WASHINGTON-The Bush administration’s move to pull several members off a U.S. telecom delegation because they contributed to Democrats is not necessarily a new policy, and the tack could undermine U.S. negotiations in future global spectrum conferences, according to sources familiar with the situation.
Even in the face of criticism and warnings that removing seasoned telecom experts from U.S. delegations could hurt America’s ability to advance wireless positions on the international stage, the administration apparently has no intention of reconsidering a policy that may date back to President Bush’s re-election in 2004. That has put international telecom experts in the United States on edge and scratching their heads.
Industry sources said they could not remember another time when a political campaign contribution would be grounds for dismissal from a U.S. telecom delegation. Delegation members tend to be experts in technical nuances of global spectrum policy and are obliged to support U.S. positions. In recent years, U.S. delegations to World Radiocommunication Conferences and smaller regional meetings have generally fared well in advancing the U.S. agenda.
Meanwhile, it is not even clear the three agencies primarily responsible for crafting U.S. international telecom positions-the State Department, the Commerce Department and the Federal Communications Commission-support the disqualification of delegation membership on partisan grounds. None of the agencies have publicly backed the policy, with government spokesmen either declining comment or referring questions to the White House.
Government and industry sources speculated the decision to make Democratic contributions a disqualifying factor for delegation membership may well be the work of Bush political strategist Karl Rove. The White House did not return a call for comment.
Trent Duffy, the White House spokesman who glibly defended the delegation policy in statements recently reported in Time magazine, has said nothing further in public on the matter. The White House said spokeswoman Erin Healy is fielding delegation-related questions.
“This is an unprecedented politicization of the delegation process,” said Gregory Rohde, president of telecom consulting firm e-Copernicus and head of the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration during the Clinton administration. He called the Bush policy unwarranted.
Rohde said the United States is strongest when it takes a bipartisan approach to telecom policies, including those crafted by politically diverse U.S. delegations overseas. He noted valuable contributions of Republican members on the U.S. delegation to the 2000 World Administration Radio Conference in Geneva. At WRC-2000, the United States secured support from other nations for a multi-band global spectrum allocation for third-generation mobile-phone systems.
“Bringing in partisanship is a loss for the Bush administration,” said Rohde. “Delegation issues are not partisan in nature.”
Sources said the four individuals scratched from the U.S. delegation to the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission meeting in Guatemala City last month-Cecily Cohen of Nokia Corp., Robert Jarrin of Qualcomm Inc., Albert Shuldiner of Ibiquity Digital Corp. and Donald Jansky of Jansky/Barmat Telecom Inc.-were not necessarily the first to be targeted by the White House.
An industry representative on an International Telecommunication Union working group was said to have been removed from a U.S. telecom delegation months ago because of Democratic ties. In addition, a person set to participate in an upcoming global telecom conference was told by the State Department to stay home, according to an administration source.
For Jansky, being thrown off the U.S. telecom delegation apparently is not new. This might be the second time Jansky has been bumped from a U.S. telecom delegation. Last week, RCR Wireless News reported Federal Election Commission records show Jansky, a telecom consultant, giving $500 to the Democratic National Committee in 1998. More recently, Jansky’s wife contributed $250 to the DNC in 2000, following a $300 contribution to the Democrats in 1998.
Jansky has not returned calls for comment.
Industry lawyers and lobbyists, who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity, warned that the Bush policy could backfire on the administration.One possible outcome of the Bush policy is U.S. telecom and high-tech firms affiliated with Inter-American Telecommunication Commission-but not represented on U.S. delegations-could decide to attend conferences on their own and advocate positions not necessarily consistent with those advanced by the U.S. government.
There is even a more practical consequence for lobbyists booted off U.S. delegations for making Democratic donations: job security. Telecom firms want their people on U.S. telecom delegations.
“It seems ridiculous to me,” said one veteran telecom lawyer.
