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 Previous: Surfin': Hammin' and Bikin' |  Next: Alaska Governor Signs Antenna Bill |
NEWINGTON, CT, Apr 30, 2001--FCC Commissioner Susan Ness has announced that she plans to depart the FCC by June 1. Meanwhile, the White House has nominated FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell for a second term.
 FCC Commissioner Susan Ness [FCC Photo] |
Ness was sworn in as a commission member in 1994. She will have served seven years. Pres George W. Bush already has announced his intention to nominate three new commissioners, which Ness called "excellent choices." Ness said that although she didn't know when Bush would formally nominate or the Senate would confirm the new members, she felt announcing her departure would facilitate an orderly transition.
"It has been a great privilege to serve on the Federal Communications Commission in these extraordinary times," Ness said.
Powell congratulated Ness "on her stellar tenure as FCC Commissioner" and said she will be sorely missed. "I wish Susan the best in her future endeavors," he said.
Meanwhile, the Bush administration has nominated Powell to serve a second five-year term. If approved by the Senate, Powell would head the Commission until June 30, 2007.
 FCC Chairman Michael Powell. [FCC Photo] |
Powell is the son of Secretary of State Colin Powell. He became a member of the FCC in 1997 and was chosen by the new administration to serve as chairman until his current term expires June 30, 2002. Powell said he was gratified to learn of the reappointment. In a statement, he said that if he's confirmed, the extension of his term "will provide a positive and helpful continuity to the important work that I, and the new commissioners who will be taking office later this year, will be engaged in."
Earlier this month, the White House announced three nominees to fill seats now open or being vacated on the FCC. Pres Bush has tapped Republicans Kevin Martin and Kathleen Abernathy and Democrat Michael Copps.
All three nominees are undergoing FBI background checks before being submitted to the US Senate for confirmation.
Martin, a telecommunications attorney and former adviser to Republican commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth, left the FCC to join the Bush-Cheney campaign. He has been nominated to serve until 2006 in the seat vacated January 19 by former FCC Chairman William Kennard, a Democrat.
Abernathy, also an attorney and a former aide to former Democratic FCC member James Quello and a former lobbyist for US West, was nominated to serve until 2005. She'll taking over the seat of Furchtgott-Roth, who announced earlier this year that he would not seek reappointment.
Michael Copps is a former aide to South Carolina Sen Ernest "Fritz" Hollings and former assistant secretary of commerce for trade development in the Clinton administration. He will replace Democratic commissioner Susan Ness and can serve until 2004.
Yet to be named is a nominee for the seat now filled by Democratic Commissioner Gloria Tristani, who has not said when she plans to leave the FCC. Her term ends in 2003. No more than three members of the FCC may be from the same political party.
| Previous: Surfin': Hammin' and Bikin' | Next: Alaska Governor Signs Antenna Bill |
