Washington, D.C. Representative Jane Harman (CA-36), Member of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications & the Internet, released the following statement in response to news that Meredith Baker, interim head of the National Telecommunication Industry Administration (NTIA), will be leaving her post after less than four months on the job:
The DTV transition will free desperately needed radio spectrum for first responders. A botched transition is not an option.
I am dismayed that the NTIA, a key agency to the transition, is again plagued by leadership changes at so critical a time. The NTIA will soon have its third Administrator since Congress charged the agency with the analog-to-digital converter box program.
The NTIA needs a steady hand and consistent leadership to complete this critical task.
Our first responders and millions of TV-depending Americans are counting on a smooth transition to digital television on February 17, 2009.
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