The following is from Reuters, about one hour ago.
Dave
* Senate Commerce Committee approves FCC nominee
* Genachowski nomination next goes to full Senate
* Second term for FCC's McDowell also approved
(Adds vote tally, background)
WASHINGTON, June 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Commerce
Committee voted on Thursday to approve overwhelmingly the Obama
administration's nomination of Julius Genachowski to chair the
Federal Communications Commission.
The full Senate will next consider the nomination of
Genachowski, a law school friend of President Barack Obama and
technology industry executive.
The committee approved Genachowski 24-1, with Republican
Jim DeMint the lone vote in opposition. The committee also
unanimously approved a second FCC term for Commissioner Robert
McDowell.
Earlier this week, Genachowski told the Senate committee
that he would focus on national broadband service and consumer
issues, if confirmed for the FCC job. The FCC will help oversee
billions of dollars in economic stimulus money that Congress
allocated in incentives for states and private companies to
expand high-speed Internet in rural and underserved areas.
As an adviser and fundraiser during the presidential
campaign, Genachowski headed a tech policy group and guided
Obama's use of social networking on the Internet to reach out
to voters.
In the private sector, Genachowski held various positions
at Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp (IACI.O) and co-founded
technology investment firm Rock Creek Ventures. He also served
on the boards or as advisers to Ticketmaster (TKTM.O), Web.com
(WWWW.O), The Motley Fool, Beliefnet, Truveo, and Rapt.