McDowell Nomination Still in Limbo

MCDOWELL STILL DOING THE LIMBO
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA), daughter of former New Orleans Mayor Moon Landrieu, says she will continue her hold on all executive nominations -- that includes President Bush's nominee for FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell -- until the White House "fulfills its promise." A single Senator can block a vote on nominations, and Landrieu has pledged to do so until the White House agrees to fund a comprehensive rebuilding of the New Orleans levees that failed to such disastrous result due to Hurricane Katrina. A Landrieu staffer said the Senator had sent the President a letter Tuesday outlining her concerns and informing him of the hold, but at press time had yet to get any response. And McDowell is doubly blocked. There is another hold on his nomination that was being attributed to Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), placed over concerns about funding for telecommunications service to schools and libraries. The FCC will likely not start its media ownership rule rewrite until McDowell, the third Republican vote on a five-person commission, is seated. That looks like it could push the rewrite past the two-year mark. A Philadelphia appeals court sent the rules back to the FCC in June 2004 with instructions to better justify its reasoning.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6322738?display=Breaking+News