FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 
WASHINGTON 
OFFICE OF 
THE CHAIRMAN 
The Honorable John Barrasso 
United States Senate 
307 Dirksen Senate Office Building 
Washington, D.C. 20510 
Dear Senator Barrasso: 
June 20, 2017 
Thank you for your letter supporting the appointment of Mr. Neil Schlenker, 
Chairman ofthe Board ofDirectors ofTri County Telephone Association, to serve on the 
Commission's Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee's (BDAC) Streamlining Federal 
Siting working group. 
Last September, 1 proposed what I called a Digital Empowerment Agenda- a blueprint 
of policies that would accelerate the deployment ofhigh-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. 
We were fortunate to have an excellent and deep pool of applicants to serve on the 
BDAC. The Commission received over 380 applications, resulting in the selection of29 
members for the BDAC, which met for the first time on April 21, 2017. The selection of 
members for the Streamlining Federal Siting working group is currently in progress, and we 
anticipate making a final announcement in the near future. We will certainly consider your 
recommendation and Mr. Schlenker's impressive resume as the Commission reviews the 
nominations for this BDAC working group and any future working groups. 
I appreciate your taking the time to communicate your recommendation to me. Please let 
me know if I can be of any further assistance. 
Sin~re£ly~ / . 
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