An FCC oversight hearing of the House Communications Subcommittee...

An FCC oversight hearing of the House Communications Subcommittee will take place at 10 a.m. on Dec. 12, Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., told reporters Thursday. Walden met separately with FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and Commissioner Mike O'Rielly this week, and those meetings included “good” discussion focused on public policy, Walden said. “We look forward to a productive relationship in the years ahead,” Walden said, citing this as important in the subcommittee’s oversight work. The hearing will feature all five FCC commissioners, who also will hold an FCC meeting later that same day from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Walden and House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., have been “passionate” about FCC process overhaul for three years, House Commerce Committee Republican Chief Counsel David Redl said during a Practising Law Institute event in Washington Thursday, pointing to the FCC Consolidated Reporting Act that unanimously passed the House earlier this year. But Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., “publicly stated that he does not intend to move those measures in the Senate,” said Committee Democratic Senior Counsel John Branscome during the same panel discussion. “In terms of FCC process reform legislation, Sen. Rockefeller will be looking at how this legislation ultimately strengthens the FCC’s consumer protection role. I think that’s how he'll judge any measure.” Redl and House Commerce Democratic Chief Counsel Shawn Chang, both pointed to the incentive auctions as a major concern and said they remain optimistic the FCC can meet its deadlines. Chang cautioned, however, that observers should be “mindful of the Healthcare.gov experience,” which was fraught with problems. “We've got to get this right.” Redl described various known “hurdles” and questions: “What’s the repacking process going to look like?"