Stupak Bill Would Let FCC Commissioners Meet Privately

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: dewayne () warpspeed com (Dewayne Hendricks)
Date: December 4, 2009 2:22:08 PM EST
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <xyzzy () warpspeed com>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Stupak Bill Would Let FCC Commissioners Meet Privately

Stupak Bill Would Let FCC Commissioners Meet Privately

Rep Bart Stupak (D-MI) has introduced a bill to allow more than two Federal Communications Commission commissioners to 
meet privately, so long as there is at least one commissioner from each party in the room and the meeting's content is 
disclosed to the public. A number of commissioners have argued for letting commissioners get together to discuss 
issues. Currently, sunshine rules prevent more than two commissioners meeting in person outside of public meetings. 
That is because all meetings of federal agencies must be open if there is a quorum present, and since the FCC has five 
members, three represents a quorum. FCC Commissioner Michael Copps announced he was thrilled by the bill's 
introduction, saying "If there was only one action we could take to reform the FCC, this would be my choice. The 
inability of Commissioners to get together and talk as a group makes zero sense. The statutory bar on more than two 
Commissioners talking together outside a public meeting has had pernicious and unintended consequences-stifling 
collaborative discussions among colleagues, delaying timely decision-making, discouraging collegiality and 
short-changing consumers and the public interest."

<http://www.multichannel.com/article/408600-Stupak_Bill_Would_Let_FCC_Commissioners_Meet_Privately.php>

Commissioner Coops Comments: <http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-294981A1.doc>

Courtesy of the Benton Foundation <http://www.benton.org>RSS Feed: <http://www.warpspeed.com/wordpress>




-------------------------------------------
Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/
Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com