Dingell, Markey Expected to Make Oversight a Priority

The Hill has summoned Martin relatively few times since he became chmn. in March 2004. That pattern is over, and Martin will not be dealing with rookies. Dingell is back in the Commerce chairmanship after 12 years out and Rep. Markey (D-Mass.) in line for the Telecom Subcommittee chair. If Democrats take the Senate, Sen. Inouye (D-Hawaii) is expected to call administration officials in for questioning.

No one expects Martin to face hostile, almost theatrical grilling such as greeted former chmn. Powell when summoned before former Sen. Hollings (D., S.C.) when he was Communications Committee chmn. But Martin will find a marked change in the weather on the Hill, sources said. “Dingell and Markey both believe in hearings and oversight,” a wireless industry source said: “They held a lot of hearings before when they were chairmen and you're going to see that again.” A wireline source said: “Oversight that wasn’t happening is going to begin to happen… It has not been the Republican style to have meaningful oversight of their own.”

In a display of how he might exercise his oversight role, Dingell signaled Wed. in a conference call with reporters that he thinks the FCC should consider delaying a final decision on the AT&T-BellSouth merger until the new Congress convenes next year. Dingell warned the FCC to ensure that the deal would serve the public interest. “It would be in the broad public interest” for the FCC to delay its decision until next year, Dingell said, suggesting that Congress could help the Commission with its decisionmaking process to avoid any “ill will” that might crop up if the merger is approved prematurely.

He said on CNBC later in the day that he wasn’t asking the FCC to delay its decision but thinks the merger should be looked at carefully. Congress needs to determine whether the Dept. of Justice is attending to its responsibilities and the FCC is ensuring that the public interest is being served with the merger, Dingell said. In a letter sent to the agency last month, Dingell criticized Justice’s approval of the merger. He told the FCC he didn’t have an opinion about the merger itself, but in past deals of its kind, the agency went beyond Justice Dept. purview and imposed conditions to protect consumers and promote marketplace competition.

The Commerce Committee staff includes Johanna Shelton, who once worked for Comr. Adelstein and knows the FCC in detail, a regulatory attorney noted. “Especially on the House side, it’s going to be very active,” the source said: “I can only assume it will have a substantial impact. The politics of each issue become more complicated for [Martin].”

“It’s going to be very difficult for Chmn. Martin to move forward on the media ownership regulation that has been talked about in the past,” John Windhausen, a Democrat and former top Senate telecom staffer, said: “Martin is going to have to work very closely with the Democrats to achieve some sort of consensus.” Based on post-election talks with top Democrats, Windhausen expects more bipartisanship on the Hill, he said: “They're all striking a very conciliatory tone and I think that while I expect stronger oversight I don’t expect witch hunts. Nobody is talking about impeachment hearings for President Bush.”

Martin’s bipartisan outreach to the Hill will stand him in good stead, said Blair Levin. Now an analyst, Levin, once was chief of staff to FCC Chmn. Reed Hundt. He faced a situation like Martin’s after the 1994 elections, with Congress going Republicans while Hundt was chairman. Levin expects more hearings, such as on media ownership, but sees Martin as generally well regarded on the Hill. “To the extent that there is oversight, and there certainly will be some, I get no sense of personal vendetta,” he said: “There are policy disagreements, but that’s what makes this town.” In 1995, Hundt had to confront an issue Martin won’t face, Levin added. “[Former Speaker] Newt Gingrich, who was the most powerful person in Washington for a few months, called for the elimination of the FCC,” he said: “Reed had a task not just about implementation but about defending and thinking about what is the FCC’s role here.”

Telecom won’t be the only issue on Dingell’s agenda, which includes prescription drugs and energy policy -- topics Democrats may deem more important, said analyst Jessica Zufolo of Medley Global Advisors. “The Democratic leadership is likely to pick a few issues that resonate well and strongly across a broad cross-section of groups,” she said: “While there will be a lot of activity in the committee, floor consideration will be carefully examined, with an eye on keeping the caucus as cohesive as possible.”

“There’s a critical difference from when the Republicans took over in 1994,” a telecom insider and Hill veteran said: “None of the people who went into the position of the majority had ever held a gavel. Almost every person who is going to hold a key gavel as it relates to the issues the communications world follows held a gavel, and held a gavel in the same area.” That’s true not only on Commerce, but at Judiciary, Ways & Means and other committees that touch on communications issues, the source said.

Another key change is that Democrats likely will revert to strong subcommittee chairs, with staff dedicated to subcommittees - a post-Watergate shift Republicans reversed during their ascendancy, the source said. “All the subcommittee chairs will have staff and budget in addition the full committee chairs, which means the subcommittee chairs like Markey will have the ability to work around, independent of the full committee chairman,” the source said.

Stifel, Nicolaus, Levin’s firm, doesn’t expect a basic shift in communications policy, it said in a research note: “What it probably will do, in our view, is ensure that any telecom and media legislation that passes is bipartisan in nature and modest in scope, while also moderating the existing regulatory trends at the Federal Communications Commission and, to a lesser extent, antitrust policy at the Department of Justice or Federal Trade Commission.” - Howard Buskirk