WASHINGTON, DC - House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders today wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler requesting information about his proposal to close 16 of the commission’s 24 field offices across the country. During testimony before the Communications and Technology Subcommittee, both FCC Managing Director Jon Wilkins (on March 4 ), and Chairman Wheeler (on March 19 ) pledged to provide the committee with the outside consultant’s final report detailing the rationale and analytical support for the proposal. To date, the FCC has provided just a two-page memo and a 35-page slide presentation in response to the committee.
In the letter to Wheeler, full committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR), Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Tim Murphy (R-PA), and Rep, Mike Pompeo (R-KS) question the FCC about the decision to close these field offices and request all internal and external FCC documents about the decision.
The leaders write, “Your proposal to shutter 16 of the commission’s 24 field offices raises significant challenges and concerns. The commission has represented to Congress and the American people that it will “preserve the integrity of public safety communications infrastructure by taking action on 99% of complaints of interference to public safety communications within one day," yet your proposal to reduce the geographic footprint of the commission appears to ignore the impact this might have on the commission’s public interest goal."
The leaders continued, “Our concerns have only been heightened by the commission’s failure to provide all the information requested by the committee." The committee has set a deadline of May 7 for the FCC to comply.
