Kevin Jeffrey Martin (born December 14 1966) was the Chairman of the
Federal Communications CommissionThe Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, directed, and empowered by Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President...
. He was nominated to be a commissioner by
PresidentThe President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition...
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000....
on April 30 2001, and was confirmed on May 25 2001. On March 16 2005, President Bush designated him as FCC chairman, to replace Michael K. Powell. President Bush renominated Martin to a new five year term on the Commission on April 25 2006, and he was reconfirmed by the
U.S. SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate and the House are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution . Each U.S state is represented by two senators,...
on November 17 2006.
Kevin Jeffrey Martin (born December 14 1966) was the Chairman of the
Federal Communications CommissionThe Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, directed, and empowered by Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President...
. He was nominated to be a commissioner by
PresidentThe President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition...
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000....
on April 30 2001, and was confirmed on May 25 2001. On March 16 2005, President Bush designated him as FCC chairman, to replace Michael K. Powell. President Bush renominated Martin to a new five year term on the Commission on April 25 2006, and he was reconfirmed by the
U.S. SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate and the House are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution . Each U.S state is represented by two senators,...
on November 17 2006. On January 15, 2009, Martin announced that he was resigning from the FCC, effective January 20, 2009.
Prior offices
Before becoming a commissioner, Martin was a Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy. He has also served as the Deputy General Counsel to Bush-Cheney 2000, on the Bush-Cheney
recountThe Florida election recount of 2000 was a period of vote re-counting that occurred following the unclear results of the 2000 United States presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore, specifically the Florida results. The election was ultimately settled in favor of George W. Bush when...
team in
FloridaFlorida is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the north. It was the 27th state admitted to the United States...
, and on the presidential transition team.
Before joining Bush-Cheney 2000, Martin served as legal advisor to FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth, in the Office of the Independent Counsel, and as an associate of Wiley Rein LLP. One of Wiley Rein's most important clients is Verizon (
http://www.wileyrein.com/news_release.cfm?press_release_id=1225,
http://www.wileyrein.com/news_release.cfm?press_release_id=1318,
http://www.wileyrein.com/practice.cfm?practice_id=29).
Upon graduation from law school, Martin served as a judicial clerk for Judge William M. Hoeveler of the
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of FloridaThe United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida is the federal United States district court with jurisdiction over the southern part of the state of Florida....
in Miami.
Education
Martin went to
Charlotte Catholic High SchoolCharlotte Catholic High School is a private, diocesan high school in Charlotte, North Carolina founded in 1955. The school is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte.-Athletics:...
for four years. He earned a
B.A.Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences or both....
from the
University of North Carolina at Chapel HillThe University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. The university is the oldest in, and flagship of, the University of North Carolina system...
(where he was elected student body president), a
Master's degreeThe Master of Public Policy , one of several public policy degrees, is a master's level professional degree that provides training in policy analysis and program evaluation at public policy schools. The MPP program places a focus on the systematic analysis of issues related to public policy and the...
in
Public PolicyPublic policy can be generally defined as the course of action or inaction taken by governmental entities with regard to a particular issue or set of issues...
from
Duke UniversityDuke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892...
, and a
J.D.Juris Doctor is a first professional degree.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century as a degree similar to the old European doctor of law degree...
from
Harvard Law SchoolHarvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. HLS typically ranks among the top law...
. He is a member of the Florida Bar, District of Columbia Bar and the
Federal Communications Bar AssociationThe is the voluntary bar association for communications attorneys in the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., the FCBA focuses primarily on the regulatory agencies of the Federal Communications Commission and the state public utility commissions....
.
Chairman Martin married a Harvard law school classmate, Catherine J. Martin (Cathie). Following law school, Cathie practiced law as an associate of Steptoe & Johnson in Washington, and then held the following positions in public service: Counselor to then Texas Attorney General John Cornyn; Deputy Chief of Staff for Secretary Donald L. Evans at the U.S. Department of Commerce; Counselor to
Vice PresidentThe Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people through the Electoral College to a four-year term...
Dick CheneyRichard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 in the administration of George W. Bush....
, and Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy at the National Economic Council. She currently serves as Deputy Assistant to the President for Communications (Policy and Planning). Kevin and Cathie reside in
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...
Congressional Investigation
On December 3, 2007,
John DingellJohn David Dingell, Jr. is a Democratic United States Representative from Michigan and is currently the Dean of the U.S. House of Representatives. He is the longest serving Representative and the third longest serving Congressman ever...
(D) of the House Commerce Committee sent a letter to Martin stating that "given several events and proceedings over the past year, I am rapidly losing confidence that the commission has been conducting its affairs in an appropriate manner." Martin is under investigation for a lack of transparency in FCC proceedings as well as an abuse of his power in relation to cable industry regulations. He has also been accused of keeping his fellow commissioners in the dark in an attempt to push through policy. Dingell further commented that this, his cable industry proceedings, as well as an attempt to relax the newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership ban "lead to larger concerns as to the inclination and ability of the commission to perform its core mission: the implementation of federal law to serve the public interest."
On December 9, 2008, a Majority Staff Report of the House Energy and Commerce Committee concluded "Chairman Martin's heavy-handed, opaque, and non-collegial management style has created distrust, suspicion, and turmoil among the five current commissioners."
On January 15, 2009 Kevin Martin announced his resignation as the new Administration takes over. In a statement he said his philosophy during his tenure at the FCC “has been to pursue deregulation while paying close attention to its impact on consumers and the particulars of a given market, to balance deregulation with consumer protection.” The statement notes what Martin accomplished during his tenure, including one promoting broadband, and specifically wireless broadband, and protecting consumers from harm, by issuing $150 million in fines, or more than any other chairman.
External links
http://www.moconews.net/entry/419-fcc-chairman-kevin-martin-to-resign-jan.-20/