Today, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation voted to approve Gigi Sohn as a Commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission and Alvaro Bedoya as a Commissioner for the Federal Trade Commission. Both Ms. Sohn and Mr. Bedoya have worked steadfastly to champion consumer protections and have a deep understanding of the important role that these agencies have in ensuring those protections reflect the needs of consumers. Public Knowledge urges the Senate to confirm President Joe Biden’s nominees to help protect consumers in the digital era.
The following can be attributed to Chris Lewis, President and CEO at Public Knowledge:
“These committee votes are extremely important for getting stalled parts of the technology policy agenda moving with a sense of urgency. The FCC plays a critical role in ensuring consumers have access to robust, affordable broadband and the FTC works to ensure that once consumers are online, their privacy is protected and there is a functioning market that provides choice.
“The work of these agencies in this regard is far from over, which is why it is critical that the Senate quickly confirms these nominees to be commissioners at their respective agencies. Public Knowledge is excited to see these nominees move on from the Senate Commerce Committee and we thank Chairwoman Maria Cantwell (D-WA) for her hard work in moving these nominees through the Committee.
“Based on their extensive qualifications and the bipartisan outpouring of support outside of Congress, we would have hoped these nominees would receive overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate. Unfortunately, the politics of our time made that unachievable. Regardless, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) should move expeditiously to get these nominees through the process for final confirmation. It is time for these critical agencies to be fully functioning so they can do their work.”
Members of the media may contact Communications Director Shiva Stella with inquiries, interview requests, or to join the Public Knowledge press list at shiva@publicknowledge.org or 405-249-9435.