Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa today made the following comment regarding his intention to place a hold on two nominees for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) when the nominees are placed on the Senate calendar for consideration.
"More than seven months ago, I started asking the FCC for information that would shed light on the agency's apparent rush to approve the LightSquared project. The agency has provided none of the information and found excuses not to provide the information. Even the private companies involved, LightSquared and Harbinger Capital, have promised to be more forthcoming than the FCC as a public agency funded by the taxpayers. LightSquared and Harbinger Capital promised to provide me with requested documents on their dealings with the FCC this week. As a last resort to try to exhort more transparency and accountability from the FCC, I'll place a hold on consideration of the agency nominees on the Senate floor. This agency controls a big part of the economy. It conducts the public's business. And the public's business ought to be public."
