FCC Gears Up for Senate Overview Hearing
FCC officials have been working long hours in preparation for Thurs.’s Senate Commerce Committee hearing, at which all 5 Commissioners will testify. The hearing marks the beginning of the Democratic Congress’ commitment to stronger FCC oversight; senators are expected to lob some tough questions, Hill sources said. The House Commerce Committee plans a similar hearing with equally close scrutiny in mid-Feb., a committee spokeswoman said.
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Some committee members will pay special attention to the FCC’s handling of the AT&T-BellSouth merger, with Republicans likely to challenge the special conditions, according to Hill sources and lobbyists. Members also will want to know how the FCC plans to work with NTIA on DTV transition issues -- a matter of increasing concern as the Feb. 17, 2009, analog cutoff date approaches. Other likely issues to surface include the FCC’s handling of franchising, net neutrality, media ownership and media violence.
Among items FCC Chmn. Martin reportedly had hoped to finalize before the hearing are the TV violence report and the customer proprietary network information (CPNI) order. The Commission also has yet to release the AT&T-BellSouth merger order, following approval of the merger Dec. 29. Meanwhile, one source said, a task force of FCC staffers has been addressing a backlog of junk fax complaints.
One regulatory attorney said the FCC has thrown considerable resources at finalizing a number of items prior to Thurs., taking an “all hands” approach that goes well beyond the inner circle so critical on most issues under Martin. “They're trying to catch up on the backlog in a week and a half,” the attorney said: “They're trying to get stuff out of the way that’s been stalled. The pressure of oversight appears to be driving them to resolve a lot of routine items that haven’t had the attention they traditionally receive.”
“There has been a flurry of activity,” said a 2nd attorney: “Martin wants a bunch of loose ends tied up before he goes to the Hill.”
Last Sept., just before Martin went before the Senate Commerce Committee for a confirmation hearing (CD Sept 13 p2), there was a similar flurry of activity. For example, with questions about a white spaces expected, the Commission’s Office of Engineering & Technology released a timetable for various actions the Commission needed to take to get devices into customers’ hands once the frequencies are opened.
Martin is likely to face some pointed questions from committee Democrats about media ownership rules in light of studies showing little diversity in local news. Localism is an issue of great concern to Sens. Dorgan (N.D.) and Snowe (R-Me.), who could pursue questioning of FCC officials if there’s time. Dorgan and Snowe also may plug their net neutrality bill, introduced a few weeks ago.
How to handle the growing costs of the Universal Service Fund (USF) is certain to come up, as both Commerce Committee Chmn. Inouye (D-Hawaii) and Vice-Chmn. Stevens (R-Alaska) both are champions of the fund. Both support cost-efficient changes, but it likely will be tough to get legislation passed this year. Net neutrality legislation could become the main driver of telecom legislation, some Hill sources predict. The political dynamics are different in this Congress and it might be easier to find common ground.