The Ojai and Ventura View - Federal Communications Commissioners (FCC's)

Friday, 19 April 2024

Highlights

Details: Thursday, 27 October 2016 09:11; Hits: 2246; Written by Super User

Mission: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories. An independent U.S. government agency overseen by Congress, the commission is the United States' primary authority for communications laws, regulation and technological innovation. Source: http://www.fec.gov/info/mission.shtml MORE: Commissioner Biographies

This Page (Short Link): http://bit.ly/2dL8OJT

• Federal Communications Commission - Homepage • Proceedings and Actions • Licenses and Databases • Reports & Research

• Contact the FCC

• Six (5) Commissioners Overall Source Page: https://www.fcc.gov/about/leadership

4. Ajit Pai - FCC Chairman (as per President Trump appointment, Jan. 2017, SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajit_V._Pai). The senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission. He was nominated to the FCC by President Barack Obama and was confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate on May 7, 2012.

• Regulatory Philosophy - Commissioner Pai’s regulatory philosophy is informed by a few simple principles. Rules that reflect these principles will result in more innovation, more investment, better products and services, lower prices, more job creation, and faster economic growth.

• Consumers benefit most from competition, not preemptive regulation. Free markets have delivered more value to American consumers than highly regulated ones.

• No regulatory system should indulge arbitrage; regulators should be skeptical of pleas to regulate rivals, dispense favors, or otherwise afford special treatment.

• Particularly given how rapidly the communications sector is changing, the FCC should do everything it can to ensure that its rules reflect the realities of the current marketplace and basic principles of economics.

• As a creature of Congress, the FCC must respect the law as set forth by the legislature.

• The FCC is at its best when it proceeds on the basis of consensus; good communications policy knows no partisan affiliation.

4/27/17 Rush: FCC Chair Ajit Pai Calls Out the Left on Their Plan to Control the Internet - https://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2017/04/27/ajit-pai-calls-out-the-left-on-their-plan-to-control-the-internet/

• Source - Substantially More Information, Biography, etc.

• 1. Tom Wheeler, FCC [FORMER] Chairman - Editor's NOTE: On Dec. 15, 2016 Chairman Wheeler Announced that he would be Resigning on Jan. 20, 2017, the same date as the Presidential Innaguration. A reason has not been given for his resignation. His term had been scheduled to end in 2018. (Official FCC Statement: LINK)

Bio: Became the 31st Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on November 4, 2013. Chairman Wheeler was appointed by President Barack Obama and unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate. FreeBeacon LINK: Wheeler is also a big "Wild" Bill and Hillary Clinton Supporter.

• For over three decades, Chairman Wheeler has been involved with new telecommunications networks and services, experiencing the revolution in telecommunications as a policy expert, an advocate, and a businessman. As an entrepreneur, he started or helped start multiple companies offering innovative cable, wireless, and video communications services. He is the only person to be selected to both the Cable Television Hall of Fame and The Wireless Hall of Fame, a fact President Obama joked made him "The Bo Jackson of Telecom."

• Prior to joining the FCC, Chairman Wheeler was Managing Director at Core Capital Partners, a venture capital firm investing in early stage Internet Protocol (IP)-based companies. He served as President and CEO of Shiloh Group, LLC, a strategy development and private investment company specializing in telecommunications services and co-founded SmartBrief, the internet’s largest electronic information service for vertical markets. From 1976 to 1984, Chairman Wheeler was associated with the National Cable Television Association (NCTA), where he was President and CEO from 1979 to 1984. Following NCTA, Chairman Wheeler was CEO of several high tech companies, including the first company to offer high speed delivery of data to home computers and the first digital video satellite service. From 1992 to 2004, Chairman Wheeler served as President and CEO of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA).

Chairman Wheeler wrote Take Command: Leadership Lessons of the Civil War (Doubleday, 2000) and Mr. Lincoln's T-Mails: The Untold Story of How Abraham Lincoln Used the Telegraph to Win the Civil War (HarperCollins, 2006). His commentaries on current events have been published in the Washington Post, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Newsday, and other leading publications. Presidents Clinton and Bush, close allies, each appointed Chairman Wheeler a Trustee of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where he served for 12 years. He is also the former Chairman and President of the Foundation for the National Archives, the non-profit organization dedicated to telling the American Story through its documents, and a former board member of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Judy Woodruff, the co-anchor and managing editor of PBS NewsHour, Donated to the Clinton Foundation's "Clinton Haiti Relief Fund" in 2010.)

Chairman Wheeler is a proud graduate of The Ohio State University and the recipient of its Alumni Medal. He resides in Washington, D.C.

Source - Wheeler Biography, etc.

• 2. Mignon Clyburn - FCC Commissioner. Served as Acting Chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission, following her appointment by President Barack Obama on May 20, 2013. As Commissioner, she is serving a second term as a Democrat on the Commission, for which she was sworn in on February 19, 2013 following her re-nomination by the President and confirmation by the United States Senate.

Ed. NOTE: According to a July 24, 2015 Washington Examiner story, the FCC granted reduced prices on buying wireless to a company, which donated campaign funds to Rep. Jim Clyburn, whose daughter is Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. The company, Grain Management, LLC., also donated funds to the 2008 Obama presidential campaign. Clearly a Conflict of Interest and Special Treatment situation any way you cut it. SOURCE The Examiner story also quoted the Free Beacon;

"The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) decision to grant a waiver to provide favorable status in wireless auctions to an Obama donor is “as unlawful as it is absurd,” FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai [see below] said Wednesday.

"On a 3-2 party-line vote, Democratic commissioners at the FCC granted Grain Management, LLC., status as a “designated entity” (DE) on Tuesday, allowing the company to receive discounts designed for small businesses when bidding for wireless licenses. David Grain, a major bundler for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, owns the firm."

Clyburn began her service at the FCC in August, 2009, after spending 11 years as a member of the sixth district on the Public Service Commission (PSC) of South Carolina. She served as its chair from July 2002 through June 2004.

Prior to her service on the PSC, Clyburn was the publisher and general manager of The Coastal Times, a Charleston-based weekly newspaper that focused primarily on issues affecting the African American community. She co-owned and operated the family-founded newspaper for 14 years.

A longtime champion of consumers and a defender of the public interest, Commissioner Clyburn considers every Commission proceeding with an eye toward how it will affect each and every American. She is a strong advocate for enhanced accessibility in communications for disabled citizens, and works closely with representative groups for the deaf and hard of hearing. She has fought to promote strong competition across all communications platforms, believing that the more robust and competitive the marketplace, the less need there is for regulation. However, when the market is not adequately addressing consumer concerns, Clyburn is an outspoken champion for smart, targeted regulatory action. She has pushed for media ownership rules that reflect the demographics of America, affordable universal telephone and high-speed internet access, greater broadband deployment and adoption throughout the nation, and transparency in regulation. Commissioner Clyburn is a member of the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service, Federal-State Joint Board on Separations, and the Federal-State Joint Conference on Advanced Services, all of which she chaired for three years during her first term at the FCC.

Clyburn is a graduate of the University of South Carolina, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Banking, Finance and Economics.

Source - Clyburn Biography, etc.

3. Jessica Rosenworcel - Editor's Note: Rosenworcel's Term as an FCC Commissioner Expired on Jan. 3, 2017 (as per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Rosenworcel). Nominated for a seat on the Federal Communications Commission by President Barack Obama and on May 7, 2012 was confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate. She was sworn into office on May 11, 2012.

Commissioner Rosenworcel brings a decade and a half of public sector and private sector communications law experience to her position at the FCC. This experience has shaped her belief that in the 21st century strong communications markets can foster economic growth and security, enhance digital age opportunity, and enrich our civic life.

Prior to joining the agency, Commissioner Rosenworcel served as Senior Communications Counsel for the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, under the leadership of Senator John D. Rockefeller IV. She previously served in the same role on the Committee under the leadership of Senator Daniel K. Inouye. In this position, she was responsible for legislation, hearings, and policy development involving a wide range of communications issues, including spectrum auctions, public safety, broadband deployment and adoption, universal service, video programming, satellite television, local radio, and digital television transition.

Before joining the staff of the Committee, she served as Legal Advisor to former FCC Commissioner Michael J. Copps. She also served at the agency as Legal Counsel to the Chief of the Wireline Competition Bureau and as an Attorney-Advisor in the Wireline Competition Bureau.

Prior to entering public service, Commissioner Rosenworcel practiced communications law at Drinker Biddle and Reath.

Commissioner Rosenworcel is a native of Hartford, Connecticut. She is a graduate of Wesleyan University and New York University School of Law. She lives in Washington, DC with her husband Mark, and children Caroline and Emmett.

Source - Rosenworcel biography, etc.

5. Michael O'Rielly - FCC Commissioner. Nominated for a seat on the Federal Communications Commission by President Barack Obama on August 1, 2013 and was confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate on October 29, 2013. He was sworn into office on November 4, 2013. On January 29, 2015, he was sworn into office for a new term, following his re-nomination by the President and confirmation by the United States Senate.

Prior to joining the agency Commissioner O’Rielly served as a Policy Advisor in the Office of the Senate Republican Whip, led by U.S. Senator John Cornyn, since January 2013. He worked in the Republican Whip’s Office since 2010, as an Advisor from 2010 to 2012 and Deputy Chief of Staff and Policy Director from 2012 to 2013 for U.S. Senator Jon Kyl.

He previously worked for the Republican Policy Committee in the U.S. Senate as a Policy Analyst for Banking, Technology, Transportation, Trade, and Commerce issues from 2009 to 2010. Prior to this, Commissioner O’Rielly worked in the Office of U.S. Senator John Sununu, as Legislative Director from 2007 to 2009, and Senior Legislative Assistant from 2003 to 2007. Before his tenure as a Senate staffer, he served as a Professional Staff Member on the Committee on Energy and Commerce in the United States House of Representatives from 1998 to 2003, and Telecommunications Policy Analyst from 1995 to 1998.