THE HILL: Upton: Under GOP, Genachowski to be 'familiar face' on Capitol Hill

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By Sara Jerome

If he becomes the top Republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee, Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) has vowed to make Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski a regular in Congress as the committee makes FCC oversight a central piece of its agenda.

"After two years of inaction, the Energy and Commerce Committee will be quite active in fulfilling the oversight responsibilities our Founding Fathers expected. The FCC will be prominently featured and Chairman Genachowski will soon be a familiar face on Capitol Hill," Upton said in a statement on Friday.

As rumors swirl that the FCC has plans to move on its controversial net-neutrality proceeding in December, Upton sent a clear message that the agency should back down.

And his message had holiday flair.

"I hope that the only turkey cooking next week will be in our kitchens on Thanksgiving and not at the FCC," he said.

Upton said he is "alarmed and disappointed" by the possibility that the FCC might "blatantly seek to circumvent Congress and seize authority that they do not have."

He urged the agency not to "poison the well before the new Congress is sworn in," and to instead "stand down on any movement toward net neutrality."

The FCC should instead work with Republicans in the next Congress, he said.

"We should work to create jobs rather than impose further regulations that will extinguish the flicker of economic hope that now burns with the prospect of a new Congress," he said.

Upton is in a heated race to become chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, a powerful panel overseeing the FCC and telecom policy, as well as other topics.

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