Copyright 2001 Federal News Service, Inc.  
Federal News Service
May 17, 2001, Thursday
SECTION: PRESS CONFERENCE OR SPEECH

LENGTH: 4227 words

HEADLINE: HEARING OF THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE AND TRANSPORTATION
 
SUBJECT: NOMINATION OF KATHLEEN ABERNATHY, MICHAEL COPPS AND KEVIN MARTIN TO BE COMMISSIONERS OF THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
 
CHAIRED BY: SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ)
 
LOCATION: 253 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING

BODY:
SEN. MCCAIN: Our next panelist is Ms. Kathleen Abernathy as commissioner-delegate of the Federal Communications Commission, and Mr. Michael Copps and Mr. Kevin Martin. Would you please come forward?

I would like to welcome the witnesses today of our second panel. And we would like to have our witnesses introduce any family members who are here with them today. Ms. Abernathy?

MS. ABERNATHY: Thank you, senator. It's a pleasure to be here, and I would like to introduce two family members -- I think my sister found her way back. But my husband, Charles Abernathy, is here with me today.

SEN. MCCAIN: Would you stand please, Mr. Abernathy? Thank you, welcome.

MS. ABERNATHY: We've been -- we have known each other over 20 years. He's been an incredible support, most particularly the last several months as we have been going through this process.

And my sister Marilyn Quinn -- who is not back and taking care of child care arrangements --

SEN. : You're a little hard to hear, Ms. Abernathy. Could you pull that a little bit closer to the mike?

SEN. MCCAIN: Well, your sister is welcomed too, and I understand her priorities. We welcome her and her husband.

MS. ABERNATHY: She's also a public servant. She is an FBI agent here in town.

SEN. MCCAIN: Wonderful, thank you.

Dr. Copps?

MR. COPPS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I've got full representation here today. Let me introduce first of all my wife Bess, who is the managing partner of the Copps firm. She is --

SEN. MCCAIN: Stand as you are mentioned, Mrs. Copps.

MR. COPPS: She's also the mainstay of our family, and works at St. Mary's Church in Alexandria as church secretary.

SEN. MCCAIN: Welcome, Mrs. Copps.

MR. COPPS: We have five children. The eldest could not be here today -- his name is Bobby, and he's an attorney in Atlanta, Georgia. My eldest daughter, Betsy Von Hagen (ph) is here. She is a reading teacher. She was teacher of the year at Queen of Apostles School here in suburban Virginia a year or two ago. Her husband Richard Von Hagen (ph) is also with us today. He is a school psychologist. They are going to present us shortly with our first grandchild, which we are very much looking forward to. Our son Michael is here. He is a recent graduate last year of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and he is a communications specialist with a national trade association located in Alexandria. My youngest son Will is here. He got the day off, much to the consternation of his classmates from Gonzaga High School where he is a freshman, honor student, tennis player. He is also the poet laureate of the Copps family. And my youngest daughter Claire, who is 13 years old, a seventh grader at St. Mary's Elementary School, and she is a pianist and an artist and a basketball player too. So I am very proud of all these folks, and they are really life's sweetest reward.

SEN. MCCAIN: Welcome to the entire Copps family. We are glad you are here at this occasion. We know you are very proud of Dr. Copps.

Mr. Martin?

MR. MARTIN: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to introduce my wife Kathy (sp), and thank her for all her unwavering support and constant commitment through this process. I would like to introduce my father, who owns a small insurance company in North Carolina. He has always tried to remind me about being wary of the burdens that government can place on small businesses. (Laughter.) And finally I'd like to introduce my mother, who always tried to impart on me one of her greatest strengths, and I think this committee will be particularly appreciative of, and that's the importance of talking a little bit less and listening a little bit more. I know that a lot of commissioners have gotten themselves in trouble by not heeding that advice. And if confirmed I'll make sure I follow her wise wisdom. Thank you.

SEN. MCCAIN: Thank you. Again, welcome to the Martin family as well.

I believe that Senator Edwards would like to make a statement concerning Mr. Martin.

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (R-NC): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, it's my pleasure to introduce Kevin Martin, who is a fellow North Carolinian from Wexhall (ph), and his parents. We are glad to have all of you here and his wife here.

He currently serves as special assistant to the president for economic policy, where he is responsible for coordinating telecommunications technology and other commerce related policy. And he's no stranger to the FCC. Before joining the administration, he worked at the FCC as a legal advisor. He's a very good lawyer. He began his legal career at the law firm of Wally, Raine and Fielding (ph), after first spending a year as a clerk for Federal Court Judge Houvler (ph) -- am I pronouncing that right, Kevin? -- in Miami, Florida.

He attended the University of North Carolina as an undergraduate, and received his master's degree in public policy from Duke. And he is a real North Carolinian, Mr. Chairman, because even though he went to Harvard Law School, he wrote his law school thesis on legal and historical development of Nascar. (Laughter.) We are proud and happy to have you here, Kevin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

SEN. MCCAIN: Thank you very much. I now question your qualifications. (Laughter.)

Senator Hollings, would you like to make any --

SEN. HOLLINGS: No, my previous introduction of Dr. Copps -- let it appear in the record. We welcome him -- (inaudible) --

SEN. MCCAIN: Thank you. Ms. Abernathy, we'll begin with you, and all three witnesses your complete statements will be made a part of the record.

MS. ABERNATHY: Mr. Chairman and members of this committee, it is indeed a pleasure for me to have the opportunity to appear today before the members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. I want to especially thank Senator Stevens for his kind and generous introduction today.

I have had the pleasure of talking with many members of this committee over the past few weeks, and I want to thank all of you for taking the time to share your thoughts and concerns with me.

At this time I would also like to take the opportunity to tell you how deeply honored I am to have been nominated by President Bush to serve as a commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission. Having had the opportunity to work in various capacities in the federal government, I know that it is a genuine privilege to be in government service, and I understand the importance and necessity of developing and administering sound public policy.

If confirmed, it will also be a special privilege to work with Chairman Powell, my fellow commissioners, and the highly dedicated and talented FCC staff. I think that Chairman Powell is a leader of unusual foresight and energy, and it will be a distinct pleasure to serve with him at the commission.

If confirmed, I also look forward to working with Congress, and this committee in particular, with the understanding that fundamentally it is the commission's responsibility to administer and implement communications policy as set forth by Congress. I understand this role, and I welcome the opportunity to serve in this capacity.

Despite the challenges facing the FCC, I think it is important to remember we have communications systems, industries and choices that are second to none and that are in fact the envy of the world. I also recognize, however, that through its decisions and policies it is the responsibility of the FCC to help ensure that this excellence and world leadership continues.

In this regard, communications policy stands at a critical juncture for consumers and for the economy. As Chairman Powell has said, the FCC is facing a unique challenge, and that virtually all communications industry segments are in the midst of revolution. They are attempting to adapt to the most fundamental changes in their history, and frequently this translates into FCC proceedings in which the commission is called upon to balance many competing interests. These are not easy issues. I do not presume to think that they are. But, if confirmed, I pledge to you to thoroughly weigh these critical issues as they come before the commission, to deal with them fairly, and to be guided always by the principles and policies set forth by Congress in the Communications Act.

With your support and approval, I look forward to the opportunity to serve the people of this country at the Federal Communications Commission, and I look forward to working with this committee and with my colleagues at the FCC. Thank you again for the opportunity to be here today, and I look forward to responding to any questions you may have.

SEN. MCCAIN: Thank you very much.

Dr. Copps?

MR. COPPS: Mr. Chairman, Senator Hollings, Senator Rockefeller, thank you very much for granting us this hearing so soon after our nominations came up. I want to thank all of you and all the many senators on the committee with whom I have had the pleasure of meeting over the past few weeks. These discussions have been just tremendously invaluable to me in learning more about your priorities and about the many issues which if confirmed I will be grappling with at the commission. And I look forward to many more such meetings.

Permit me a moment to thank my mentor and my friend Senator Hollings for his warm and generous introduction. I don't deserve all of those accolades, but I happily accept them. Anyway, my formative years in Washington -- in many ways the best years -- were working with Senator Hollings from 1970 to 1985, and I am enormously grateful to him not only for the support he has given me but for the knowledge and wisdom that he has imparted, the experiences he's shared and the lessons he taught. And when I think of public service at its best, I think of Senator Hollings and the intelligence and the commitment he has brought to his long and productive service to the people of South Carolina and to the nation. And it's not only his tremendous record of accomplishment that I admire; equally I admire the respect in which he holds public service and the effort he has made to bring credibility and the restoration of pride to the honorable calling that is public service. I could never find the words to begin to express the admiration and the respect and the appreciation that I feel for him.

Mr. Chairman, my 15 years working here in the Senate imparted a deep and lasting loyalty to the legislative branch of our government. So when I say to you how much I look forward to working with you and your colleagues, if confirmed, I am saying that comes not just from my brain but comes from my bones. I cannot imagine being effective in this job without having a close and an ongoing and a cooperative relationship with each of you, this committee and your congressional colleagues. The FCC is the creation of Congress; it's mission is to carry out the responsibilities conferred upon it by the Congress. It is always politic to talk cooperation, I know that, but I just don't believe that this country can accomplish what it needs to accomplish in telecommunications or in anything else without this kind of open communication. And I have worked to build relationships I have had with Congress in every capacity that I have served in this city, and I look forward, if confirmed, to implementing the laws the Congress has passed with just as thorough an understanding of congressional intent as I can possibly muster.

My pledge to you, to my fellow commissioners, to the entire FCC team, to telecom's industries, telecom's workers, and all of telecom's many stakeholders is to work tirelessly and inclusively, and with the best judgment I can garner to get the job done. I want to help bring our people -- and I mean all of our people -- the best, the most accessible, and the most cost- effective telecommunications system in the world. Each and every citizen of this great country should have easy access to the wonders of telecommunication. And I would hope that at the end of my term, if I am lucky enough to serve, that people will say that I helped moved the ball down field toward that goal.

Mr. Chairman, I appreciate your including the rest of my remarks in the record, and with that I will conclude my statement.

SEN. MCCAIN: Thank you, Dr. Copps.

Mr. Martin?

MR. MARTIN: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and all the members of the committee. It's a great privilege to have the opportunity to appear before you today. I am honored to have been nominated by the president to be a member of the FCC. I had the distinct pleasure of serving at the FCC as the legal advisor just a few short years ago. And prior to that practiced before the commission for several years.

I have the utmost respect for the agency, its mission, its staff, certainly its new chairman who has brought great energy and leadership to the commission. I am humbled but truly excited by the prospect of serving at this important agency in an era of such extraordinary innovation and change in the communications sector. And I sincerely thank President Bush for believing I can make a valuable contribution there.

If confirmed, I look forward to working closely with Congress, with the chairman, with my fellow commissioners, to tackle the important issues that are facing the industry today, and in so doing help to administer the policies that will guide this vibrant industry so vital to our national economy and the American people we are entrusted to serve. And again, thank you for inviting me here today, and I look forward to answering your questions.

SEN. MCCAIN: Thank you very much. Ms. Abernathy, you will be recused from issues affecting your previous employer?

MS. ABERNATHY: Yes, senator, I will be. However, that may become a moot point, because they've recently filed from bankruptcy. So I am not exactly sure how many issues I'll be precluded from dealing with. There is one positive side to that particular action.

SEN. MCCAIN: Thank you.

Senator Hollings?

SEN. HOLLINGS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have really no questions -- just one comment with respect to a comment made by the commissioner in recent months that the matter of public interest was so nebulous it was meaningless, and that sort of shocked me for the simple reason that that is your charge, carrying out the intent of Congress, and looking out for the public interests. The questions about the universal service -- the reason we have that is because market forces would not look out for it. No one is going to lay lines or extend communications to costly areas in rural America unless we provide for it in law. And, incidentally, the regulation the fetish about deregulate, deregulate, deregulate -- we deregulated the airlines and messed them up, trucking, now electric power, natural gas. And mind you me your particular industry asked for the regulations. We had deregulation. We tried it on after the Sarnov (ph) experience on -- (inaudible) -- sinking the Lusitania, and everybody had a wireless radio and they were all jammed. And they came to Secretary Hoover as secretary of Commerce and said, Please regulate us, and we had that '34 act, and updated now with the '96 Act. So it's an industry that cannot succeed except by certain government controls and allocations. And just remember that particularly with the fetish about -- that the idea is that the government is not the solution; the government is the problem -- get rid of the government. I hear that too much around, and in particular with respect to all these various governmental commissions, like they're totally useless, they get in the way and we -- if they'd only get out of the way everything would work.

We know right now for example -- you have heard my questions about the monopolistic Bells -- they would have never moved. And if I was still on the board of a Bell, I'd hold onto my monopoly. That's the whole idea I guess in business, is to get all the business you possibly can control.

Having said that, thank you, Mr. Chairman.

SEN. MCCAIN: Thank you. Senator Rockefeller.

SEN. ROCKEFELLER: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to say first of all that I really enjoyed the -- it wasn't a long amount of time -- but each of the conversations that we had were different, and I found each of you to be people of, you know, great integrity, some differences -- not necessarily with me but you know as personalities -- smart, and I look forward to voting for you. I mean, I don't often say that kind of thing to either political party, but I just found you very able and interesting, inquiring minds, and I think that's the most important part. Except as I now get to my questions -- (laughter) -- which of course predictably will deal with e-rate, because I want to get you all on record in the same way that I did with Chairman Powell -- and hopefully with the same result. And so I'd ask each of you just to answer these in turn. And that is: Do you feel that the e-rate is a part of universal service, and are you willing to protect the e-rate as it was laid out in the 1996 Telecom Act?

MR. COPPS: Well, I can begin. I certainly am -- I very much enjoyed the discussion that you and I had in your office about this. As I said in my statement, I am a believer in bringing the kind of telecommunications service that I talked about to all of our people, no matter who they are, no matter where they live. It's absolutely essential. If we are going to progress in this country, we will progress together or we will progress not at all.

As to the e-rate program, I share your confidence in it and your belief in it, and I look forward to working with you and to implementing that program to make it the best possible program as possible.

SEN. ROCKEFELLER: Thank you, sir. Ms. Abernathy?

MS. ABERNATHY: Senator, the e-rate program has been an extraordinary success. It was the brain child of Congress. It's something that the FCC is committed to. I agree with Chairman Powell that the only role is that if we can make it more efficient, more effective, we should always be looking towards that. But otherwise you've set forth the parameters, and you've designed a program and we have implemented -- the FCC has implemented. And I am committed to seeing that program continue.

SEN. ROCKEFELLER: More efficient within the definitions laid out by Congress?

MS. ABERNATHY: Absolutely. If ever you can make it easier for the schools, the forms, the application process, that's always a good thing.

SEN. ROCKEFELLER: Thank you. Mr. Martin?

MR. MARTIN: Senator, the e-rate is an important part of universal service, and I am certainly committed to fully laying that out as we have discussed, and I think that it is important. I think that to the extent that there are some things that could be done, as you and Ms. Abernathy were just discussing as far as just making it more efficient, it all has to be within the means of what Congress has laid out in the current program.

SEN. ROCKEFELLER: Thank you very much for that. Now, the e-rate was intended to provide affordable services to public schools, to private schools, parochial schools. Not all private schools -- Chairman McCain laid out in an amendment which passed 99 to 1 which said I think that any private school with an endowment of over $50 million did not qualify, but any less than that -- because we found the private schools were actually less wired up than public schools, which was interesting.

So I think that this -- the whole question of discounts as a way of making sure that we do this fairly are absolutely fundamental. And we have a very clear way of doing that within the FCC and the joint board decision based in part on school lunch programs. Do you appreciate my view? Will you work to follow what the act says about that? The three of you.

MS. ABERNATHY: Yes.

MR. MARTIN: Yes.

MR. COPPS: Absolutely.

SEN. ROCKEFELLER: Okay, thank you. The e-rate again is very clear in that it covers telecommunications, Internet connecting classrooms. This is the law, this is the conference report. And as important as teacher training is, as important as software is, as important as hardware is, they are not in that, they are not a part of that. But the three that I mentioned are, and they are a part of universal service. And I need to know that you will stay consistent in your views with the joint board and the FCC as that has been determined by Congress.

MR. MARTIN: Yes, senator.

MR. COPPS: Yes.

MS. ABERNATHY: Yes, sir.

SEN. ROCKEFELLER: Thank you. I don't mean to be so literal, but this is such an important program that getting people on record is important -- you understand that.

Finally just a question about broadband. The 1996 act explicitly told the FCC -- and I quote -- "consumers in all regions of the nation, including low-income consumers, and those in rural, insular and high-cost areas, should have access to telecommunications and information services, including advanced telecommunications and information services that are reasonably comparable to those services provided in urban areas and that are available at rates that are reasonably comparable for rates charged for similar services in reasonable areas. Do you agree with that, and do you have any thoughts as to how we can get there?

MR. MARTIN: Well, senator, I certainly agree with it. I mean, I think that one of the great insights of the 1996 Telecommunications Act was that using an evolving definition of universal service, and we should make sure that no area of the country is left behind. I think that universal service and the rural components of it is somewhat like a tool. It's a rubber band to make sure whenever -- with one end wrapped around the urban areas and one end around the rural. And when the urban area gets too far out ahead, the universal service mechanism is used to pull the rural areas back up to make sure they don't get left behind. And I am certainly committed to that fully.

MS. ABERNATHY: Absolutely. I think that that's a critical piece of the act, is how do you ensure broadband deployment not simply to urban areas but to rural areas. Based on my last year's experience, I appreciate just how difficult that is when you are coming into a market that is incredibly -- where competition is tough and deployment is hard. And I know that the Congress is thinking about additional ways to facilitate broadband deployment to rural America, and I look forward to seeing where that takes us, because -- and I think that the FCC should consider to continue to encourage this kind of deployment. Unfortunately it's just taking longer than any of us thought that it would.

MR. COPPS: Senator Rockefeller, I certainly concur with your views as to the statutory instruction to the FCC from the Congress, and my intention would obviously be to implement that. I think there are lots of other things we can do. Of course the market, as Kathleen was saying, has something to do with how we roll out broadband. But so does the commission in establishing predictable and prompt rules of the road. So does the commission from a standpoint of devising an adequate program of spectrum allocation and spectrum management. So I think there's lots of things we can be doing, and I imagine this will be occupying a tremendous amount of all of our time if we are lucky enough to go to the commission.

SEN. ROCKEFELLER: And all three of you would agree that the paragraph that I read is legally binding upon you?

MS. ABERNATHY: Absolutely.

MR. MARTIN: Yes.

MR. COPPS: Yes, sir.

SEN. ROCKEFELLER: I appreciate very much your answers and look forward to voting for you, and I thank you, Mr. Chairman.

SEN. : Thank you. And I don't have -- I have more of a statement than anything else. But when we start talking about spectrum and spectrum management, this is an historical occasion as far as the FCC is concerned, because this is the first time we have had a clatter of folks all going on at the same time. And spectrum and spectrum management is something that I think you are going to have to be around a little while to fully understand the management and the challenges that we have in front of us. So I think it would be unfair right now to go down that road. But I look forward to working with all of you on the commission as with the chairman as we move that issue down the field, because I feel it's very, very important at this time.

So, I'd also -- I want to ask unanimous consent that my statement be made part of the record. Also, I want to advise you that any questions that you have for senators or the committee -- if you could respond to them by Tuesday of next week to the individual senators and to the committee as we go to mark I think on the 24th -- something like that. And so we look forward to that.

Other than that, I congratulate you for stepping forward for public service. It is -- FCC is -- it has become and will be the center of the economic engine in this country for the next 25 or 30 years, because that's where our future -- and we are also in a global -- it's not just the United States we have to take into consideration on the international and the global markets. And so we have a great challenge in front of us, and I congratulate each and every one of you and look forward to working with you.

And with that, if there are no more questions, these hearings are closed.

END

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