House Energy and Commerce panel to start official business on Jan. 22

By Jennifer Martinez - 01/07/13 06:34 PM ET

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) on Monday said the panel will formally appoint its subcommittee chairs on Jan. 22 at its first organizational meeting for the 113th Congress.

The committee rules for the new congressional session will also be adopted at the upcoming meeting. The House Energy and Commerce panel has jurisdiction over telecommunications, interstate and foreign commerce and consumer protection issues, among other matters. It also oversees agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Under Upton's leadership, Republicans on the committee have scrutinized the FCC and the net-neutrality rules it enacted in 2010, as well as pushed against new telecommunications rules. GOP members claim the FCC overstepped its bounds by adopting the net-neutrality rules, which require Internet service providers to treat all Web traffic equally.

Democrats have defended the commission's rules, arguing that they're needed to ensure Internet providers don't serve certain types of Web content more quickly to subscribers over other types of content.

In a statement, Upton said the committee will continue its small government approach in the new Congress.

"We have many challenges ahead as we seek to create jobs and grow our economy. We will strive for a smaller, modernized government that is geared for the innovation era – where obsolete programs are shed for fresh approaches that foster growth and advancement in all sectors of our economy," Upton said.

"We also understand that Washington, in fact, does not know best, and the committee will stand up for families, communities, and successful civic initiatives that are working at the local and state level,” he added.

Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) is set to chair the commerce, manufacturing and trade subcommittee in the 113th Congress, which has previously looked at online privacy, Internet fraud and mobile phone issues. Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) will head up the Oversight and Investigations subpanel after former subcommittee Chairman Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) lost his primary race in August. Meanwhile, Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) will return as chair of the influential communications and technology subcommittee.