At the end of her last FCC meeting with a gavel in hand yesterday, agency Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel thought it would be interesting to look back and see what she said during her first meeting after taking the reins of the Commission.
It was four years ago, next week. In remarks delivered over Zoom during the COVID-19 pandemic, Rosenworcel says one passage stood out. “We have work to do to put consumers first,” she said then. “We have work to do to continue our history-making wireless and auction policies that serve as a global model. And we have work to do to ensure open, reliable, and affordable broadband reaches 100 percent of this country—rural areas, urban areas, and everything in between.”
Several bureaus summarized the work of the FCC over Rosenworcel’s tenure as the first woman to permanently head the agency. “Working together, we were able to build the largest broadband affordability effort in our nation’s history,” she said. Rosenworcel also highlighted the launch of the first-ever FCC Space Bureau and the five versions of its broadband maps “that are light years ahead of anything that came before.”
She spoke of her family supporting her career in public service. “I was able to break a glass ceiling because my family helped pick up the pieces at home. So thank you to my husband Mark, my children Caroline and Emmett and even our rescue dog Bo. They are my everything. And they will be seeing a whole lot more of me from here on out.”
Finally, Rosenworcel thanked President Biden “for giving me the opportunity to make history. It has been the privilege of a lifetime.”
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
Reader Interactions