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Nominations of Jessica Rosenworcel and Ajit Pai to the Federal Communications Commission

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Nominations of Jessica Rosenworcel and Ajit Pai to the Federal Communications Commission S. HRG. 112–480 NOMINATIONS OF JESSICA ROSENWORCEL AND AJIT PAI TO THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION NOVEMBER 30, 2011 Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation ( U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 75–046 PDF WASHINGTON : 2012 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Nov 24 2008 06:23 Jul 17, 2012 Jkt 075046 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 S:\GPO\DOCS\75046.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia, Chairman DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas, Ranking JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine BARBARA BOXER, California JIM DEMINT, South Carolina BILL NELSON, Florida JOHN THUNE, South Dakota MARIA CANTWELL, Washington ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia MARK PRYOR, Arkansas ROY BLUNT, Missouri CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota PATRICK J. TOOMEY, Pennsylvania TOM UDALL, New Mexico MARCO RUBIO, Florida MARK WARNER, Virginia KELLY AYOTTE, New Hampshire MARK BEGICH, Alaska DEAN HELLER, Nevada ELLEN L. DONESKI, Staff Director JAMES REID, Deputy Staff Director BRUCE H. ANDREWS, General Counsel TODD BERTOSON, Republican Staff Director JARROD THOMPSON, Republican Deputy Staff Director REBECCA SEIDEL, Republican General Counsel and Chief Investigator (II) VerDate Nov 24 2008 06:23 Jul 17, 2012 Jkt 075046 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\GPO\DOCS\75046.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE C O N T E N T S Page Hearing held on November 30, 2011 ...................................................................... 1 Statement of Senator Rockefeller ........................................................................... 1 Statement of Senator Hutchison ............................................................................ 2 Statement of Senator DeMint ................................................................................. 3 Statement of Senator Kerry .................................................................................... 32 Statement of Senator Blunt .................................................................................... 37 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 37 Statement of Senator Toomey ................................................................................. 39 Statement of Senator Lautenberg .......................................................................... 40 Statement of Senator Klobuchar ............................................................................ 42 Statement of Senator Begich .................................................................................. 44 Statement of Senator Snowe ................................................................................... 47 Statement of Senator Wicker .................................................................................. 49 Statement of Senator Thune ................................................................................... 51 WITNESSES Hon. Pat Roberts, U.S. Senator from Kansas ....................................................... 5 Hon. Jerry Moran, U.S. Senator from Kansas ...................................................... 6 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... Jessica Rosenworcel, Nominee to be Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission ........................................................................................................... 8 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 9 Biographical information ................................................................................. 10 Ajit Pai, Nominee to be Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission 15 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 18 Biographical information ................................................................................. 20 APPENDIX Hon. Jim DeMint, U.S. Senator from South Carolina, prepared statement ....... 57 Response to written questions submitted to Jessica Rosenworcel by: Hon. Maria Cantwell ........................................................................................ 58 Hon. Claire McCaskill ...................................................................................... 60 Hon. Tom Udall ................................................................................................ 61 Hon. Mark Warner ........................................................................................... 63 Hon. Mark Begich ............................................................................................. 64 Hon. Olympia J. Snowe .................................................................................... 66 Hon. Jim DeMint .............................................................................................. 72 Hon. Dean Heller .............................................................................................. 73 Response to written questions submitted to Ajit Pai by: Hon. Maria Cantwell ........................................................................................ 74 Hon. Tom Udall ................................................................................................ 76 Hon. Mark Warner ........................................................................................... 77 Hon. Mark Begich ............................................................................................. 79 Hon. Olympia J. Snowe .................................................................................... 80 Hon. Jim DeMint .............................................................................................. 85 Hon. Dean Heller .............................................................................................. 86 (III) VerDate Nov 24 2008 06:23 Jul 17, 2012 Jkt 075046 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\GPO\DOCS\75046.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE VerDate Nov 24 2008 06:23 Jul 17, 2012 Jkt 075046 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\GPO\DOCS\75046.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE NOMINATIONS OF JESSICA ROSENWORCEL AND AJIT PAI TO THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION, Washington, DC. The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:38 p.m. in room SR–253, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. John D. Rockefeller, Chairman of the Committee, presiding. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, U.S. SENATOR FROM WEST VIRGINIA The CHAIRMAN. Welcome. Senator Hutchison and I will give our statements and Senator Kerry will soon be here. Senator DeMint will have a statement. If others want to do it, we would encourage brevity because we have not only two very fine introducers, but we have the two can- didates and a plethora of children. [Laughter.] Senator HUTCHISON. Who love speeches. The CHAIRMAN. Good afternoon, anyway. Welcome and congratu- lations to you both. I’m not talking about you two, I’m talking about them two. [Laughter.] The CHAIRMAN. Being a Commissioner at the Federal Commu- nications Commission, I think, has to be one of the toughest and most cerebral jobs in Washington. Everybody in this room knows the incredible scope of the FCC, how much they are involved in so many ways. Actually their involvement in so many ways will pre- vent our nominees from having to answer some questions today about potential mergers, because they can’t do that. So I just sort of make that clear. It’s a very, very tough job and we have two can- didates. I believe that Jessica Rosenworcel, the President’s nominee to be FCC Commissioner, is up to the task, to say the very, very least. She currently serves as senior counsel for the U.S. Senate Sub- committee on Communications Technology. She is essential to all of us in both parties, and she has done that for us. She spent near- ly 15 years working on communications issues, and I believe there is no better qualified person for this position. She has a lot of expe- rience at the FCC. (1) VerDate Nov 24 2008 06:23 Jul 17, 2012 Jkt 075046 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\GPO\DOCS\75046.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE 2 She has earned the respect of both Democrats and Republicans. She is very calm. She’s brilliant, and she is very hard to defeat in an argument of any sort. [Laughter.] The CHAIRMAN. Those of you who have worked with Jessica know that she is meticulous, that she’s sharp, and above all else she is professional. And joining her on the FCC, I hope, is Ajit Pai, an attorney, and like Jessica, has also worked at the FCC. He is a native of Parsons, Kansas. Now that makes a difference, not just to Pat Roberts and Senator Moran, but to me, because there is an automatic rural prejudice built into your DNA, and on telecommunications I like that a whole lot. This is very important to me and to the people of my state. Mr. Pai is a highly distinguished nominee with the experience and knowledge necessary to
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