To: Reporters and Editors
Re: FCC response on LightSquared
Da: Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa has been seeking disclosure from the Federal Communications Commission about its handling of the proposed LightSquared wireless service. Grassley is concerned that the agency is rushing the project, despite red flags about finances and interference with global-positioning system devices. The agency chairman’s response to Grassley’s most recent inquiry of July 5 declines to provide the information Grassley requested. Grassley made the following comment on the response.
“It’s ironic that a communications agency has such a clampdown on its own communications. The issue is whether the FCC will operate voluntarily as an open, transparent institution or whether it will withhold documents from congressional review unless legally forced to comply. Refusing a legitimate request in the public interest should require more justification than ‘we don’t have to.’ What is the FCC hiding?”
The chairman’s July 26 response is available here.
Grassley’s July 5 letter is available here.
The text of Grassley’s April 27 letter to the FCC chairman is available here.
The FCC chairman’s May 31 response is available here.