Federal Communications Commission "FCC XX-XXX" STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN AJIT PAI Re: Elimination of Obligation to File Broadcast Mid-Term Report (Form 397) Under Section 73.2080(f)(2) (MB Docket No. 18-23); Modernization of Media Regulation Initiative, (MB Docket No. 17-105) The British cartoonist Fran Orford published a cartoon with a drawing of a man and a woman with a big stack of papers between them. The caption read: “The idea that bureaucracy is on the increase is RIDICULOUS . . . and I have the reports to prove it!” For the last two years, one of our goals at the FCC has been to get rid of unnecessary bureaucratic red tape. That’s why today, we are eliminating the Broadcast Mid-Term Report, otherwise known as Form 397. At one time, this form served a useful purpose: It required certain broadcast television and radio stations to provide equal employment opportunity (EEO) information around the midpoint of their eight-year license terms to assist the FCC in determining which stations would be subject to a mid-term review. But today, the FCC can easily access nearly all of this information online in each station’s public inspection file. And following adoption of this Order, we will be modifying our online public inspection file so that all of this information will be easily accessible. Ending this redundant reporting requirement is such a common-sense step that literally nobody in our record—not a single commenter—has opposed it. Importantly, this decision will have no impact on the Commission’s ability to enforce our EEO rules. Indeed, we recently made clear our commitment on this score by voting to move staff handling EEO enforcement from the Media Bureau to the Enforcement Bureau, where they will be better equipped to take action when our rules are violated. This Order would not have been possible without the work of Steve Broeckaert, Michelle Carey, Lyle Elder, Martha Heller, Tom Horan, Jonathan Mark, and Holly Saurer from the Media Bureau, and Susan Aaron, Dave Konczal, and Royce Sherlock from the Office of General Counsel. I thank them for all their efforts to update our media rules for the digital age. 2