Snowe, Warner: FCC should hire more engineers

Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) have introduced bi-partisan legislation to allow FCC commissioners to hire an electrical engineer or computer scientist as an additional staff member to help them navigate the increasingly complicated telecommunications industry.

Under current law, commissioners can have three professional staffers (plus a secretary) that concentrate on particular areas of the industry: media, wireless and wireline. The commissioners themselves typically have backgrounds in law and business.

In an October speech, Republican Commissioner Robert McDowell acknowledged the agency's gap in expertise. He he said he and the other commissioners "don't have engineering degrees--we're liberal arts majors," he said while encouraging private sector collaboration to add to the agency's knowledge.

"Given the rapid advancement of technologies and innovation within the telecommunications industry, it is essential that commissioners have in-house technical expertise to make well-informed regulatory decisions," Snowe said.

Warner said: "Easing restrictions on the number of experts a commissioner can hire will provide the FCC with more tools and information it needs to make decisions. This will give commissioners access to the best information possible, from all relevant disciplines, in a timely manner--which is critical in making well-informed decisions."