Warren, Jayapal Press FCC on Industry's Influence on CSRIC

for its seventh two-year iteration (see 1904160061). Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel and House Commerce Committee leaders urge the FCC to expand the scope of CSRIC VII to include 5G security (see 1905100010). Warren and Jayapal cited a Project on Government Oversight report that 13 of CSRIC VII’s 22 members are from the private sector, two are associated with a communications sector trade group, six are from federal agencies and one is from a civil society group. “Having the FCC’s policy-making process rely on input from individuals employed by, or affiliated with, the corporations that it is tasked with overseeing is the very definition of regulatory capture,” the Democratic lawmakers wrote FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Thursday in a letter released Monday. They suggested the membership imbalance “may not be consistent with the Federal Advisory Committee Act’s requirement that such panels be “fairly balanced in terms of points of view.” It’s “imperative that CSRIC membership be comprised of individuals with a diverse range of backgrounds and viewpoints, and include equal representation” from different groups of stakeholders, the lawmakers said. “The FCC should be working on behalf of American consumers, not giant telecommunications companies.” Warren and Jayapal sought a response by July 12 on how the current membership composition meets the panel’s charter requirements and FACA rules. They want an explanation of how the FCC selects members for CSRIC and “information on the number of individuals from tribal governments or tribal organizations” who have served on CSRIC since its predecessor, the Network Reliability Council, first formed in 1992. The FCC didn’t comment.