GOP Reps Seek More Info on FCC Office Closures

The heads of the House Communications and General Government subcommittees say they need more information from Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler on his proposal to close two-thirds (16 of 24) of the FCC field offices. That came in a letter to Chairman Wheeler from House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) and General Government Chairman Ander Crenshaw (R-FL). It was a follow-up letter to one from members of the full Energy & Commerce Committee, including Chairman Walden, after a hearing at which legislator concerns were raised about the impact of the closures on the FCC's responsibility to prevent interference between spectrum users. Broadcasters have registered similar complaints with the FCC given the upcoming post-incentive auction station repack and the interference issues. In response to that initial letter, the FCC provided information including a memo from the chief of the FCC's Enforcement Bureau, but Walden and Crenshaw said that significant questions remained about how the FCC would carry on that core interference monitoring function.