SB QST @ ARL $ARLB006
ARLB006 Michael J. Copps Named Acting FCC Chairman

ZCZC AG06
QST de W1AW  
ARRL Bulletin 6  ARLB006
From ARRL Headquarters  
Newington CT  January 23, 2009
To all radio amateurs 

SB QST ARL ARLB006
ARLB006 Michael J. Copps Named Acting FCC Chairman
 
On Thursday, January 22, President Barack Obama named current FCC
Commissioner Michael Copps as Acting Chairman of the Commission.
Last week, sources close to the President mentioned Julius
Genachowski would be nominated as Chairman. Copps will serve as
Acting Chairman until a new Commissioner/Chairman is confirmed.

"I am honored to be designated as Acting Chairman of the FCC," Copps
said in a statement released by the FCC. "I thank President Obama
for his confidence in me and for this opportunity to serve. I know
that I have a truly gifted and terrific team to work with. I pledge
every effort I am capable of to help steer the Commission through
its current transition to new leadership."

ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, congratulated Copps
on his appointment. "Whenever we have sought a meeting with him or
his staff, his door has always been open to us," he said.

Currently serving a second term as FCC Commissioner, Copps began his
first term with the Commission in 2001. Before his appointment to
the FCC, he served as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Trade
Development at the US Department of Commerce, where he was
previously Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Basic
Industries. Copps came to Washington in 1970, joining the staff of
Senator Ernest Hollings (D-SC) and served for more than a decade as
his Chief of Staff. He has also held positions at a Fortune 500
company and at a major trade association. Before coming to
Washington, Copps was a professor of American history at Loyola
University of the South. He received a BA from Wofford College and
earned a PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Upon being sworn for his second term as FCC Commissioner in 2006,
Copps said that "The last four and a half years have been
tremendously transformative for the world of telecommunications and
the media. The future holds even greater challenge. I look forward
to continuing to work with my colleagues on the Commission, with the
Congress and with all the other stakeholders to help bring the most
advanced, accessible and cost-effective communications system in the
world to all American consumers."
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