WASHINGTON-There is probably not a need for Congress to pass legislation to reform the Federal Communications Commission especially if new FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell is successful in his attempts to reform the agency, said out-going FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth.
“If one looks at most of the reform issues on Capitol Hill, they are almost all within the control of the chairman of the FCC. … Frankly that is a more likely scenario than legislation,” said Furchtgott-Roth during his monthly press briefing last week.
Furchtgott-Roth has often voiced his strong opinion that the FCC frequently steps outside of its jurisdiction and that reforming the mindset of the agency to one that follows the law would not only be lawful but the right thing to do. Last week, he expanded on that thought commenting on the power of an agency that impacts large portions of the nation’s economy.
“Just because there is power to be had does not mean that it is lawful or that it is good government” to seize that power, said Furchtgott-Roth.
It is this mindset of going outside the law that has led members of Congress from both parties in recent years to cry fowl, said Furchtgott-Roth. “This is an equal-opportunity target from Capitol Hill … largely with good reason,” he said.
While Furchtgott-Roth is not sure Powell will set statutory timeframes, he feels that some of the delays are the reason for congressional micro-management.
“I think a lot of the beefs have been about the unpredictability of this place. The delays that go on,” said Furchtgott-Roth.
As Furchtgott-Roth announced his intention to not seek re-nomination and FCC Commissioner Susan Ness quietly made known her plans to also leave the commission, some have questioned whether there should be a smaller commission or perhaps a single regulator modeled after Great Britain’s Office of Telecommunications Regulation. Furchtgott-Roth said he believes that a five-person commission is the right size and that an OFTEL-like regulator is entirely the wrong direction for FCC reform.
“This agency has a lot of power in recent years … a concentration of unlawful power … in the extreme if you reduced it to me, that would be very scary,” said Furchtgott-Roth.
One area that Furchtgott-Roth hopes is eliminated is the recent lobbying that has been done by FCC staff on issues such as bankruptcy reform and the FCC budget.
“I find it extraordinarily unseemly for government employees to go up to Congress to lobby cheek to jowl with professional lobbyists [with] you as a taxpayer footing the bill,” said Furchtgott-Roth.
The FCC should limit its interactions with Congress to responding to requests for information, said Furchtgott-Roth. There is a “very big difference from responding for information to organizing information in a manipulative way,” he said.
