WASHINGTON-Outgoing National Telecommunications and Information Administration head Larry Irving said he will launch a start-up Internet firm and open a consulting practice here, but downplayed suggestions he would use his new, private sector status to lobby former colleagues in government.
“It’s been a great run,” Irving told reporters last Wednesday. His last day on the job was Friday.
Irving joined the Clinton administration in 1993, making him the longest-serving and arguably most accomplished NTIA chief in history.
“I’m proudest of all we’re still standing as an agency,” he stated.
Irving’s departure comes as House telecommunications subcommittee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-La.) presses legislation to overhaul NTIA. Irving predicted the NTIA reform bill will end up looking far different than it does now, a good bet given the lack of Democratic support for a reauthorization bill that has had bipartisan support in the past.
But Irving only had praise for Tauzin and other Republicans who he fought with during his seven-year tenure at NTIA, a unit of the Commerce Department with 300 employees.
“If you’re going to be successful in this town, you can’t take policy differences personally,” said Irving. Irving noted that Tauzin and other GOP members helped save NTIA from extinction a few years ago when House Republicans wanted to eliminate the Commerce Department.
On the other hand, Irving conceded, “I will not miss going up to the Hill to ask for appropriations.”
But it was not just Republicans whom Irving battled. This past summer, NTIA-backed by the wireless industry-had to fight off efforts by Department of Defense backers on Capitol Hill to give the Pentagon spectrum priority rights.
The DOD initiative was substantially rolled back by the time Congress voted on the matter, but the fight represented a direct attack on NTIA and its oversight of federal government spectrum. Tensions between DOD and NTIA are unlikely to fade away. Indeed, Irving’s successor likely will face an emboldened DOD.
The Senate, meanwhile, is moving forward with President Clinton’s nomination of Greg Rohde, a telecom aide to Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), to replace Irving. The Senate Commerce Committee was expected to approve the Rohde nomination and send it to the Senate floor last Thursday.
Irving praised the Clinton administration’s efforts to foster competition and ownership diversity in the telecommunications industry, but said more work still needs to be done.
“No other nation has had the success we’ve had,” stated Irving.
Having served as a telecom policy maker in Congress and in the administration the past 17 years, Irving said he was eager to get off the sidelines and become a player. He would not disclose details of his Internet venture, but promised to do so at a later date.
Irving said he would not be offering “Washington representation” to consulting clients, but did not rule it out.
Irving said he has been approached by various firms and likely would be serving on the board of directors of some of them.
