President Obama nominated April 29 Mignon L. Clyburn, a member of
the South Carolina
Public Service Commission since 1998 and the daughter of House Majority
Whip Rep. James Clyburn, to fill an open seat at the Federal
Communications Commission. If approved by Congress, Clyburn will fill
the seat of Democrat Jonathon Adelstein, who is
leaving the FCC to head up the Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities
Service.
Before her election to the South Carolina Public
Service
Commission, Clyburn spent 14 years as the publisher and general manager
of The Coastal Times, a weekly newspaper in Charleston, S.C.
Clyburn's
nomination would complete the Democratic majority on the five-person
FCC. She would be joining current acting Chairman Michael Copps and Obama's March 3 nomination of Julius Genakowski to serve as the FCC chairman. The Republicans have yet to forward to Obama their choice for an open GOP seat on the panel.
Genakowki
has yet to have a confirmation hearing as Republicans are insisting the
proceeding also include the Republican nominee.
Genakowski is widely considered to be the architect of Obama's Technology and Innovation Plan,
which supports the "principle of network neutrality to preserve the
benefits of open competition on the Internet." He is the former top
aide to two former Democratic FCC chairmen, co-founder and managing
director of LaunchBox Digital and Rock Creek Ventures, a former
executive with Barry Diller's IAC and a board member of several
Internet ventures, including Expedia and The Motley Fool.
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