I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2982 

To require the Federal Communications Commission to reorganize the bureaus 

of the Commission in order to better carry out their regulatory functions. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 17, 2005 

Mr. WYNN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To require the Federal Communications Commission to reorganize the bureaus of the Commission in order to better 

carry out their regulatory functions. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘FCC Reorganization 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The Communications Act of 1934 grants 

9 the Federal Communications Commission permission 

10 to organize ‘‘integrated bureaus’’ and ‘‘other divi-
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1 sional organizations’’ for the purpose of assisting the 

2 Commission in its principal workload. 

3 (2) The Federal Communications Commission 

4 originally created and organized its bureaus at a 

5 time when individual companies offered single, dis6 creet telecommunications services. 

7 (3) New communications technologies enable a 

8 single company to offer a variety of services (such 

9 as cable companies offering video, voice, and data). 

10 (4) The organization of the Federal Commu11 nications Commission’s bureaus based on the type of 

12 technology is an obsolete model and is no longer rel13 evant since new technologies provide multiple serv14 ices. 

15 SEC. 3. REGULATORY FUNCTION AND STRUCTURE OF THE 

16 FCC. 

17 Subsection (b) of section 5 of the Communications 

18 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 155(b)) is amended to read as 

19 follows: 

20 ‘‘(b) STAFF ORGANIZATION.— 

21 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY TO ORGANIZE.—The Commis22 sion shall— 

23 ‘‘(A) except as provided in paragraph (3), 

24 establish and maintain the bureaus required by 

25 paragraph (2); and 
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1 ‘‘(B) organize the remainder of its staff 

2 into— 

3 ‘‘(i) integrated bureaus based on the 

4 purposes of the regulation to be adminis5 tered by such bureau; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) such other divisional organiza7 tions as the Commission may deem nec8 essary. 

9 ‘‘(2) REQUIRED DIVISIONS.—Except as pro10 vided in paragraph (3), the Commission shall estab11 lish and maintain the following bureaus and divi12 sions: 

13 ‘‘(A) SPECTRUM MANAGEMENT BUREAU.— 

14 A Spectrum Management Bureau with respon15 sibility for all issues relating to electromagnetic 

16 spectrum, including spectrum allocation, spec17 trum interference regulations, unlicensed user 

18 regulations, and other general spectrum regula19 tions. 

20 ‘‘(B) GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS AND CON21 SUMER EDUCATION BUREAU.—A Government 

22 Affairs and Consumer Education Bureau with 

23 responsibility for all issues relating to govern24 ment relations and consumer education includ25 ing consumer affairs and outreach, consumer 
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1 inquiries and complaints, information access 

2 and privacy, policy, reference information cen3 ter, and consumer publications. 

4 ‘‘(C) ECONOMIC REGULATIONS BUREAU.— 

5 An Economic Regulation Bureau with responsi6 bility for all issues relating to economic regula7 tions, including intercarrier compensation, pric8 ing regulations, and media ownership regula9 tions, and the Universal Service Fund/E-rate 

10 program. 

11 ‘‘(D) PUBLIC INTEREST BUREAU.—A Pub12 lic Interest Bureau with responsibility for all 

13 issues relating to public interest programs, such 

14 as Disabled Services, E–911 regulations, and 

15 requirements under the Communications Assist16 ance for Law Enforcement Act. 

17 ‘‘(E) BROADCAST CONTENT BUREAU.—A 

18 Broadcast Content Bureau with responsibility 

19 for all issues relating to broadcast content, in20 cluding broadcast decency and child-friendly tel21 evision. 

22 ‘‘(F) LICENSING BUREAU.—A Licensing 

23 Bureau with responsibility for all issues relating 

24 to licensing, including spectrum auctions and li25 cense renewal 
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1 ‘‘(G) ENFORCEMENT BUREAU.—An En2 forcement Bureau with the same responsibilities 

3 such Bureau had on the date of enactment of 

4 the FCC Reorganization Act. 

5 ‘‘(H) INTERNATIONAL BUREAU.—An 

6 International Bureau with the same responsibil7 ities such Bureau had on the date of enactment 

8 of the FCC Reorganization Act. 

9 ‘‘(3) PERIODIC RE-EXAMINATION.—The Com10 mission shall, at least once after each 5-year interval 

11 after the date of enactment of the FCC Reorganiza12 tion Act— 

13 ‘‘(A) re-examine the organization of the 

14 bureaus established under subparagraph (A) 

15 and (B)(i) of paragraph (1) to determine 

16 whether such organization continues to meet 

17 the requirements and needs of the Commission; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(B) carry out any reorganization that the 

20 Commission determines to be necessary to meet 

21 the requirements and needs of the Commission. 

22 ‘‘(4) BUREAU STAFFING.—Each bureau estab23 lished under subparagraph (A) and (B)(i) of para24 graph (1) shall include such legal, engineering, ac25 counting, administrative, clerical, and other per-
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1 sonnel as the Commission may determine to be nec2 essary to perform its functions.’’. 

3 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE; TRANSITION. 

4 The amendment made by section 3 is effective 18 

5 months after the date of enactment of this Act, except 

6 that the Federal Communications Commission is author7 ized and required to take actions to begin implementation 

8 of, and compliance with, such amendment on such date 

9 of enactment. 

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