Fed up with the long-term course of the FCC, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) wants to throw the whole thing out and start over.
At a Senate Commerce Committee hearing Thursday, Rockefeller said the panel should work next year on a new reauthorization bill for the FCC—its structure, its mission, even the terms of the commissioners (currently five years, with no more than three of the five commissioners belonging to the president’s party.)
“I am becoming increasingly concerned that the FCC appears to be more concerned about making sure the policies they advocate serve the needs of the companies they regulate and their bottom lines rather than the public interest,” Rockefeller said. “Congress cannot allow this to happen.”
Rockefeller also proposed holding off on confirmation of the two pending renominations of commissioners—Jonathan Adelstein and Deborah Taylor Tate—until the president is elected.
“I believe that we can spend 2008 thinking about the reorganization of the agency and give the new Administration a chance to put its mark on communications policy,” he said.
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