Wheeler up for Commerce vote - White House makes jobs pitch at Amazon facility - Froman visits Chamber

By Alex Byers

With help from Jessica Meyers

DRIVING THE DAY: WHEELER UP FOR COMMERCE VOTE ? Senate Commerce lawmakers have a plethora of votes to take up today, and approval of FCC nominee Tom Wheeler is one of them. It?s been 90 days since the former telecom lobbyist was put up by the Obama administration, and the FCC?s had to make do with just three commissioners for most of that time. But no Republican has officially been floated to replace former commissioner Robert McDowell, meaning that even if Wheeler goes through committee today, the full Senate is likely to hold off on confirming him until he?s got a GOP companion (plus, there?s the August recess to contend with.) Separately, senators will vote on the Rockefeller/Thune cybersecurity bill that?s likely to be favorably reported, as well as the chairman?s Violent Content Research Act. Not on the schedule: Rockefeller?s Do Not Track bill, which was introduced in February but isn?t viable jn Congress right now. Things get underway at 2:30.

FEDGOV RESPONSES DUE TODAY IN GOOGLE/MSFT FISA PROCEEDINGS ? There?s a few opportunities for surveillance news to pop today. Among those for which you should have eyes peeled: Today?s the third deadline for the federal government to respond to Google and Microsoft?s requests that they be cleared to release more detailed data on the extent of FISA requests they receive. The government has already asked for two extensions, and asking for a third is an obvious possibility. But the administration says it wants to have a big debate on surveillance and national security ? at some point, they?ll have to weigh in. Separately, the administration is supposed to lay out a timeline for declassifying the FISA court?s opinion in 2008 proceedings with Yahoo. (That filing was actually due Monday, but we didn?t see it uploaded to the court?s filing site last night.)

Plus, CNN?s Barbara Starr reports that additional info about surveillance programs could be declassified as soon as today: ?A senior U.S. official tells CNN the information includes ?white papers? on surveillance programs but also previously undisclosed information about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. ... 'I think there is a high likelihood of FISC opinions being declassified soon,? the official said, although it does not appear the opinions themselves will be part of the upcoming declassification. http://bit.ly/17cDkNk

And, ICYMI: The Senate Judiciary Committee unveiled Monday night letters written from FISA court judge Reggie Walton to Chairman Patrick Leahy and ranking member Chuck Grassley. There?s a lot that may be of interest for surveillance wonks ? including the fact that no one has ever challenged a 215 order: http://1.usa.gov/17cEhFx

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WHITE HOUSE MAKES JOBS PITCH AT AMAZON FACILITY ? President Barack Obama departs for Chattanooga, Tenn. this morning to make an afternoon speech and take a tour of an Amazon warehouse facility. It?s the first follow to the economic vision he teased in Illinois last week, which focuses (again) on a boost for the middle class. We?d expect to hear again about the manufacturing goals Obama laid out in this year?s State of the Union (he announced three new ?manufacturing innovation institutes? in February, and wants to see a total of 15.) Politically, the White House has a good frame for the speech, with the e-Commerce giant?s announcement Thursday that it?ll add 5,000 jobs. Some, though, are questioning whether those jobs are the ones the administration wants opening up ? Alec MacGillis in The New Republic makes the case here: http://on.tnr.com/16fQgFj.

The White House, of course, is a fan of Amazon?s policy baby, the Marketplace Fairness Act, which would allow states to collect online sales tax from out-of-state retailers. Separately, though, Amazon is suing the federal government over the disruption of a major cloud-computing contract it signed with the Central Intelligence Agency earlier this year. Today?s speech is set to start at 2 p.m.

GOOD TUESDAY MORNING and welcome to Morning Tech, where we?ve just enjoyed a crisp and refreshing Lagunitas IPA. It?s highly recommended, if that?s your style ? do send along your own recommendations to abyers@politico.com and @byersalex and catch the rest of the team?s contact info after speed read.

CBS v. TIME WARNER SAGA CONTINUES ? TWC subscribers in New York, Dallas and Los Angeles lost their CBS service briefly midnight this morning. More on the retrans negotiations, wherever they stand when you read this, from the NYT: http://nyti.ms/1bEwoAG

inSPIRE STEM USA PITCHING HILL ON IMMIGRATION?S TECH, AGRICULTURE BOOSTS ? The advocacy group is hosting a briefing this afternoon on the economic benefits of comprehensive immigration reform, and they?re getting a hand from tech. The meeting, open only to congressional staffers, will feature Microsoft?s Bill Kamela, the National Association of Manufacturers? Christine Scullion, and Hamilton place Strategies? Tony Fratto. As part of the pitch, attendees can expect to hear plenty about the need for a STEM education fund, which some like inSPIRE had pushed aggressively for as part of the Hill?s immigration work. They got it in the Senate bill, but that measure isn't getting a vote in the House ? and the lower chamber?s skilled-workers bill doesn?t have include a STEM fund. The briefing starts at noon in Rayburn B340.

FROMAN VISITS CHAMBER ? Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue will chat up USTR head Michael Froman this morning, as the administration looks to start wrapping up negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership and further dig into discussions with the EU. Business groups are pushing for faster movement on both fronts, and a chamber spokesperson said the conversation will touch on each one, as well as an Information Technology Agreement that recently stalled in Geneva. The U.S. accused China of holding up ITA negotiations, but the Chamber spokesperson sounded an optimistic note there, saying ?there?s still ?cause for hope for the first time in years as trade negotiators pursue new agreements in services, tech goods, and trade facilitation.? Watch, too, for mention of legislation that would fast-track trade agreements, and how the administration will try to squeeze it through Congress. The conversation gets going at 10 a.m.

HELLER DROPS FCC REFORM BILL ? Nevada?s Dean Heller, who led process reform work for the Senate GOP last Congress and indicated last month that he?d continue carrying the torch, introduced Monday an upper-chamber version of the House bill that would alleviate some of the commission?s reporting burdens. The full House Energy and Commerce Committee is slated to vote on their version of the bill Wednesday, which has both House telecom Chairman Greg Walden and ranking member Anna Eshoo signed on as co-sponsors. It?s not clear, though, that there?s as much bipartisan agreement on the issue in the upper chamber. A Heller aide declined to give an assessment of the landscape in the Senate.

KLOBUCHAR & CO. TACKLE STANDARDS ESSENTIAL PATENTS ? ?The Senate antitrust subcommittee examines this morning the mess that is standards essential patents and how they factor into antitrust law. Testifying are reps from Intel, Qualcomm, IEEE-USA and the Federal Trade Commission, and it?s a fair bet that the FTC?s decision on SEPs in the Google case is going to get dissected. At the same time, it?s unclear where lawmakers stand on legislating in the space ? and relatedly, what changes they could feasibly make. The hearing starts at 10 and can be streamed here: http://1.usa.gov/17cBb4n

MCKENNA IN AS NAJI PRESIDENT ? Former Washington state Attorney General Rob McKenna will serve as the next president of the National Alliance for Jobs and Innovation, MT hears. The group, fighting intellectual property theft and economic espionage and more than 200 strong, already has the National Association of Manufacturers? Brian Raymond and steel exec Drew Greenblatt atop its leadership group. McKenna just finished an eight-year stint as Washington?s attorney general, and is former president of the National Association of Attorneys General, where he co-launched an IP task force.

FCC NABS NEW CIO -- Alex Howard scoops: ?David Bray, a seasoned national intelligence executive, will be the next chief information officer of the Federal Communications Commission. He?s expected to finish his work in the intelligence community at the Office of the Director for National Intelligence and commence work at the FCC in August. ... His background in the intelligence community will serve him well, with respect to network security issues, but he?ll need to continue to transition an agency that has traditionally outsourced much of its technology to 21st century computing standards and approaches to building infrastructure and meeting increasing demand for services.? http://bit.ly/1bEvHqU

SPEED READ

LONG SHOT FOR OBAMA ECON PROPOSALS: He?s returning to themes from the State of the Union, The Wall Street Journal reports: http://on.wsj.com/1e7osUg

TWITTER MAKES IT EASIER TO REPORT ABUSE: The decision follows an online petition regarding a case in the United Kingdom, The New York Times reports: http://nyti.ms/13ivBQm

THE RISE OF ROBOTIC ASSISTANTS: The idea is to predict what users want before they ask, The New York Times reports: http://nyti.ms/13qUcyF

MISTREATMENT OF WORKERS ALLEGED AT APPLE SUPPLIER: A human rights group infiltrated a Chinese factory and released its findings, the San Jose Mercury News reports: http://bit.ly/1e7pUpO

Tips, comments, suggestions? Send them along via email to our team: Alex Byers (abyers@politico.com, @byersalex), Eric Nelson (enelson@politico.com), Eric Engleman (eengleman@politico.com, @ericengleman), Brooks Boliek (bboliek@politico.com, @technocowboy), Steve Friess ( sfriess@politico.com, @stevefriess), Jessica Meyers (jmeyers@politico.com, @jessicameyers), Michelle Quinn (mquinn@politico.com, @MichelleQuinn), Tony Romm (tromm@politico.com, @tonyromm) and Bobby Cervantes (bcervantes@politico.com, @BobbyCervantes).

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Source: http://www.politico.com/morningtech/0713/morningtech11285.html

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