Federal Communications Commission "FCC XX-XXX" STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN AJIT PAI Re: Amendment of Procedural Rules Governing Formal Complaint Proceedings Delegated to the Enforcement Bureau, EB Docket No. 17-245. Today, we have three different procedures for the three distinct types of formal complaints that are handled by the Enforcement Bureau. This has occasionally produced confusion and inconsistent results. And in many cases, the different procedures and disparate results are more a result of history than logic. So today, following up on the priority I emphasized in the FCC’s Strategic Plan of “Reforming the FCC’s Processes,” Federal Communications Commission, Strategic Plan FY 2018-2022 at i (2018). we streamline and generally bring greater consistency to the rules governing formal complaints regarding common carriers, pole attachments, and advanced communications services and equipment. These updates will simplify and expedite the process for handling formal complaints that will both serve the public better and make more efficient use of staff resources. I am particularly grateful to the career staff of the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau for correcting the misinformation that has been peddled about this item.  In particular, Bureau staff made clear that the Commission sought comment on the revisions to the text of the informal complaint rule in the agency’s September 2017 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking; that the vote on the NPRM was unanimous (including all members of the current Commission); that no commenter objected to or expressed any concern about the change to the text of the informal complaint rule since it was included in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking over nine months ago; that the draft’s proposed modification to the informal complaint rules would not have any impact on how the Commission deals with informal complaints, but merely clarified existing practice which has been in place since 1986 (namely, that the informal complaint process facilitates a dialogue and negotiation, but does not result in a formal Commission ruling); that the draft’s proposed modification would in no way impede the Commission’s ability to take enforcement actions on the basis of informal complaints; and that media reports that Americans will now have to pay a $225 fee to file a complaint with the FCC are “blatantly false.” Thank you to Tracy Bridgham, Rizwan Chowdhry, Michael Engel, Jon Garvin, Lisa Griffin, Rosemary Harold, Christopher Killion, Sharon Lee, Rosemary McEnery, and Lisa Saks from the Enforcement Bureau; Adam Copeland, Lisa Hone, Dan Kahn, and Michael Ray from the Wireline Competition Bureau; Robert Aldrich, Micah Caldwell, Rosaline Crawford, Suzy Singleton, and Kim Wild from the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau; and Malena Barzilai, Ashley Boizelle, Rick Mallen, Linda Oliver, Bill Richardson, and Ryan Yates from the Office of General Counsel. 2