Ah…August in Washington. Congress is on hiatus. Agencies have ratcheted down. Tourists are dwindling. Humidity on certain days is below 99 percent. John Tesh (and his Olympic drivel) is gone. My bureau chief is on vacation. Life is good.
Well, it’s okay. I’m still faced with the one “given” that never slows down-the paperwork. Why is it that more bills, orders, proposals, notices, opinions, platform planks, flow charts and other related effluvia continue to gush despite the fact that no one is available at any of the supplied “for more information” phone numbers to answer questions. Are they “in the office or on another call,”-or they have just taken the day off? When the cat’s away*…*
Early last week, I needed a copy of the Fields/Dingell “FCC Modernization Act of 1996,” a sure show-stopper-at least as far as FCC Chairman Reed Hundt is concerned. Fields’ office didn’t have a copy (although the press liaison said he would be happy to talk to me about it if I ever found one), so I was transferred to the House Commerce Committee. Commerce didn’t have one, either; I was sent to the telecommunications subcommittee. No luck there-try the Congressional Documents Office. Too bad-the bill hasn’t been printed. Could be this week, could be next. Wait a minute*…*someone has to have that paper; Fields wasn’t speaking extemporaneously.
But there is a God. At the end of a hectic day, I made one last phone call and found an eager-to-please summer intern, who managed to find me not only a draft of the bill but a summary of all of its nuances. Mission accomplished.
And then there is the Republican platform committee. Every news outlet and media fax machine in the Western world carried accounts of probable presidential candidate Bob Dole’s tax-cut plan, which he just so happens to fund, at least in part, with $35 billion in broadcast spectrum auctions, despite the fact he couldn’t get Congress to budge on this when he was Senate majority leader. No numbers available to support the proposal. No one answers phone calls. Another glitch in the PR machine.
Finally, I’ve been waiting for days for the text of the FCC’s recent interconnection/local competition order, in which the commission has promised to reveal all there is to know about the future and how it will affect the growth of the wireless industry. This is important stuff. The Communications Act of 1996 said it must be released by Aug. 8. I’m on deadline. Can I talk to someone? What?*…*yes*…*I know it’s August.
