Washington, DC - Congressman John D. Dingell (D-MI15) made the following opening statement this morning at the Committee on Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet hearing titled “Oversight of the Digital Television Transition”:

“Thank you, Mr. Chairman.  I commend your initiative in making certain that the DTV transition is subject to adequate oversight.  As we are all painfully aware, the DTV transition has been fraught with difficulty since it was mandated in 2005.  In particular, grave errors by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) during the previous Administration in their management of the DTV converter box coupon program and consumer education efforts were in large part to blame for necessitating Congress’s passage of legislation to postpone the DTV transition date.  As I support no further postponement of this deadline, I look forward to cooperating with you, Mr. Chairman, in robust oversight of the programs associated with the DTV transition in order to ensure a successful transition that causes minimal inconvenience to the Nation’s consumers.

“During numerous hearings in the 110th Congress, I asked representatives of NTIA whether they had sufficient funding for the converter box program.  Despite a 2008 report by the Government Accountability Office that NTIA would be unprepared to cope with a surge in consumer demand for converter coupons, NTIA consistently stated it had adequate funding with which to meet consumer demand for these coupons.  This, as we have recently learned, was patently false, and I intend to seek NTIA’s commitment today that it will be forthright and cooperative with the Congress in making certain that the converter box program is properly administrated with a view toward providing coupons to every consumer who applies for them.

“Similarly, I look forward to a frank discussion with the FCC about the role it plays in consumer education and outreach about the DTV transition.  Prior attempts at these vital activities were disastrously mismanaged and proven largely ineffectual, something which we must strive to avoid at all costs in moving forward.  Also, because the DTV Delay Act extends FCC’s authority to auction spectrum, I intend to ask frank questions about that agency’s plans for preventing waste, fraud, and abuse in those auctions.

“I hope to have a productive conversation with our other witnesses about several additional issues related to this matter, including ongoing concerns about the DTV transition’s effect on low-income, minority, and elderly populations, the financial capacity of public television broadcasters to cope with the transition, and the adequacy and availability of the supply of converter boxes to meet consumer demand. 

“Again, Mr. Chairman, thank you for your enlightened interest in overseeing the Nation’s transition to digital television.  I yield back the balance of my time.”