Chmn. Powell responded Thurs. to Senate questions about whether t...
Chmn. Powell responded Thurs. to Senate questions about whether the FCC’s recent work on E-rate was politically motivated. “That is ridiculous and unfounded,” Powell told reporters. “I've been here 7 years. This program has been run as effectively and…
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efficiently by us as by anyone else. I don’t think it’s politically motivated to make sure govt. money, $2.25 billion of taxpayers’ money, complies strictly with the govt. accounting and auditing standards.” Powell added he also didn’t view as political a decision to keep the USF contribution rate low in light of funding shortfalls that led to an Aug. 3 suspension of the program. “The Commission worries about all consumers,” he said. “The contribution factor gets paid by somebody, It gets paid by individual bill payers.” Powell said he hopes Congress will look at changing the law if it has concerns about how FCC has handled the program. “If we all care about the program, what we ought to be worried about is how to fix it,” he said. “Let’s talk about legislation that would either exempt or modify the [USF] program so it didn’t have to comply with the Antideficiency Act.” Powell said he was ready to appear before the Senate on the issue if called: “I work for them and I'll participate as they choose.” HB