WASHINGTON-When children squabble about whether one is being nice to the other, a parent often
must render a judgment about the situation. When members of the Federal Communications Commission squabble, it is
left for Congress to arbitrate.
FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth charges he cannot effectively do his job
because FCC Chairman William Kennard has blocked access to FCC staff. Kennard’s office at least once told the staff
and Furchtgott-Roth that all assignments must be approved by the Office of the Chairman, according to Furchtgott-
Roth. Furchtgott-Roth sent a letter to Congress recently to complain about the situation.
Kennard quickly responded
in his own letter that he was only following tradition and that former chairmen also have coordinated staff work
load.
Both men said they “regretted” dragging Congress into the mess. Senate Commerce Committee
Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.), one of the recipients of the letters, has responded in a way favorable to Furchtgott-
Roth, according to a published report. Both the committee and the FCC refused to release McCain’s letter.
Pia
Pialorsi, Commerce Committee press secretary, refused to confirm the accuracy of a story on CNET News.com, an
Internet publication, that had McCain telling Kennard not to follow tradition.
Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.), chairman
of the House telecommunications subcommittee and another recipient of the letters, has not responded in writing, but
plans to express his views in a phone conversation, said Tauzin spokesman Ken Johnson. The issue also could be part
of the upcoming FCC re-authorization debate, Johnson said.
The issue that brought the private feud between
Furchtgott-Roth and Kennard into the public involved a request from Furchtgott-Roth’s chief of staff to all bureaus
regarding license transfers approved in 1998 and the criteria used to select transfer applications for scrutiny under the
“public interest” standard.
Furchtgott-Roth publicly complained in December the FCC was giving too
much scrutiny to big telecom mergers such as SBC Communications Inc./Ameritech Corp. and Bell Atlantic
Corp./GTE Corp., but paying no attention to the merger between Mobil and Exxon. The Mobil/Exxon merger would
involve the transfer of many private wireless licenses.
The bureaus compiled the information but were not allowed
by the chairman’s office to turn it over, according to Furchtgott-Roth. E-mail messages released by Furchtgott-Roth’s
office appear to back up the claims.
