Hearing of the House Communications and Technology Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee - FCC Reauthorization: Improving Commission Transparency

Hearing

Thank you Chairman Walden and welcome Chairman Wheeler and Commissioner
O'Rielly. I know you were sitting in those same seats just a few weeks ago--we appreciate your
coming back.

Unfortunately, we are here once again to pick apart the FCC. This is the fourth straight
hearing for this subcommittee where the Republicans have demanded FCC staff or
commissioners spend their time before us. That does not count the steady stream of inquiry
letters the Republicans have been sending to the FCC over the past few weeks. I am certainly
committed to rigorous oversight of all of the agencies in our jurisdiction. But at some point that
this oversight is simply political. This subcommittee can have a more proactive agenda including
a sharper focus on consumer needs.

But today we are here to discuss the FCC's supposed lack of transparency. Many see
these charges as a backhanded slap at the FCC for adopting strong network neutrality
protections. And although none of these allegations have stuck, the Republicans have put
forward solutions to resolve problems that are hard to find.

Nonetheless, I am willing to have the debate about whether we should modify procedures
across all agencies. But these kinds of agency-specific procedural changes have several
drawbacks.

First, they can give the public the impression that these are simply backdoor efforts to
undermine popular decisions with which some members of Congress disagree.
Second, legal experts have repeatedly told us that agency-specific requirements invite
lawsuits. They have explained that even small changes create large conflicts with long-standing
legal precedent. These conflicts will no doubt lead to drawn out battles in court. And as we
have heard over and over in this subcommittee, litigation unsettles the market and deters
investment.

But despite our concerns with the Republicans' specific bills, Democrats are not the party
of no. That is why the Democratic members of this subcommittee have put together our own
plan. One that builds on the good work Chairman Wheeler has already done to improve the
FCC's processes and will keep future FCC administrations fast, efficient, and transparent. Our
commonsense proposals would keep the FCC as agile as the industries it regulates without
sparking years of legal uncertainty.

And our plan goes beyond the bureaucratic inner workings of the FCC. We believe that
transparency should extend to the political process as well. That is why the Democratic plan
includes a way to ensure that the public knows who is paying for expensive political ads on
TV. For too long, mega-donors have been hiding behind the innocuous and misleading titles of
their super-PACs. Americans deserve to know who is using the public's airwaves to influence
political debates. Transparency should not stop at the doors of the FCC.

I am hopeful that these aggressive and political tactics against the FCC can end today.

Thank you.

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