Sen. Rockefeller to seek speedy vote on NTIA nominee

Senate Commerce Chairman John (Jay) Rockefeller wants his committee to send several key Obama administration nominations to the floor Wednesday, including the president's pick to head the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the federal government's first chief technology officer.

At today's confirmation hearing, Senate Commerce ranking member Kay Bailey Hutchison said Republicans on the panel would not object to fast-tracking the candidates. It was unclear by presstime, however, how soon the nominees could get full Senate consideration.

The nationwide switchover to digital television makes confirmation of NTIA administrator-designate Larry Strickling especially critical. Strickling told the committee that if he is confirmed, the June 12 conversion, initially scheduled for February, "absolutely will be our highest priority."

Strickling said the extension had given 3 million additional households time to prepare for the switch. Concerns about backlogs and funding of the NTIA's converter box coupon program have been addressed, he added. Strickling said an expected increase in coupon requests as the deadline nears could cause "a few days' delay in people getting coupons if daily processing capabilities are taxed." At present, NTIA is processing fewer coupons than capacity.

Aneesh Chopra, who would serve as federal CTO and as an associate director for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, is also banking on a swift confirmation. His job is to show how agencies can improve transparency and encourage public participation and collaboration.

On Obama's first day as president, he set a May 21 deadline for his then-unknown CTO, along with the heads of the OMB and General Services Administration, to deliver recommendations on his open government directive. Chopra told CongressDaily the administration will "move forward with a process we hope will be very exciting."

Before the panel today, he said he would help "harness the power and potential of technology and innovation to advance our nation's goals," citing the effort to overhaul electronic medical records as an example. Obama's health IT movement is "a win for the economy" and will help diminish healthcare costs, he said.

Also appearing before the committee were J. Randolph Babbitt, nominated to be administrator of the FAA; Rebecca Blank, slated to become undersecretary of economic affairs at the Commerce Department; and John Porcari, who would become deputy secretary of Transportation.