The House Energy and Commerce Committee is giving Communications Subcommittee chair Greg Walden (R-OR) by break and sending Republican FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell over to the Subcommittee Oversight and Investigations for a change. That’s because the hearing goes beyond communications issues – McDowell will join representatives from other agencies to discuss regulatory reform.
The session, entitled “The Views of the Independent Agencies on Regulatory Reform,” is on the calendar for Thursday July 7, 2011 at 10:30AM. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) is Chairman of the subcommittee and Diana DeGette (D-CO) is Ranking Member.
E&C’s Communications Subcommittee has already held two sessions on reforming the operations of the FCC, the second of which featured a draft of a bill that would mandate certain changes. Walden and full committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) have also extracted a promise from FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski to erase the Fairness Doctrine and other outmoded items out of the rulebook this August.
The panelists for the 7/7/11 session are:
* The Honorable Robert S. Adler, Commissioner, Consumer Product Safety Commission
* The Honorable Anne Meagher Northup, Commissioner, Consumer Product Safety Commission
* The Honorable Robert McDowell, Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission
* The Honorable Jon Wellinghoff, Chairman, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
* The Honorable Philip D. Moeller, Commissioner, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
* The Honorable Jon Leibowitz, Chairman, Federal Trade Commission
* The Honorable William E. Kovacic, Commissioner, Federal Trade Commission
