STATEMENT OF
COMMISSIONER MIGNON L. CLYBURN
Re: Review of Foreign Ownership Policies for Common Carrier and Aeronautical Radio Licensees 
under Section 310(b)(4) of the Communications Act of 1934, as Amended, IB Docket No. 11-133
This item is another example of how the Commission is working hard to comply with both the 
spirit and language of President Obama’s Executive Order, instructing federal agencies to remove 
regulations that unnecessarily impede investment and business development.  Section 310(b)(4) of the 
Communications Act, sets a 25 percent benchmark for investment by foreign entities in U.S.-
organizations that directly or indirectly control certain FCC licensees.  That statute also requires the 
Commission to review foreign ownership levels, which exceed that benchmark, to ensure such ownership 
would not harm our Nation’s interest in competition, security, law enforcement, foreign policy, or trade 
policy.  But as the item recognizes, the legal and other administrative costs that U.S. parent companies 
face, when trying to comply with 310(b)(4), are not mandated by Congress.  Therefore, I commend the 
International Bureau for crafting proposals that could cut the number of 310(b)(4) petitions, filed each 
year, by more than 70 percent.
The streamlining measures proposed in this NPRM are not just important because they comply 
with a Presidential directive.  In fact, private investment, both domestic and foreign, furthers our interests 
in maximum broadband adoption and in economic growth.  As the National Broadband Plan pointed out, 
investment in information and communications technologies, accounted for almost two-thirds of all 
economic growth, attributed to capital investment in the United States between 1995 and 2005.  
Therefore, we need to find ways that companies, who are interested in investing in the U.S. 
communications industry, will spend less money on legal fees and more money financing our companies.
I again thank Mindel De La Torre, and her staff, for their leadership on these issues.