The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations has scheduled another hearing on the E-rate program, this time focusing on a Government Accountability Office review of the Federal Communications Commission’s administration of the program.
The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations has scheduled another hearing on the E-rate program, this time focusing on a Government Accountability Office review of the Federal Communications Commission’s administration of the program.
The hearing will mark the subcommittee’s first in the new session of Congress. Last year, the subcommittee held three hearings, exploring specific instances of potential waste, fraud and abuse on the part of applicants and service providers.
The hearing will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday March 16 in Rom 2322 of the Rayburn House Office Building. The subcommittee anticipates providing a Webcast of the session. Further details will be available at http://energycommerce.house.gov.
The membership of the committee has changed some with the arrival of the new Congress in January. Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-KY, is the new subcommittee chairman; Bart Stupak, D-MI, is the new ranking minority member. The subcommittee’s current membership includes representatives from Florida, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Oregon, New Jersey, Texas, Tennessee, Colorado, Illinois, Washington, Wisconsin, and California. Rep. Joe Barton, R-TX, and John Dingell, D-MI, the chairman and ranking minority member of the full committee, serve as ex-officio members. The committee has oversight responsibility for the FCC.
Over the life of the E-rate program, Congress has called on the GAO to review various aspects of the E-rate program and make recommendations for improvements. The FCC’s own Office of Inspector General has, in the past, been critical of the agency’s management of the program.
