House Panel Eyes Barring Private Funding For FCC Travel

Communications Today, July 25, 2003

The House Telecommunications Subcommittee now has before it a bill that would bar Federal Communications Commission employees, including the five commissioners, from traveling to trade shows and conventions at the expense of non-government entities. The bill, H.R. 2670, mirrors a similar measure that surfaced in the Senate earlier this month and was ultimately included in the FCC Reauthorization Act of 2003.

Introduced by Rep. Diane Watson (D-Calif.), the House bill would amend the Federal Communications Commission Accountability Act. It would prohibit commissioners and employees of the FCC from accepting "payment or reimbursement from the non-governmental sponsor (or any affiliated organization) of any convention, conference, or meeting for expenses for travel, subsistence, or related expenses incurred ... for the purpose of enabling that commissioner or employee to attend and participate in any such convention, conference, or meeting."

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