Dingell to NTIA: As Many Coupons as Necessary

House Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-MI) says the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's "recent decision to allow additional households to apply for 6 million expired and unredeemed coupons may not be enough to meet demand." He is concerned that the NTIA will not have enough administrative funds to reprocess all of the coupons that go unredeemed. The current redemption rate is under 50%, which means that either a lot of people applied who don't need them, or there will be a bunch of people who will have to pay for the boxes themselves. The NTIA recently said it will send out as many coupons as possible. "As many coupons as possible" will need to be "as many coupons as necessary," Chairman Dingell suggested. "I expect the NTIA to fully comply with the requirements set forth by Congress and to recycle as many coupons as are needed to meet consumers' needs. The committee will exercise vigorous oversight to ensure that the NTIA performs its task efficiently, effectively and, most of all, in a manner that does not leave consumers behind."