Senator Obama: ‘Irresponsible’ For FCC To Vote On Rules Unreleased To The Public
6:39 PM 02/23/2015
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler on Monday again declined to publicly release his aggressive net neutrality proposal prior to a vote.
This is despite the fact that the process of adopting such rules — which line up perfectly with those called for by President Obama in 2014 — was described as “irresponsible” by Sen. Obama in 2007.
In a Monday letter from House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz to Wheeler lamenting his decline to appear before the committee and testify on any influence the White House may have had over the rules, Chaffetz pointed out that during his tenure in Congress, the president himself criticized the agency’s process of adopting new regulations prior to their public disclosure.
“At a September 2007 public hearing in Chicago, Senator Obama submitted a statement that he ‘strongly requested’ the FCC ‘put out any changes that they intend to vote on in a new notice of proposed rulemaking,’” Chaffetz wrote.
A month after his September 2007 statement, Sen. Obama submitted a letter to then-FCC Chairman Kevin Martin arguing that the “proposed timeline and process” used by the agency to adopt rules are “irresponsible,” noting that while a specific proposal “may pass the muster of a federal court, Congress and the public have the right to review any specific proposal and decide whether or not it constitutes sound policy.”
http://dailycaller.com/2015/02/23/senator-obama-irresponsible-for-fcc-to-vote-on-rules-unreleased-to-the-public/
