Here at the NAB Show, the Society of Broadcast Engineers is asking members to sign a letter to their elected representatives in support of a bill to beef up the technical resources of the FCC.
The SBE announced a letter writing campaign to solicit co-sponsors for H.R. 2102, the FCC Technical Resource Enhancement Act.
“The Tech Act is an important component in inuring first-hand competence at the commission’s policymaking level,” SBE stated in the announcement. The society has pushed actively for this legislation, as RW has reported.
“It would permit each FCC commissioner to appoint an electrical engineer or computer scientist as an additional professional staff assistant, to provide the commissioner with technical consultation and provide technical liaison with the FCC bureaus. The Congressional Budget Office estimated late last year that the net cost of this legislation will be ‘insignificant.’ Its value far exceeds the negligible cost, as it will reduce the potential for time-consuming, costly, and sometimes irreversible FCC errors.”
President Ralph Hogan hoped SBE members would write to their U.S. representatives. The society posted a sample letter on its website.