Groups Pushed for Latino FCC Nominee Day Before Sohn Re-Selection

National Hispanic Media Coalition CEO Brenda Castillo and the leaders of 20 other groups urged President Joe Biden a day before he renominated Gigi Sohn to be the third FCC Democrat (see 2301030060) to instead “nominate a person of Latino descent” to the commission. Two of the names of potential candidates to replace Sohn as Biden’s FCC nominee before Tuesday -- former acting NTIA Administrator Anna Gomez, ex-Wiley, and NASA Chief of Staff Susie Perez Quinn -- are Latina (see 2212300044). The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (see 2102110043) and others began pressing Biden to nominate a Latino FCC commissioner in early 2021.

The nomination of a Latino to the FCC “is long overdue and increasingly urgent” since the last person to represent the community on the commission, Gloria Tristani, left in September 2001 (see 0109110015), said NHMC and the other groups in a letter we obtained Thursday. The groups don’t specifically mention Sohn’s stalled 2021 and 2022 FCC confirmation processes (see 2205050050), but one of the signatories, the League of United Latin American Citizens, actively opposed her last year. Other signers include the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Hispanic Leadership Institute. NHMC and LULAC didn’t comment.

When Tristani departed, “Hispanics hoped that she would be swiftly replaced with another member of our community, reflecting our rapidly growing population and power” in the U.S., the groups said. “Instead, more than two decades later, Hispanics still lack an authentic voice in this crucial federal body. Today, more than 62 million Americans of Hispanic and Latino descent are largely being left out of some of the most important policy decisions in the country. It's long past time to right this wrong.”

A “Latino voice at the FCC” would make the agency “more likely to champion equitable language access, as well as Hispanic and multicultural content creators, who deserve equal treatment with larger companies,” the groups said. “The FCC would also be more likely to enact broadband infrastructure policies that make it easier to expand into un- and under-served areas, especially in rural parts of the country.”

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, meanwhile, renewed its opposition to Sohn. Her views, including “regulating broadband like a public utility, establishing government-owned networks, and undermining intellectual property protections, have not changed and therefore the Senate should again reject her nomination,” said Technology Engagement Center Vice President-Policy Jordan Crenshaw. “Americans deserve an FCC that will ensure that consumers and the economy benefit from cutting-edge communication tools necessary for their success. The Chamber believes that the FCC and the public interest would be better served by a different nominee.”