Senate Bill S. 2881 would add technical expertise to FCC Commissioners' offices [Telecom]

[Neal McLain]

Senate Bill S. 2881 would add technical expertise to FCC Commissioners'
offices

A bill introduced on Monday [12/14/2009] in the U.S. Senate would
potentially add one electrical engineer or computer scientist within
each of the offices of the five FCC Commissioners.

Introduced by Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and co-sponsored by
Senator Mark Warner (D-Virginia), Senate Bill 2881 would authorize
each FCC Commissioner to add one staff assistant position to the three
that are currently authorized. The new position of "staff engineer"
would require that the holder either have a degree in electrical
engineering or be a computer scientist. If eventually passed, the new
authorization would effectively undo a loosening of requirements for
technical staff at the highest level of the FCC that began more than
25 years ago.

http://sbe.org/SenateBill.php

Neal McLain

***** Moderator's Note *****

In the world of Washington shadow-boxing, this is as close as a
federal agency ever gets to a rebuke. The F.C.C., annoyed by a
Congressional demand to plan for upgrading the nation's
telecommunications infrastructure, put out a notice that asked for
input on converting the nation's phone system to VoIP. Of course, that
can't happen, and apparently the word has reached the Congress, so
Senators Snow and Warner are firing a shot across the FCC's
bureaucratic bow.

Time will tell if the commission gets the message "loud and clear".

Bill Horne
Moderator

[Richard]

On Wed, 23 Dec 2009 15:59:30 -0600, Neal McLain
<nmc...@annsgarden.com> wrote:

> Senate Bill S. 2881 would add technical expertise to FCC Commissioners'
> offices
>
> A bill introduced on Monday [12/14/2009] in the U.S. Senate would
> potentially add one electrical engineer or computer scientist within
> each of the offices of the five FCC Commissioners.
>
> Introduced by Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and co-sponsored by
> Senator Mark Warner (D-Virginia), Senate Bill 2881 would authorize
> each FCC Commissioner to add one staff assistant position to the three
> that are currently authorized. The new position of "staff engineer"
> would require that the holder either have a degree in electrical
> engineering or be a computer scientist. If eventually passed, the new
> authorization would effectively undo a loosening of requirements for
> technical staff at the highest level of the FCC that began more than
> 25 years ago.
>
> http://sbe.org/SenateBill.php

The text of the bill reads: "`Each commissioner MAY also appoint an
electrical engineer or computer scientist to provide the commissioner
technical consultation when appropriate ..." [emphasis added]

So, each commissioner may appoint one, but is not required to do so.
I predict that no commissioner will appoint an electrical engineer or
computer scientist.