23 August 2001 The Honorable Ernest F. Hollings Dear Chairman Hollings: On behalf of the 240,000 members of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers-United States of America (IEEE-USA), I am writing to urge your support for the Federal Communication Commission's (FCC's) "Excellence in Engineering" program as well as the funding necessary to achieve its stated goals. Critical regulatory issues confronting the FCC now and in the future can invariably be traced to new and emerging communications technologies (e.g., the Internet, and wireless), which increase the complexity of our national communications system. It is vital that the FCC has the technical expertise needed to anticipate these emerging technologies and their regulatory implications in order to provide competent and fair oversight. With this in mind, we wholeheartedly agree with Chairman Michael Powell's contention that the FCC should have a level of technical expertise "so that [the agency] is at least as fluent in technology and engineering issues as are the entities it regulates." We endorse Chairman Powell's plan to hire additional engineers, develop a comprehensive continuing education program for engineers, and upgrade the agency's technical equipment and field enforcement facilities. We are pleased that the Senate Commerce-Justice-State Appropriations Committee has included an additional $4 million in appropriations to achieve these goals, and we urge all conferees to support this amount. Over the last six years, the FCC engineering staff has decreased by over 20 percent, and within the next four years, 40 percent of the engineering staff will be eligible to retire. Furthermore, engineering salaries at the FCC are significantly below industry levels for counterparts of FCC scientific and engineering staff. These trends, if allowed to continue, will have a devastating effect on the quality and timeliness of the service the FCC is able to provide. We heartily support Chairman Powell's desire to begin an aggressive recruiting program for qualified engineers, and we are more than pleased to be able to assist in this effort. IEEE-USA is an organizational unit of The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc, created in 1973 to promote the careers and public policy interests of the more than 230,000 electrical, electronics, computer and software engineers who are U.S. members of the IEEE. If we can be of further assistance, please contact Bill Williams in our Washington office at (202) 785-0017 x 8331 or email at bill.williams@ieee.org. Sincerely, Ned R. Sauthoff, Ph.D. cc: Senate Armed Services Committee (Sample of Letter Sent to Members of the Senate & House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, and the Judiciary) | Top of Page | Policy Log | Public Policy Forum | IEEE-USA | Last Update:
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