Statement of Commissioner O'Rielly on HR 2593

Given my outspoken involvement in Federal Communications Commission process related issues, I want to commend [Rep Bob Latta’s (R-OH)] effort to bring the public into the loop on FCC decisions pushed to the staff level.

Notifying the American people of imminent staff decisions should be a basic priority. And with a Commission intent on avoiding accountability by delegating more and more important decisions to staff, from 2015’s wireless competition report to key policies on the incentive auction, Lifeline, and E-Rate, it is more important than ever to shed some additional light on this process. Compared to the circulation time of items at the Commission level, during which the public has notice of the items as well as often descriptive materials, 48 hours is a very short time period, though the decisions can be just as consequential. The Commission is able to bypass quite a bit of public input through the abuse of delegated authority – it should not be permitted to bypass public notice as well. To be clear, nothing in the Rep Latta bill will undermine the functionality of the Commission or the deliberative process, in fact it will enhance its efforts and should be a welcomed reform.