force effective and thorough oversight of the Act. Dick Armey and I know full well that the war on terrorism will take years, and maybe even decades, and so do most if not all members of the House and Senate. The straightforward purpose of our sunset provisions is to ensure that these powerful new tools given to government are properly used."

For House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX) stated in the House on October 12, 2001 that "It is good sunset language. It is necessary sunset language. It gives our agencies an opportunity to use these tools of investigation and surveillance, and us the opportunity to fulfill our responsibility to oversee that activity, to review it, and to choose to reauthorize or not." See, Congressional Record, October 12, 2001, at Page H6768.

"In a word, our goal was accountability. Perhaps these new powers have been used responsibly and effectively and should be renewed. Perhaps they should be modified, or even strengthened. Oversight is the way to answer those questions", said Sen. Leahy.

He concluded that "The sunsetted sections do not expire until next year, 20 months from now. Not only is it entirely appropriate, but it is also necessary that Congress have the ability to review the record before renewing extensions of government power such as these, which, if abused, can needlessly compromise the freedoms of the American people."

On April 17 President Bush gave a radio address regarding the PATRIOT Act. See, story titled "Bush Addresses PATRIOT Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 879, April 19, 2004. On April 19 he gave a speech in Hershey, Pennsylvania. See, story titled "Bush Proposes to Extend and Expand PATRIOT Act" and story titled "Bush Opposes Congressional Proposals to Roll Back Parts of PATRIOT Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 880, April 20, 2004. On Tuesday, April 20, he gave speech in Buffalo, New York. See, story titled "Bush Continues to Speak About PATRIOT Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 881, April 21, 2004. On April 21, he gave a speech in Washington DC. See, story titled "Bush Addresses Broadband Policy, Free Trade and the PATRIOT Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 882, April 22, 2004.

4/23. The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate announced that its has selected Analytic Services Inc. (ANSER) to operate its Homeland Security Institute (HSI). The DHS describes this HSI as a "Federally Funded Research and Development Center" (FFRDC), and as a "think tank". The DHS states that this HSI "will provide independent analysis on a variety of issues related to securing the homeland", and "will particularly focus on those matters involving policy and security where scientific, technical, and analytical expertise is required such as those in the extremely complex threat and vulnerability assessment areas". See, DHS release.

4/22. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the National Security Agency (NSA) announced "an agreement to expand the NSA Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education to the national level, renaming the program the National Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education. The partnership will strengthen information assurance higher education programs to meet America’s growing requirements for professional cyber security skills." See, DHS release and NSA release.

4/22. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced "an agreement to co-sponsor and expand the existing NSF Federal Cyber Service: Scholarship for Service (SFS) program. The partnership helps strengthen America's cybersecurity posture by promoting higher education courses that increase the number of information security professionals trained to protect public and private sector IT systems." See, DHS release.

4/22. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) published in its website its report [PDF] titled "Card Technology Development and Gap Analysis Interagency Report". This is NIST InterAgency Report 7056.

4/22. The European Commission release a report [20 pages in PDF] titled "A pro-active Competition Policy for a Competitive Europe".

The House will meet at 12:00 NOON in pro forma session only. See, Republican Whip Notice.

The Senate will meet at 1:00 PM for morning hour, and at 2:00 PM to resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S 150, the "Internet Tax Non-discrimination Act of 2003".

12:15 - 1:45 PM. The New America Foundation (NAF) will host a brown bag lunch titled "Telecom Regulatory Challenge: A Policy Framework For A New Communications Market". The speaker will be Tom Tauke (Verizon). RSVP to Jennifer Buntman at 202-986-4901 or to buntman@newamerica.net. See, notice. Location: NAF, 1630 Connecticut Ave, 7th Floor.

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Inquiry (NOI) requesting data and information on the status of competition in the Commercial Mobile Radio Services (CMRS) industry for the FCC's Ninth Annual Report and Analysis of Competitive Market Conditions with Respect to Commercial Mobile Services. This NOI is FCC 04-38 in WT Docket No. 04-111. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 23, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 79, at Pages 22032 - 22042.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) regarding limited safe harbor under the TCPA and the required frequency for telemarketers to access the national do-not-call registry. This is CG Docket No. 02-278. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 31, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 62, at Pages 16873 - 16886.

The House will meet at 12:30 PM for morning hour and at 2:00 PM for legislative business. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 PM. The House will consider several non technology related items under suspension of the rules. See, Republican Whip Notice.

9:30 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing titled "Telecommunications Policy Review". The speakers will be David Dorman (Ch/CEO of AT&T), Richard Notebaert (Ch/CEO of Qwest), and James Geiger (CEO of Cbeyond Communications). The hearing will be webcast. See, notice. Press contact: Rebecca Fisher at 202 224-2670. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

POSTPONED. 9:30 - 10:30 AM. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein will host an event titled "press breakfast". The notice requests an RSVP to Anne Perkins (202-418-2314) in Commissioner Adelstein's office by April 26. Location: FCC, 8th Floor Conference Room.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM - 5:30 PM. Day one of a two day meeting of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Enhanced 911 Coordination Initiative. See, agenda [PDF]. Location: FCC, 445 12th Street, SW.

1:30 - 4:00 PM. The U.S. International Telecommunication Advisory Committee Meeting-Radiocommunication Sector (ITAC-R) will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 30, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 61, at Page 16631. Location: Room 6 B 516, FCC, 445 12th Street, SW.,

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to the Department of Justice's (DOJ) petition for a rulemaking proceeding [PDF] regarding the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) and related issues. This is RM-10865. See, FCC notice [PDF] (DA 04-700). See also, TLJ table titled "Summary of Comments Submitted to the FCC in Response to the DOJ's CALEA Petition".

Deadline to submit applications to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) for grants under the Technology Opportunity Program (TOP). Grant applications must be either postmarked no later than April 27, 2004, or hand-delivered no later than 5:00 PM EST on April 27, 2004. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 17, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 31, at Pages 7452 - 7454, story titled "NTIA Publishes Notice Regarding TOP Grants" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 839, February 18, 2004; and the NTIA's TOP web page.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM. The House will consider several non technology related items under suspension of the rules. See, Republican Whip Notice.

9:00 AM - 1:00 PM. Day two of a two day meeting of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Enhanced 911 Coordination Initiative. See, agenda [PDF]. Location: FCC, 445 12th Street, SW.

9:30 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing titled "Telecommunications Policy Review". The speakers will be Adam Thierer (Cato Institute), Charles Ferguson (Brookings Institution), George Gilder (Discovery Institute), Reed Hundt (McKinsey & Company), and Raymond Gifford (Progress & Freedom Foundation). The hearing will be webcast. See, notice. Press contact: Rebecca Fisher at 202 224-2670. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

10:00 AM. The House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet will meet to mark up a bill to reauthorize the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act. The hearing will be webcast. Press contact: Larry Neal or Jon Tripp at 202 225-5735. See, notice. Location: Room ___, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The House Science Committee's Subcommittee on Environment, Technology, and Standards will hold a hearing titled "Fiscal Year 2005 National Institute of Standards and Technology Budget: Views from Industry". The hearing will be webcast. Press contact: Joe Pouliot at Joe.Pouliot@mail.house.gov or 202 225-6371. Location: Room 2318, Rayburn Building.

12:00 NOON. The Progress and Freedom Foundation (PFF) will host a luncheon. The speakers will be Richard Notebaert (Ch/CEO of Qwest Communications), Anna-Marie Kovacs (Janney Montgomery Scott), Frank Governali (Goldman Sachs), and Blake Bath (Lehman Brothers). See, notice and online registration page. Press contact: David Fish at 202 289-8928 or dfish@pff.org. Location: Rotunda Room, Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

12:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Online Communications Committee will host a brown bag lunch. The speaker will be Hillary Brill, Legislative Director for Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA). RSVP to Evelyn Opany at 202 689-7163. Location: Piper Rudnick, 1200 19th Street, NW.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM. The House will consider several non technology related items under suspension of the rules. See, Republican Whip Notice.

10:00 AM. The House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection will hold a hearing titled "Spyware: What You Don't Know Can Hurt You". The hearing will be webcast by the Committee. See, notice. Press contact: Larry Neal or Jon Tripp at 202 225-5735. Location: Room 2322, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The House Science Committee will hold a hearing titled "H.R. __, High Performance Computing Revitalization Act of 2004". The hearing will be webcast. Press contact: Joe Pouliot at Joe.Pouliot@mail.house.gov or 202 225-6371. Location: Room 2318, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, and the Judiciary will hold a hearing on intellectual property issues. Location: Room 192, Dirksen Building.

12:15 - 2:00 PM. The Forum on Technology and Innovation will host a luncheon titled "The Impact of Expensing Stock Options on the Tech Industry". The speakers will be Dick Grannis (VP and Treasurer of Qualcomm), Karen Kerrigan (Chairman of the Small Business Survival Committee), and Roberto Mendoza (Chairman of IFL). See, registration page. Location: Room 902, Hart Building, Capitol Hill.

12:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Media Practice Committee will host a brown bag lunch. The topic will be the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) television license renewal process. The speakers will be Barbara Kreisman and staff of the FCC's Video Division. RSVP to John Logan at jlogan@dlalaw.com. Location: Dow Lohnes & Albertson, 1200 New Hampshire Ave., NW.

10:00 AM - 2:00 PM. The AEI-Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies will host a pair of panel discussions titled "Intellectual Property Rights in Frontier Industries: Software and Biotech". At 10:15 AM there will be a panel titled "Biotechnology and IPR". At 12:00 NOON there will be a luncheon panel discussion titled "Software and IPR". The speakers will be Scott Wallsten (AEI-Brookings), David Mowery (UC Berkeley), Dan Burk (University of Minnesota), and Starling Hunter (MIT). Location: AEI, 1150 17th St., NW, 12th Floor.

12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. The Progress & Freedom Foundation (PFF) will host a panel discussion titled "Accelerating the Transition to Digital TV: Developments at the FCC and in Congress". The speakers will be Ken Ferree (Chief of the Federal Communications Commission's Media Bureau), John Kneuer (National Telecommunications and Information Administration), Thomas Lenard (PFF), and Steve Sharkey (Motorola). Lunch will be served. See, notice and registration page. Press contact: David Fish at 202-289-8928 or dfish@pff.org. Location: Room 253, Russell Building, Capitol Hill.

Deadline to submit applications to the Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) for Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) Program grants. Paper copies must be postmarked and mailed, shipped, or sent overnight no later than April 30, 2004, to be eligible for FY 2004 grant funding. Electronic copies must be received by April 30, 2004, to be eligible for FY 2004 grant funding. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 1, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 40, at Pages 9576-9582.

Deadline to submit applications to the Privacy Office of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for membership on its new Data Integrity, Privacy, and Interoperability Advisory Committee. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 9, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 69, at Page 18923.

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) regarding unwanted mobile service commercial messages and the CAN-SPAM Act. This is CG Docket No. 04-53. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 31, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 62, at Pages 16873 - 16886.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding auction procedures for the September 15, 2004 Automated Maritime Telecommunications System Spectrum Auction. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 20, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 76, at Pages 21110 - 21114.

4/22. Federal Reserve Board Governor Ben Bernanke gave a speech titled "The economic outlook and monetary policy" at a conference in Washington DC.

He stated that "the recovery in labor markets has not kept pace with the recovery in output, an issue that has been central in recent debates about economic policy. As has been widely noted, the leading explanation for the slow recovery in the labor market has been the remarkable ability of employers and workers to increase labor productivity".

He argued that "this situation cannot persist: As managers exhaust the possibilities for outsized productivity gains and become convinced of the durability of the expansion, they should become increasingly more willing to add employees".

He added, in a footnote, that the "factors affecting labor supply and the efficiency of job matching, including ... increased job search through the Internet, suggest strongly that the sustainable rate of unemployment has steadily declined since the mid-1980s, to a level below the current rate."