New FCC Commissioner Genachowski

See http://www.fcc.gov/copps_genachowski_062509.pdf

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090625-717302.html
By Fawn Johnson
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--After months of delay, the Federal Communications Commission finally will have a new chairman.

The Senate on Thursday evening confirmed Julius Genachowski, President Barack Obama's nominee to head the FCC. Genachowski is a close friend of Obama's who worked on his campaign and rounded up some of the earliest financial support in the telecom sector for Obama's presidential bid.

The Senate also confirmed Commissioner Robert McDowell for a second FCC term. He currently holds the only Republican slot on the commission.

The FCC, normally a five-member body, has been operating with just three commissioners under acting Chairman Michael Copps since January. Copps has teed up a number of complex issues for the new FCC to address - universal Internet deployment, a nationwide public safety network and open access Internet rules, to name a few.

Obama also has tapped Mignon Clyburn, a member of South Carolina's Public Service Commission and daughter of House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., for a Democratic slot on the FCC.

Earlier Thursday, the White House announced that Meredith Attwell Baker is Obama's pick for the open Republican slot on the FCC. Baker and Clyburn now must appear before the Senate for confirmation hearings, which could happen next month. Their confirmations are expected to proceed as a pair.

Genachowski, meanwhile, will soon assume the keys to his new office. He is a former FCC staffer and entrepreneur, has spent the last decade in the private sector. He is the co-founder of two investment firms - Rock Creek Ventures and LaunchBox Digital - and was a senior executive at IAC/InterActiveCorp. (IACI).

At his confirmation hearing, Genachowski managed to avoid taking firm positions on tough questions, such as whether media companies should be allowed to consolidate in an economic downturn. Instead, he promised to bring more openness to FCC deliberations and be pragmatic in adopting rules for the industry.

Genachowski's confirmation has been postponed for months while Republicans wrangled over who should hold the Republican slots on the FCC.

-By Fawn Johnson, Dow Jones Newswires