The Archive

Thank you so much for joining our Punchbowl News virtual event with Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) yesterday.

DelBene discussed the role of trust in technological development and areas where a divided Congress could come together next year. Afterward, we were joined by Trusted Future’s Co-Chair Jim Kohlenberger and Advisory Board Member Edward “Smitty” Smith for a fireside chat. The conversation was presented by Trusted Future.

Here are the key takeaways from our conversation with Rep. DelBene:

→	DelBene hailed Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s career as “historic” while welcoming the opportunity for other lawmakers to take on new responsibilities after 20 years of her leadership.

Pelosi announced last week that she was stepping down from Democratic leadership after this Congress. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is running unopposed to replace her as the next Democratic leader. House Democrats will hold leadership elections Nov. 30.

Here’s DelBene:

→	DelBene sees some areas for bipartisanship in the 118th Congress but said lawmakers should address the debt ceiling during the lame duck.

DelBene argued that Congress should raise the debt ceiling before the end of the year because “we shouldn’t be risking the full faith of our federal government and finances of our federal government to try to use as a lever for other types of policy.”

Pelosi has raised this idea as well, but Senate Republicans are opposed.

→	DelBene says Congress should push for “broad” data privacy reform for “all sensitive information.”

Some lawmakers have suggested that a more narrow bill that targets the data privacy of children or women could be an easier sell for Capitol Hill. But DelBene pushed back, arguing there were too many problems at the national level to pursue smaller packages.

→	DelBene called data privacy “an issue of civil rights, civil liberties, human rights,” particularly since Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court.

DelBene first introduced the Information Transparency and Personal Data Control Act in March 2021, but she’s since argued the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson makes it more urgent than ever to protect data related to pregnancy and maternal health.

Here’s what the Washington Democrat told us yesterday:

Additional takeaways from Trusted Future’s Jim Kohlenberger and Edward “Smitty” Smith:

→	Kohlenberger said leading antitrust legislation is “not really fully cooked yet” and warned of potential consequences.

Kohlenberger didn’t say which bills he was referring to specifically, but there are some obvious candidates. The American Innovation and Choice Online Act introduced by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) has some bipartisan support, though it remains unclear whether Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will bring the package to the floor in the lame-duck session.

In the meantime, the White House has made antitrust policy a priority at the executive level, asking federal agencies to review their competition and merger oversight practices in an executive order in July 2021.

Here’s more from Kohlenberger:

Kohlenberger emphasized the need for “all technology legislation to improve trust” and argued that companies who took strides to boost digital trust with their consumers on their own had a “competitive advantage.”

→	Smith said that there was no one-size-fits-all approach to that task and that different communities would require distinct approaches.

Watch the full conversation here.

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Team Punchbowl News

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