Civil Rights Organizations Call on Biden Administration to Appoint Jessica Rosenworcel as Permanent Chair of the FCC.
August 23, 2021
The Honorable Joseph R. Biden
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
RE: Federal Communications Chair Appointment
Dear President Biden,
We write today on behalf of the most influential national multicultural organizations engaged
in technology and telecommunications policy solutions, to urge you to appoint Jessica
Rosenworcel as permanent chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
As the COVID-19 health crisis continues to expose the depth of our country’s digital divide
and the essential role that broadband access plays in sustaining critical aspects of our
everyday lives-- it has also revealed how the continued lack of broadband and digital skills
education have resulted in higher rates of poverty, underemployment, and limited vaccine
distribution for multicultural communities nationwide. Plainly stated, our
telecommunications infrastructure and policies of the past have failed Latino, Black, AANHPI
(Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander), and Indigenous communities of color and
compounded the negative effects of our country’s deeply embedded structural inequalities.
We applaud your administration's ambitious efforts to expand digital opportunity to
every home and are committed to working collaboratively to promote an inclusive digital
economy that makes equity and choice a defining feature of American innovation. It is in
that spirit that we urge you to nominate Jessica Rosenworcel as permanent chair.
During her eight month tenure as acting chair (the longest the commission has ever gone
without permanent leadership) she has been responsive and has made herself and her staff
available to us as multicultural stakeholders in ways that we have not experienced in the
past.
Through her open door policy coupled with her collaborative leadership approach she has
proven herself to be a champion for digital equity and an effective leader and consensus
builder for the 50/50 commission.
Jessica Rosenworcel is a dedicated and experienced consumer advocate who, we
believe, is ready and able to lead the commission through this important and
consequential time. Mrs. Rosenworcel is the right leader for this moment and is best
positioned to advance an inclusive agenda that centers equity, civil rights, racial
justice, and equal opportunity for historically marginalized communities.
If appointed, Jessica Rosenworcel would represent another history making announcement as
the first woman appointed as permanent chair to the FCC in its almost 100 year history. We
fully believe that under her leadership the FCC will have everything it needs to establish new
and improved policies to bridge the digital divide, promote inclusive innovation, and will
represent an important breakthrough in the commission's work to make digital opportunity
accessible to all.
Thank you for your consideration, and we look forward to continuing to work with you and
your administration to advance equity, civil rights, racial justice, and digital opportunity for all
people across the Federal Government.
Sincerely,
Alejandro Roark Brent Wilkes
Executive Director, HTTP Vice President, Hispanic Federation
Sindy Benavides Antonio Tijerino
CEO, LULAC CEO, Hispanic Heritage Foundation
Ramiro Cavazos John C. Yang
CEO USHCC CEO, AAJC
Ken Lee Amy Hinojosa
CEO, OCA CEO, MANA
Ron Blackburn Ignacio Salazar
CEO, ASPIRA CEO, SER Jobs for Progress
Dr. Elena Rios Amanda Fernandez
CEO, NHMC CEO, Latinos for Education
CiCi Rojas Maria Cristina Caballero
CEO, The Latino Coalition CEO, Dialogue on Diversity