SB QST @ ARL $ARLB026
ARLB026 Julius Genachowski Sworn In As FCC Chairman

ZCZC AG26
QST de W1AW  
ARRL Bulletin 26  ARLB026
From ARRL Headquarters  
Newington CT  July 1, 2009
To all radio amateurs 

SB QST ARL ARLB026
ARLB026 Julius Genachowski Sworn In As FCC Chairman
 
On the afternoon of Monday, June 29, US Supreme Court Justice David
Souter -- in one his last official duties on the high court -- swore
in Julius Genachowski as the new Chairman of the Federal
Communications Commission. Genachowski, who clerked for Souter after
finishing law school, will complete the four years remaining in the
term of outgoing FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein. Both
Genachowski and current FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell --
Genachowski for his initial term and McDowell for his first full
term -- were confirmed by the US Senate on June 25.

Adelstein has been nominated by President Obama to be the
Administrator for the US Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities
Service (RUS); a nomination hearing before the Senate's Agriculture
Committee is scheduled for July 7.

Genachowski praised Adelstein's record, thanking him for his more
than six years of "outstanding public service" as an FCC
Commissioner. "Throughout his tenure at the Commission," Genachowski
said, "he has tirelessly championed the public interest. The FCC and
the public have benefited greatly from his rich understanding of
media and technology policy, and his devotion to the democratic
process. While I regret that I won't have the pleasure of serving
with Jonathan at the FCC, I look forward to forging a strong
partnership with him in his future work."

Commissioner Michael Copps, who had served as Acting Chairman since
the resignation of then-Chairman Kevin Martin this past January,
welcomed Genachowski to the Commission, saying Genachowski begins
"what promises to be a public-spirited and distinguished tenure as
Chairman. He knows the FCC well, brings impressive private sector
and technology experience with him, and enjoys deserved renown for
innovative thinking and new approaches. I look forward to working
with him on the many issues awaiting his attention."

Copps also expressed his thanks for Adelstein's tenure on the
Commission: "Jonathan and I have worked closely together on so many
issues that it makes it hard for me to imagine a Commission without
him. Our thoughts most often run in the same direction, whether the
issue is media, broadband, rural America, the disabilities
communities, reaching out to non-traditional stakeholders or
upholding a shared vision of the public interest. His intelligence,
good judgment, wide experience and invariably good humor combined to
make him a highly productive Commissioner across a wide gamut of
issues. I will miss him here but wish him all good things as he
moves ahead in the confirmation process toward becoming
Administrator of the Rural Utilities Service at the US Department of
Agriculture. I look forward to our continuing work together and to
our friendship through the years."

There has been no word as to when Commissioner McDowell will be
sworn in for his new term.
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