{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://www.leahy.senate.gov/press/comment-of-senator-patrick-leahy-d-vt_chairman-senate-judiciary-committee-on-agreement-to-restoring-users-ability-to-unlock-cellphones", "Comment Of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.),  Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee, On Agreement To Restoring Users’ Ability to Unlock Cellphones", "2013-12-12", "2013", "2013-12", "Democrat", "House", "VT", "Patrick Leahy", "L000174", "www.leahy.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.12.13\n\t\t\t Comment Of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.),  Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee, On Agreement To Restoring Users\u2019 Ability to Unlock Cellphones \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t[The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday announced that it had reached a voluntary agreement with the wireless industry allowing consumers to \u201cunlock\u201d their cell phones.\u00a0 Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) introduced the bipartisan Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act, S. 517, in March after the United States Library of Congress declined to renew an exemption to section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) that allowed consumers to easily transfer their cell phones to other providers.\u00a0Leahy\u2019s legislation restores the previous rule authorizing cell phone unlocking.\u00a0 A companion bill was approved by the House Judiciary Committee in July.]\r\n\u201cToday the wireless industry listened to the complaints of consumers and lawmakers by voluntarily agreeing to allow individuals to transfer their cell phones to other carriers.\u00a0Nine months ago, I introduced bipartisan legislation to provide consumers the ability to keep their phones and make their own decision about which wireless provider to use. I am glad the wireless industry agrees with this commonsense approach, and I applaud the industry\u2019s actions taken today. The Judiciary Committee will continue in its oversight capacity to monitor the implementation of this agreement and ensure that it provides consumers the freedom to choose the wireless provider that best suits their needs.\u201d\r\n# # # # #\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t Press Contact \n\t\t\t\tPress Contact  David Carle: 202-224-3693\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\t\n\t\n\t\n  \n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tNext Article\n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://www.leahy.senate.gov/press/comment-of-senator-patrick-leahy-d-vt_chairman-senate-judiciary-committee-on-agreement-to-restoring-users-ability-to-unlock-cellphones"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4119930565357208, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}