SB QST @ ARL $ARLB010   
   ARLB010 Senate Approves Two New FCC Commissioners, Commission to Be   
   at Full Strength   
      
   ZCZC AG10   
   QST de W1AW     
   ARRL Bulletin 10  ARLB010   
   From ARRL Headquarters     
   Newington CT  May 10, 2012   
   To all radio amateurs    
      
   SB QST ARL ARLB010   
   ARLB010 Senate Approves Two New FCC Commissioners, Commission to Be   
   at Full Strength   
      
   Six months after President Barack Obama nominated Jessica   
   Rosenworcel and Ajit Varadaraj Pai to the Federal Communications   
   Commission, the Senate confirmed their appointments on Monday, May   
   7. Rosenworcel, a Democrat, fills the seat vacated by Michael Copps   
   who retired from the Commission earlier this year; her term runs   
   through June 30, 2015. Pai, a Republican, replaces Meredith Attwell   
   Baker, who left the FCC in June 2011; his term runs through June 30,   
   2016. Once Rosenworcel and Pai are sworn in, the FCC will be at its   
   full complement of five Commissioners.   
      
   According to various reports, the two will be sworn in by the end of   
   this week. Their nominations had been held up since December in an   
   unrelated dispute between the FCC and Senator Chuck Grassley   
   (R-Iowa) over agency approval of LightSquared's wireless   
   application. When Grassley received the sought-after documents two   
   weeks ago, he lifted a hold on the nominations.   
      
   The FCC has been down two commissioners since Baker and Copps left   
   the Commission, leaving the agency with only three commissioners:   
   two Democrats and one Republican. Only three sitting Commissioners   
   may be members of the same political party. At present, Chairman   
   Julius Genachowski and Mignon Clyburn are Democrats while Robert   
   McDowell is the lone Republican on the Commission.   
      
   "I want to congratulate Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel on their   
   Senate confirmation and welcome them to the Commission," said FCC   
   Chairman Genachowski in a written statement. "They bring deep   
   knowledge of our sector and proven track records of accomplishment.   
   President Obama made an outstanding choice in their nominations, and   
   I look forward to working with them."   
      
   Rosenworcel is the Senior Communications Counsel for the United   
   States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation,   
   working for Senator Jay Rockefeller IV since 2009, and previously   
   for Senator Daniel K. Inouye from 2007-2008. Before joining the   
   Committee, she worked at the FCC from 1999-2007, serving as Legal   
   Advisor, and then Senior Legal Advisor to Commissioner Copps   
   (2003-2007), Legal Counsel to the Bureau Chief of the Wireline   
   Competition Bureau (2002-2003) and as an Attorney-Advisor in the   
   Policy Division of the Common Carrier Bureau (1999-2002). From   
   1997-1999, Rosenworcel was a communications associate at Drinker   
   Biddle and Reath. She received a BA from Wesleyan University and a   
   JD from New York University School of Law   
      
   Pai is a partner in the Litigation Department of Jenner & Block LLP.   
   Immediately prior to joining Jenner & Block, he worked in the Office   
   of the General Counsel at the FCC where he served as Deputy General   
   Counsel, Associate General Counsel and Special Advisor to the   
   General Counsel. Previously, Pai served as Chief Counsel to the US   
   Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil   
   Rights and Property Rights, and as Senior Counsel at the Office of   
   Legal Policy at the US Department of Justice. Pai also served as   
   Deputy Chief Counsel to the US Senate Judiciary Committee's   
   Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts, and as   
   Associate General Counsel at Verizon Communications. He began his   
   career as a law clerk to Judge Martin L.C. Feldman of the US   
   District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, and then as an   
   Honors Program trial attorney in the Telecommunications Task Force   
   at the US Department of Justice's Antitrust Division. Pai holds a BA   
   from Harvard University and a JD from the University of Chicago.   
   NNNN   
   /EX   
      
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   Gentlemens' agreements ratified by IARU regions 1 and 2 have   
   designated a global "center of activity" frequency  in  each   
   of  the  international  hf  bands.  THese are similar to the   
   concept for weak signal calling and other center of activity   
   frequencies.  Three of these have been ratified worldwide.   
      
   THese  center of activity frequencies are where stations can   
   go to render or obtain emergency assistance.   
      
   WHen casually operating or  contesting  on  hf  please  make   
   yourself  aware  of  these  frequencies,  and give them some   
   space. Remember that often stations with emergency needs are   
   not  those  utilizing  high  gain antennas and maximum legal   
   power.   
      
   TO find out more, visit 14300.net or IARU web resources.   
      
      
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    * Origin: RRN BBS: Your fidonet ham radio connection! (1:116/901)