House Commerce Committee Leaders Urge NTIA to Provide Leadership Across the Administration in the Management of Federal Spectrum

House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Full Committee Ranking Member Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA), and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Ranking Member Bob Latta (R-OH) wrote to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration urging the agency to fulfill its statutory role and provide needed leadership in the management of federal spectrum use. In a letter to NTIA Acting Assistant Secretary Evelyn Remaley, the legislators said that Congress specifically designated NTIA as the authority on federal spectrum management to ensure agencies do not improperly elevate their own spectrum needs over others. Allowing a single agency with significant spectrum needs to manage both its and other agencies’ spectrum resources would risk inefficient use of this resource, they wrote, emphasizing that NTIA’s job is to resolve conflicts in consultation with the President. The letter comes as the Committee leaders wait to receive the results of their inquiry to the Government Accountability Office seeking recommendations on how NTIA can improve its spectrum management process.