STATEMENT OF
COMMISSIONER AJIT PAI
Re: Commission Seeks Public Comment in 2016 Biennial Review of Telecommunication Regulations, 
CG Docket No. 16-124, EB Docket No. 16-120, IB Docket No. 16-131, ET Docket No. 16-127,
PS Docket No. 16-128, WT Docket No. 16-138, WC Docket No. 16-132 
This is a time of widespread dissatisfaction with and distrust of government.  Many Americans 
perceive that government agencies don’t bother following the law or, at best, make a half-hearted attempt 
to comply.  The Federal Communications Commission shares responsibility for this problem.  For 
example, in its longstanding abdication of its legal responsibility to conduct a meaningful biennial review, 
the Commission unfortunately has treated the law in much the same way that The Dude handled bowling 
taunts in The Big Lebowski:  “Yeah, well, you know, that’s just, like, your opinion, man.”
1
Here’s the background.  Section 11 prescribes that every two years, the FCC “shall review all 
regulations . . . that apply to the operations or activities of any provider of telecommunications service”
and “shall determine whether any such regulation is no longer necessary in the public interest as the result 
of meaningful economic competition between providers of such service.”
2
  If the Commission finds that 
the public interest no longer demands any such regulation, it “shall repeal or modify” that regulation.
3
Unlike most matters the FCC handles, conducting a biennial review is not a very complicated 
case, with a lot of ins, a lot of outs, a lot of what-have-yous.  Indeed, Section 11 is a simple and powerful 
tool for scrubbing outdated regulations from our books and promoting private sector innovation and 
investment.  In a sense, it ties the Communications Act together.
Or at least could be, if the FCC took this task seriously.  In 2014, the agency simply ignored this 
duty entirely.  This time around, it promises a few desultory efforts at paging through the Code of Federal 
Regulations—efforts certain to result in many staff hours being wasted and nothing meaningful being 
done.  (Say what you will about the FCC’s seemingly nihilistic view in 2014 that the law didn’t exist—at 
least it was an ethos.)
We should be prompt and bold in conducting these biennial reviews, not tardy and timid.  I hope 
the next Administration takes a more proactive, forward-thinking view of this task, for passivism is not 
something to hide behind.  Am I wrong?
                                                          
1
The Dude, The Big Lebowski (Polygram Filmed Entertainment 1998).
2
47 U.S.C. 161(a) (emphasis added).
3
47 U.S.C. 161(b) (emphasis added).