Hearing of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee - Opening Statement of Sen. Thune, Nomination Hearing - Jessica Rosenworcel to be FCC Commissioner

Hearing

"Today we welcome Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel to testify before the committee as we consider her nomination to serve a second term at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

"Today's appearance by Commissioner Rosenworcel marks the third time she has testified before the Committee this year, and I know the Committee appreciates her willingness to come up to the Hill to answer questions on a variety of issues before the Commission.

"Commissioner Rosenworcel has been serving as a Commissioner at the FCC since May of 2012, and before that, she served as a senior staffer on this Committee for both Chairman Rockefeller and Chairman Inouye. So she is a well-known individual to many of us on this Committee.

"Every single American relies in some part on the nation's vast communications system, and this system binds together our 21st century society.

"Congress has charged the FCC with regulating interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable. Moreover, the mandate of the FCC under the Communications Act is to make available to all Americans a rapid, efficient, nationwide, and worldwide wire and radio communications service.

"Our communications system is absolutely vital to the nation's economy, so it is critically important that those who lead the FCC do so by exercising regulatory humility, promoting economic growth, trusting technological innovation, and working within the framework provided by Congress to make world-class communications available to all Americans in both rural and urban areas.

"Commissioner Rosenworcel has served during an eventful period at the Commission. Perhaps most significantly, the FCC voted along party lines to burden the Internet with Title II common carrier regulation in February of this year, one of the most polarizing and partisan decisions in the agency's history.

"As I said at the time, the tech and telecom industries agree on few regulatory matters, but there was one idea that unified them for two decades--the Internet is not the telephone network, and one cannot apply the old rules of telecom to the new world of the Internet.

"I believe there should be clear rules for the digital road with clear authority for the FCC to enforce them. That is why I sought, and am still seeking, to work with my colleagues on a bipartisan basis to find consensus on a legislative solution to preserve the Open Internet. I will be asking Commissioner Rosenworcel about this path forward.

"Another important issue I want to bring up today is about an anomaly in the Universal Service Fund (USF) rules that Commissioner Rosenworcel, and her four colleagues on the Commission, made a commitment to me in March to fix by the end of this year.

"This anomaly requires a rural consumer to buy voice service from a small rural telephone company in order for that carrier to be eligible for USF support.

"I led a letter earlier this year, along with Sen. Klobuchar and 65 additional Senators, calling on the FCC to make this fix. It is now October 28th, and I hope that Commissioner Rosenworcel can provide an update on the progress of the FCC in satisfying the commitment she and her colleagues made back in March.

"Having said all of this, I would like to thank Commissioner Rosenworcel for her regular engagement with the Committee and her willingness to serve another term at the FCC, and I look forward to her testimony today.

"With that, I turn now to the distinguished ranking member for any remarks he would like to make."

Source