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 NEWS  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  Street,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  This  is  an  unofficial  announcement  of  Commission  action.  Release  of  the  full  text  of  a  Commission  order  constitutes  official  action.  See  MCI  v.  FCC.  515  F  2d  385  (D.  C.  Circ  1974).  News  Media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  TTY:  1-  888-  835-  5322 
 For  Immediate  Release:  News  Media  Contact:  September  17,  2002  Rosemary  Kimball  at  (202)  418-  0511 
 e-  mail:  rkimball@  fcc.  gov 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL,  COMMISSIONER  COPPS  AND  OTHER  FCC  OFFICIALS  TO  VISIT  GILA  RIVER  INDIAN  COMMUNITY 


 Washington,  DC  –  FCC  Chairman  Michael  K.  Powell,  Commissioner  Michael  J.  Copps  and  Consumer  &  Governmental  Affairs  Bureau  Chief  K.  Dane  Snowden,  will  lead  a  delegation 
 of  FCC  officials  on  a  visit  to  the  Gila  River  Indian  Community,  near  Phoenix,  AZ,  and  Gila  River  Telecommunications,  Inc.  (GRTI),  on  Wednesday,  September  18. 


 GRTI  is  a  tribal  corporation  wholly  owned  and  operated  by  the  Gila  River  Indian  Community.  It  is  the  sole  provider  of  telephone  service  to  on-  reservation  households  and 
 businesses. 
 The  FCC  group  will  visit  the  GRTI  headquarters  and  meet  the  staff  and  management.  They  will  also  attend  the  regularly-  scheduled  Tribal  Council  meeting  and  tour  the  community, 
 including  a  visit  to  Veteran’s  Memorial  Park,  a  site  commemorating  one  of  the  men  who  raised  the  flag  on  Iwo  Jima,  who  was  a  member  of  the  Gila  River  Community. 


 This  visit  is  part  of  the  FCC’s  Indian  Telecommunications  Initiative  (ITI),  a  comprehensive  program  that  seeks  to  foster  partnerships  among  tribes,  industry  and  government 
 agencies  to  target  specific  concerns,  identify  potential  solutions,  and  bring  affordable,  quality  telecommunications  services  to  American  Indian  tribes  and  Alaska  Native  village  communities. 


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