WASHINGTON-The Senate Commerce Committee sent to the Senate floor a bill to reauthorize the National Telecommunications and Information Administration without considering a Bush administration proposal to reorganize the Department of Commerce.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman, reiterated his belief that there is not much support in his committee for the proposal that would move NTIA under the purview of the Technology Administration.
McCain also said he has not received a request to hold a hearing on the Commerce Department reorganization. Earlier this month, when the Senate Commerce Committee re-authorized the Technology Administration, McCain said if Commerce Secretary Donald Evans requested a hearing on the reorganization, he would hold such a meeting.
The Technology Administration said it had not requested a hearing because the reorganization bill has not yet been introduced. TA spokeswoman Connie Correll expects the bill to be introduced when Congress returns in September. Correll said that after the bill is introduced, a hearing would be requested.
NTIA declined comment on the Senate Commerce Committee action. The NTIA reauthorization passed by unanimous consent.
Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.) tried to eliminate the Technology Opportunities Program grants, arguing that they had never been authorized and that the program, which dates back to the Clinton administration, had outlived its usefulness. Other senators who pointed to successful TOP grant projects rebuffed this. Sununu countered that with 20-percent overhead costs, the TOP grants could not be considered successful and that it would bankrupt the country if every grant program had 20-percent administrative costs. Sununu ultimately lost by voice vote.
