Testifying before a House Appropriations subcommittee on Tuesday, Wheeler said that the commission's request for a 10.5 percent increase in its annual budget would go towards updating its information technology, expanding the program to bring high-speech communications access to all corners of the country and mandatory costs like staff salary.
“This is serious money,” Wheeler told the panel. “You have the right to take a close and hard look at it because it demands explanation.”
Part of the money would go towards increasing enforcement of a program that subsidizes phone service for some poor Americans. The Lifeline program, which is a part of the Universal Service Fund, was created in 1985 and expanded to cover cell phones in 2005, but has sometimes been referred to as the “Obamaphone” program.
Videos showing people abusing the program caused a stir in recent years, and became a rallying cry for some Republicans who said it epitomized government waste.
“The Lifeline program has been abused,” Wheeler said. “We need more muscular enforcement of what’s going on in Universal Service.”
The agency would also spend more than $2 million on cybersecurity issues.
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