In Congress:

Members of Congress return to Washington this week with a hefty agenda. Looming issues include a $7.9 billion Hurricane Harvey relief package; raising the federal debt ceiling to avoid a government shutdown; tax reform; and potential legislation to restore or address the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or Dreamers, program.

But along with all of that, Congress will also be tackling issues in the technology, media and telecom sector. One of the most interesting events from Capitol Hill this week is one that had long been scheduled but is no longer happening. In July, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., announced a full committee hearing on net neutrality. The hearing, which was scheduled for Sept. 7, was expected to include testimony from the CEOs of leading tech companies — including Facebook Inc., Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Netflix Inc. — as well as from broadband providers such as Comcast Corp., Verizon Communications Inc., AT&T Inc. and Charter Communications Inc.

On Aug. 30, however, the hearing was nixed from the calendar. According to a Reuters report, no company had publicly committed to testify and so the committee opted to postpone the hearing until a later date, likely after the Federal Communications Commission has wrapped up its own current proceeding on net neutrality.

"As negotiations progress on a permanent solution for net neutrality that ensures a free and open internet, the committee will postpone the original hearing in order to allow talks between stakeholders to continue," Walden's spokesman, Zach Hunter, told Reuters.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Communications and Technology instead will hold a hearing on Sept. 7 titled "The Broadcast Incentive Auction: Update on Repacking Opportunities and Challenges." The FCC is currently reorganizing broadcasters into remaining TV bands following the 600 MHz spectrum incentive auction earlier this year. Congress previously allocated $1.75 billion to reimburse those broadcasters and pay TV operators impacted by the repack, but the FCC's incentive auction task force estimated in July that it could cost $2.12 billion or more to cover all the reimbursements. National Association of Broadcasters President and CEO Gordon Smith has said the $1.75 billion previously set aside "is simply insufficient to fairly reimburse those broadcasters forced to relocate channels."

Meanwhile, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation will hold a hearing on Sept. 6 on reducing the risk of waste and fraud in the FCC's Lifeline program, which subsidizes telephone and broadband service for low-income consumers. The hearing comes after the Government Accountability Office released a report on the program that described recurring failures of evaluation and oversight. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has in the past been critical of the program due to his concerns over fraud and abuse. In July, he sent a letter to the Universal Service Administrative Co., which administers the fund from which Lifeline is paid, saying "immediate action" was needed to eliminate the opportunity for "unscrupulous" telecommunications carriers to take advantage of the program with fraudulent claims.

From the FCC:

The Institute for Policy Innovation, a think tank based in Texas, is bringing the FCC chairman outside the Beltway to Dallas to talk about net neutrality and the commission's current proceeding aimed at overturning the Open Internet Order of 2015. The order reclassified broadband as a Title II service under the Communications Act, making it subject to more stringent regulatory authority and enabling the FCC to enforce its net neutrality rules, including its bright-line rules against blocking, throttling and paid prioritization of online content.

Pai is well versed in making his case on this issue, having previously described Title II as " an old regulatory framework ... originally designed in the 1930s for the Ma Bell telephone monopoly." Instead of Title II regulation, Pai would like to see the commission revert back to classifying broadband as a Title I information service subject to "a light-touch regulatory framework."

The reply comment period in the FCC's net neutrality proceeding closed on Aug. 30, allowing the commission to begin reviewing the totality of the record. Pai is unlikely to lay out all of his thoughts on the issue at the Institute for Policy Innovation event on Sept. 7, but for months he has said his decision will be based on the evidence and arguments presented in the record. By the time he speaks on Sept. 7, he and his staff will have had a full week to review the comments and reply comments that came in, and he will doubtlessly be asked about his initial impressions.

	Congressional hearings:
	Sept. 6	The Senate Commerce Committee will convene a hearing titled, "Risk of Waste, Fraud and Abuse in the Federal Communications Commission's Lifeline Program," at 10 a.m. ET.
	Sept. 7	The House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology will hold a hearing, "The Broadcast Incentive Auction: Update on Repacking Opportunities and Challenges" at 10 a.m. ET.
	FCC events
	Sept. 5	The 2019 World Radiocommunication Conference Advisory Committee's working group for regulatory issues is set to meet by phone at 1 p.m. ET. The advisory committee is chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act to provide the FCC with public views and recommendations in preparation for the 2019 World Radiocommunication Conference.
	Sept. 6	The 2019 World Radiocommunication Conference Advisory Committee's working group for space services is set to meet by phone at 1 p.m. ET.
	Industry events
	Sept. 5-8	The National Association of Broadcasters and the Radio Advertising Bureau are hosting the 2017 Radio Show in Austin, Texas. This year's event, which brings radio broadcasters and industry colleagues together, will open with a session "The Connected Car Listener Experience," exploring in-depth the impact of the digital dash on radio. In addition, the session will look at the opportunities surrounding self-driving cars and other voice-activation trends.
	Sept. 6	The Practising Law Institute will host a seminar titled "Net Neutrality Redux" looking at the FCC's current proceeding aimed at overturning the Open Internet Order of 2015. Hogan Lovells US LLP partner Michele Farquhar, a former FCC Wireless Telecommunications Bureau chief, along with Hogan Lovells partner Alexi Maltas, will discuss potential outcomes of the proceeding, the legal implications of reclassifying broadband, and the legal grounds for any new rules, as well as the possibility of Congressional action.
	Sept. 7	The Institute for Policy Innovation will host an event with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai titled "Preserving a Free, Open & Innovative Internet."
	Sept. 7	The Practising Law Institute will host a seminar titled "Antitrust Enforcement in the Trump Administration: What Companies Need to Know." The program is aimed at in-house lawyers and their outside advisers seeking to better understand the antitrust enforcement climate under the Trump Administration.
	Sept. 7	Next Century Cities will host an event on Tech-Powered Civic Engagement featuring city representatives who use high-speed broadband to better engage their citizens.
	Sept. 8	The Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee, a part of a private sector organization comprised of public interest groups and trade associations, will host an panel discussion at 12 p.m. ET looking at Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which was designed to limit liability of internet providers for content posted by their users and also to give them a safe harbor to manage objectionable behavior on their platforms. With several bills in Congress seeking to scale back Section 230's scope, the panel will look at the legal precedent around the law and its prospects going forward.

Stories of note:

Net neutrality's future hangs in the balance as comment period closes

DC Circuit Court remands DISH spectrum auction case back to FCC

Analyst sees 'clear roadmap' driving fiber expansion