FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION WASHINGTON OFF ICE OF THE CHA I RMAN The Honorable Amy Klobuchar United States Senate 302 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510 Dear Senator Klobuchar: February 23, 2017 Thank you for your letter supporting the appointment of Ms. Danna MacKenzie, Executive Director of the Minnesota Office of Broadband Development, to serve on the Commission's Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (BDAC). We will certainly consider your recommendation and Ms. MacKenzie's impressive resume as the Commission reviews the nominations for the BDAC. Last September, I proposed what I called a Digital Empowerment Agenda-a blueprint of policies that would accelerate the deployment of high-speed Internet access, or broadband, in communities across the country, including rural America. The BDAC is intended to provide an effective means for stakeholders to exchange ideas and develop recommendations to the Commission on broadband deployment. Its mission will be to identify regulatory barriers to infrastructure investment and to make recommendations on reducing and/or removing them, which will in turn enhance the Commission's ability to carry out its statutory responsibility to encourage broadband deployment to all Americans. I appreciate your taking the time to communicate your recommendations to me. Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance. Sincerely, ~-~. -e~, Ajit V. Pai