Report: FCC Grilled By Lawmakers

Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee alternately praised and scolded the five members of the FCC at an oversight meeting on Nov. 17, calling on the commissioners and the chairman to take stronger steps to improve transparency and to rein-in the commission’s internal but very public squabbles, according to RadioWorld.

To ensure more active steps are taken, the House of Representatives Monday passed the FCC Process Reform Act of 2015, which is designed to improve processes at the FCC to ensure more transparent decision-making.

Committee Chair Greg Walden (R-Ore.) began the oversight meeting by chiding FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler for the lack of compromise between members of his commission and the strong disagreements that have been aired in public. He also expressed frustration that the FCC has “misunderstood, or worse, obfuscated or obstructed” the legislative intent that Congress has passed to the commission.

“Sadly, it’s clear by various actions of this and previous commissions, Congress has delegated too much flexibility and authority to the FCC,” Walden said. “We have to do a better job when we write these bills so as to limit FCC authority, not expand it.”

Commissioners touched on key topics that have crossed their desks since the full commission last met with the Energy and Commerce Committee — from the passage of the AM Radio Order to public safety to foreign ownership issues — but it was Commissioner Ajit Pai who called out his commission on a number of shortcomings, including his concerns with the FCC Enforcement Bureau.

“The enforcement process has gone off the rails,” Pai said, pointing to what he calls arbitrary forfeitures and a focus on issuing headline-grabbing fines, regardless of the legality of those actions.

Chairman Wheeler asked the committee to consider offering the FCC legislative support against pirate radio operators. “It’s whac-a-mole right now,” he said. “Congress could make it illegal to aid or abet pirate radio operations and deny them the opportunity to operate in this way. This would be a significant means of thwarting the continued growth of pirate radio.”