The Senate Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, part of the Appropriations Committee, is going under the gavel of Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ). It oversees appropriations for the FCC, among other things, giving Lautenberg two committees from which to deal with the Commission.
Another federal agency of occasional interest to broadcasters, the FTC, will also need to deal with Lautenberg when it’s time to ask for funding.
Some of the organizations under the subcomnmittee’s purview include Securities & Exchange Commission, the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, the Small Business Administration, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Executive Office of the President and Federal court system.
The chair opened up when former occupant Dick Durbin (D-IL) headed elsewhere, combined with the passing of Daniel Inouye (D-HI).
Lautenberg stated, “The financial services industry is critical to the economy in New Jersey and the entire nation, and its proper regulation is essential to ensure Main Street—not just Wall Street—prospers,” Lautenberg said. “This chairmanship provides an important opportunity to strengthen consumer protections and make sure our nation’s financial institutions serve the interests of all Americans. In addition, the FCC has a tremendous impact on our daily lives, from cell phones to the Internet to what we see on our television screens, and I will work to promote fairness, localism, and diversity in the telecommunications industry.”
RBR-TVBR observation: Interesting – Lautenberg definitely has a pet peeve that directly relates to the FCC. It is Fox Television’s WWOR-TV. Licensed to Secaucus NJ, Lautenberg has long maintained that it should be focusing its attention on New Jersey news and public affairs, but instead looks to New York City. He rarely lets an opportunity to remind the FCC of this state of affairs slip by. This is likely to be a topic of discussion the next time the FCC is required to run its budget through Congress.
