Kevin Martin (FCC)

Infobox Politician
name = Kevin J. Martin


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office = FCC Chairman
term_start = 18 March 2005
term_end =
predecessor = Michael Powell
successor = Incumbent
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birth_date = Birth date and age|1966|12|14|mf=y
birth_place = Charlotte, North Carolina
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party = U.S. Republican
relations =
spouse = Catherine Martin
civil partner =
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residence = Washington, D.C.
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website = [http://www.fcc.gov/commissioners/martin/ FCC Profile]
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Kevin Jeffrey Martin (born December 14 1966) is the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. He was nominated to be a commissioner by President George W. Bush on April 30 2001, and was confirmed on May 25 2001. On March 16 2005, President Bush designated him as FCC chairman, to replace Michael K. Powell. President Bush renominated Martin to a new five year term on the Commission on April 25 2006, and he was reconfirmed by the U.S. Senate on November 17 2006.

Prior offices

Before becoming a commissioner, Martin was a Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy. He has also served as the Deputy General Counsel to Bush-Cheney 2000, on the Bush-Cheney recount team in Florida, and on the Presidential Transition.

Before joining Bush-Cheney 2000, Martin served as legal advisor to FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth, in the Office of the Independent Counsel, and as an associate of Wiley Rein LLP. One of Wiley Rein's most important clients is Verizon ( [http://www.wileyrein.com/news_release.cfm?press_release_id=1225] , [http://www.wileyrein.com/news_release.cfm?press_release_id=1318] , [http://www.wileyrein.com/practice.cfm?practice_id=29] ).

Upon graduation from law school, Martin served as a judicial clerk for Judge William M. Hoeveler of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Miami.

Education

Martin earned a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (where he was elected student body president), a Master's degree in Public Policy from Duke University, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He is a member of the Florida Bar, District of Columbia Bar and the Federal Communications Bar Association. Chairman Martin married a Harvard law school classmate, Catherine J. Martin (Cathie). Following law school, Cathie practiced law as an associate of Steptoe & Johnson in Washington, and then held the following positions in public service: Counselor to then Texas Attorney General John Cornyn; Deputy Chief of Staff for Secretary Donald L. Evans at the U.S. Department of Commerce; Counselor to Vice President Dick Cheney, and Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy at the National Economic Council. She currently serves as Deputy Assistant to the President for Communications (Policy and Planning). Kevin and Cathie reside in Washington, D.C.

Congressional Investigation

On December 3, 2007, John Dingell (D) of the House Commerce Committee sent a letter to Martin stating that "given several events and proceedings over the past year, I am rapidly losing confidence that the commission has been conducting its affairs in an appropriate manner." Martin is under investigation for a lack of transparency in FCC proceedings as well as an abuse of his power in relation to cable industry regulations. He has also been accused of keeping his fellow commissioners in the dark in an attempt to push through policy. Dingell further commented that this, his cable industry proceedings, as well as an attempt to relax the newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership ban "lead to larger concerns as to the inclination and ability of the commission to perform its core mission: the implementation of federal law to serve the public interest." [cite web | url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117976951.html?categoryid=22&cs=1| title=Congressional probe targets Martin |work=Variety.com| accessdate=2007-12-04]

References

External links

* [http://www.fcc.gov/commissioners/martin/biography.html Kevin J. Martin biography] , from FCC site
* [http://i2.democracynow.org/2007/12/26/fcc_michael_copps FCC Commissioner Michael Copps on the FCC’s Vote to Rewrite the Nation’s Media Ownership Rules] , from [http://i2.democracynow.org Democracy Now]