The Wireless Infrastructure Association threw its support behind the re-nomination of FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel last week for another five-year term at the agency. In a statement for the record sent to the Senate Commerce Committee after her nomination hearing last week, WIA President/CEO Jonathan Adelstein said there’s no nominee more experienced, qualified, or committed to the mission of the FCC Commission than Rosenworcel.
“I have known Chairwoman Rosenworcel for over two decades,” stated Adelstein. “From her time as a staff member for my former colleague Commissioner Michael Copps on the FCC, to a leading staff member on the United States Senate’s Commerce Committee, to her nomination by President Obama to be a Commissioner, Chairwoman Rosenworcel has always demonstrated an outstanding dedication to improving connectivity for the American people and the highest standards of public service.”
He explained that Rosenworcel, throughout her extensive experience in telecommunications, has made a major positive impact in many areas, including advancing connectivity in the United States. “She has made it her mission to address the ‘homework gap,’ a term she coined for the alarming disparities between students who have broadband access at home and can use this connectivity to keep up with schoolwork and those students who do not,” he wrote. “Her work has had a major impact on helping future generations by promoting policies to connect the unconnected and to provide them with more opportunities.”
Adelstein also said she’s recognized the shortage of skilled and diverse workers who are needed for building next-generation networks. He said she raised this issue with this Committee in early 2020, where Rosenworcel said, “We need a plan to invest in training for the jobs of the future. Across the board, we need to do more to prepare our workforce for digital change. We can start with developing the workforce we need to build 5G networks.” He also noted Rosenworcel supports WIA’s efforts to address this problem with the DOL-certified Telecommunications Industry Registered Apprenticeship Program.
“She is eminently qualified and deserves support,” he emphasized, urging the committee to give her a strong, bipartisan recommendation for confirmation by the full Senate.
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