Deborah Tate tendered her resignation as FCC Commissioner this week during the commission's last meeting of the year.
Commissioners spent the majority of the meeting, which was in conference call mode, to praise Tate's three year tenure on the commission. Tate, a former Tennessee utility commissioner, was named by President Bush three years ago as a recess appointment and was never confirmed by the Senate. Her tenure expires when the new Congress convenes next month.
Commissioner Robert McDowell applauded Tate for her attention to family and children's issues. "No other commissioner in the history of this agency can be said to have done more to call attention to the actions that the government, industry, and private citizens can take to help parents and children negotiate our evolving telecommunications landscape," McDowell said.
Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein praised Tate for her "grace and friendship" and noted her efforts on federal-state relationships on telecommunications issues. "Her leadership and determination as Chair of the Federal-State Joint Boards on universal service, separations, and advanced telecommunications service were essential to the development of consensus-based recommendations in areas that have typically been contentious and thorny," Adelstein said.
Tate commended the commission for spending more time "outside the beltway," and added that she hoped that the commission "will continue to see and find consensus whenever possible, keeping the public interest rather than the 'politics du jour' at the forefront of every decision. Tate also praised broadcasters for their DTV education efforts.
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