Joint Select Committee Members Urge President Obama to Consider Options for Government Spectrum Reallocation

Additional Spectrum Auctions Can Expand Broadband Access, Spur Job Creation, and Provide Greater Deficit Reduction.

WASHINGTON, DC – Four members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction today sent a letter to President Obama requesting a review of how spectrum currently used by the federal government can be used more efficiently, with a goal to reallocate portions of existing government spectrum to expand the public’s access to broadband. The letter was sent by Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA), and Sen. Patrick Toomey (R-PA). The full text of the letter follows:

Dear Mr. President:

The Budget Control Act tasks the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction with developing recommendations to reduce the deficit by “at least $1.5 trillion” by FY 2021. One way to produce job growth is spectrum auctions. In February, you set a goal of making an additional 500 MHz of spectrum available for wireless broadband use. You identified voluntary incentive auctions of spectrum currently allocated, for example, to broadcast television as one potential source. We certainly support such voluntary incentive auctions. But we believe that those auctions will not produce all the spectrum we need to meet our country’s growing demand for broadband.

In an effort to produce more spectrum for wireless broadband than in the current proposal, we respectfully request that you direct the Office of Management and Budget to re-examine and consider expanding a proposal in your FY 2012 Budget and in your recommendations submitted to the Committee for consideration on September 19, 2011, specifically, to make more efficient use of federal government spectrum and reallocate some of it for commercial broadband use. In particular, we should put every effort into making available paired, internationally-harmonized spectrum below 3 GHz in sufficient block sizes to support mobile broadband services within the next 10 years.

These efforts enjoy bipartisan Congressional support. Spectrum auctions would generate tens of billions of dollars in auction proceeds, help the Select Committee meet its deficit reduction goals, stimulate billions in private-sector capital investment, provide a job-creating boost to the economy, and ensure that America continues to lead the world in wireless broadband innovation. The Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005 yielded spectrum now being used to deploy 4G wireless services and gave the United States an international edge in the growing wireless economy. Let’s build on that momentum.

In light of the time sensitive work of the Select Committee, we kindly request a response by October 14.

Sincerely,

The Honorable Fred Upton U.S. House of Representatives Member, Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction

The Honorable John F. Kerry U.S. Senate Member, Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction

The Honorable Xavier Becerra U.S. House of Representatives Member, Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction

The Honorable Patrick J. Toomey U.S. Senate Member, Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction

TEXT and IMAGE CREDIT: House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans:

Fred Upton Cliff Stearns Discover Treasury Department Believed DOE Violated Law in Restructuring Solyndra Loan

WASHINGTON, DC – Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Cliff Stearns (R-FL) have uncovered new information as part of their ongoing investigation into the $535 million loan guarantee to now-bankrupt Solyndra about the level of disagreement among federal agencies about how the loan guarantee was handled.

The committee has learned that the Treasury Department was concerned that the Department of Energy’s restructuring of the Solyndra Loan in early 2011 was in violation of the law. Despite the plain letter of the law, DOE allowed Solyndra’s investors to be moved to the front of the line for the first $75 million in the event of Solyndra’s bankruptcy. Upton and Stearns today sent a letter to the Treasury Department seeking information about the agency's involvement with the loan and its concerns. An excerpt from the letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner follows:

“In the course of our investigation, we have uncovered information that raises questions as to whether the Department of Energy satisfied the requirement to consult with the Department of the Treasury about the $535 million loan guarantee issued to Solyndra in September 2009 and the restructuring of that agreement in February 2011. On August 17, 2011, Department of the Treasury Assistant Secretary for Financial Markets Mary J. Miller sent an email to Jeffrey D. Zients, Deputy Director of OMB, in which she stated that ‘[s]ince July of 2010, Treasury has asked DOE for briefings on Solyndra’s financial condition and any restructuring of terms.

The only information we have received about this has been through OMB, as DOE has not responded to any requests for information about Solyndra.’ Further, Assistant Secretary Miller also questioned whether DOE’s decision to subordinate its interest in Solyndra to Solyndra’s investors was proper, stating ‘[o]ur legal counsel believes that the statute and the DOE regulations both require that the guaranteed loan should not be subordinate to any loan or other debt obligation. The DOE regulations also state that DOE shall consult with OMB and Treasury before any ‘deviation’ is granted from the financial terms of the Loan Guarantee Agreement. In February, we requested in writing that DOE seek the Department of Justice’s approval of any proposed restructuring. To our knowledge, that has never happened.’”

TEXT and IMAGE CREDIT: House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans: