From: <kdb17@columbia.edu>
  To  : <cpc@emoglen.law.columbia.edu>
  Date: Mon, 06 Feb 2006 15:30:49 -0500

Tribune FCC article

To avoid other's having to sign into the Tribune site, I pasted the
FCC article below.  Sorry for the hassle.
------------------------
Bush appoints lobbyist to FCC
McDowell restores Republican majority

>From Tribune news services
Published February 4, 2006


WASHINGTON -- President Bush on Friday chose telecommunications
lobbyist Robert McDowell to take an open seat at the Federal
Communications Commission, a move that would restore the agency's
3-2 Republican majority.

McDowell currently serves as senior vice president and assistant
general counsel at Comptel, a trade organization representing phone
carriers that compete with the regional Bell companies.

The Senate Commerce Committee would have to endorse the nomination
and then the full Senate would have to confirm it. A Senate
Commerce Committee spokesman said no date has been set for a
confirmation hearing. A Comptel spokeswoman said McDowell declined
to comment.

McDowell would give FCC Chairman Kevin Martin a Republican majority
at the agency, something he hasn't had since he was elevated to the
post last March.

Since then, the normally five-member commission has been split 2-2,
though it was briefly operating with only three members in
December, when Martin was outnumbered by the two Democrats on the
panel. The Democratic majority ended last month when Republican
Deborah Tate was sworn in.

"He has a wealth of knowledge in the communications arena, and we
will rely on his insight when evaluating the issues before us,"
Martin said of McDowell. "I look forward to working with a full
complement of commissioners."

A third Republican vote would allow Martin to move forward with his
agenda and tackle contentious issues, such as a review of media
ownership rules.

"After McDowell is confirmed, Chairman Martin is likely to win a
relaxation of the media ownership rules," said Paul Gallant, an
analyst at Stanford Washington Research Group and a former senior
FCC aide.

"If he follows the recent Republican line on government regulation
of media, there will be lots of trouble in store for free and
diverse expression in America," said Paul Levinson, a
communications professor at Fordham University.

McDowell would fill the seat vacated by GOP Commissioner Kathleen
Abernathy last year. The term runs until June 2009.

McDowell worked for both Bush presidential campaigns, serving as a
lawyer during the 2000 Florida recount and leading advance teams
for Bush and his wife, Laura, in 2004. He is Comptel's chief
congressional lobbyist. It's unclear how many issues involving
companies that McDowell lobbies are before the FCC.

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