Stevens Frustrated By Hold on FCC Nominee

STEVENS FRUSTRATED BY HOLD ON FCC NOMINEE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) is getting frustrated with the hold on the nomination of Robert McDowell to the open commissioner seat on the FCC. Sen Stevens, who backed McDowell for the appointment, said yesterday that he would like to talk with Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) about the hold. That will likely have to wait until Sen Rockefeller recovers from recent surgery, however. Rockefeller's office has never confirmed or denied the hold. Sen Rockefeller wants the administration to provide clarification and written confirmation that a problem with the Universal Service Fund, which underwrites high-speed Internet service to schools and libraries is fixed. The problem, to make a very long story short, is new accounting rules introduced to insure the government appropriates the money for a program before it spends it. Those rules had an adverse impact on the distribution of funds to schools, libraries, and rural telcos when the FCC, under the direction of the Office of Management and Budget, began applying them to the USF. According to a source, Rockefeller's office has gotten assurances from the administration that it will fix the problem, but the Senator wants it in writing. Presumably when and if that happens, the hold, will be lifted and McDowell's nomination can be voted on and the FCC can begin to take up some key issues, like its rewrite of the media ownership rules.
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