The Society of Broadcast Engineers believes efforts to push for more technical expertise among the staffs of FCC commissioners just took a big step.
It said Rep. Cliff Stearns, a Republican from Florida, introduced House Bill 2102, a companion bill to Senate Bill 611, introduced earlier this year by Sen. Olympia Snowe, Republican from Maine. In March, the society’s national leadership met with Stearns’ Washington staff and asked that he consider sponsoring the legislation.
“With bills now introduced in both Houses of Congress, SBE will be working to gain co-sponsors for each bill and continue to push to see this legislation eventually approved by Congress and signed by the president,” the society said in a statement.
The bills would authorize each commissioner to appoint a fourth staff assistant who is an engineer or computer scientist. President Vinny Lopez encouraged members of SBE to write senators and representatives to ask them to support S.611 and H.R.2102.