United States Senate Committee on
Commerce, Science & Transportation
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Press Releases
For Immediate Release
12/13/07
Contact: Jenilee Keefe w/Inouye 202-224-7824
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Inouye Introduces Bill to Correct Flawed FCC Forbearance Process
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii) introduced legislation today that will prevent the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from granting telecommunications companies regulatory forbearance by default.   
 
Under the Communications Act of 1934, a telecommunications company may petition the FCC for forbearance from regulatory and statutory requirements. If the FCC does not respond to the petition within one year and 90 days, the petition is automatically “deemed granted” by law.
 
The Inouye Protecting Consumers through Proper Forbearance Act of 2007 retains the ability for telecommunications companies to apply for forbearance but removes the statutory provision that allows default approval.
 
“Forbearance is an important tool in the regulatory arsenal, but when used, it should be used deliberately, not by default,” Chairman Inouye said.
 
“The recent opinion of the D.C. Circuit in Sprint Nextel v. FCC further underscores the need to strike the ‘deemed granted’ language in Section 10 of the Communications Act in order to eliminate regulatory gamesmanship, promote reasoned decision-making, and restore fidelity to democratic principles that require a majority vote to make policy changes. 
 
“Accordingly, today I am introducing companion legislation to H.R. 3914, which was introduced by Chairman Dingell and others earlier this year. I look forward to working with my colleagues to correct this flawed process.”
 
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