Others on the hill with a rewrite of the 96 act and one of the principle things we wanted to do was to be able to plan. I think you guys gave us 110 rulemaking said we had to do roughly in 18 months so we were doing an awful lot of planning and that just got eliminated which meant when we came back to work we were all working double time to try to catch up. Host were deadlines extended . Guest the deadlines in terms of the fcc were extended obviously for certain kinds of filings. But you know the most critical thing was congress didnt give us any slack and i dont think they shouldve let me pass the bill a couple of months later and said you get these things done in six months and these then 12 months and these in 18 months. It took an awful lot of work an awful or portability an awful or portability than we were able to meet up with deadlines. If we had a shutdown the middle of that there is no way we could have done it a luck its just a lot of extra work and if you were to take a business like ge and saved by the way we dont know whether we will be operating in a couple of weeks so we are prepared to shut down everything and we dont know how long it will last and give us a plan for when we come back and we will just go right back to work. Thats an insane amount of work in any company that did that would go bankrupt very quickly and again government is not like a normal enterprise. But their consequences of these things that i think can be completely missed by most of the coverage. Host commissioner furchtgottroth you in on the hill chief economist at the House Commerce Committee at the time. What was that shutdown the 95 and 96 shutdown from your prospective . Guest at that time i was working on the conference for what became the Communication Telecommunications act of 1996. I was working with tom bliley of virginia on the committee at the time and we were meeting constantly with senate staff, drafting the bills that became the law. We kept going right through. I remember senator pressler of south dakota who chaired the senate Commerce Committee bringing sandwiches and for the staff during the shutdown. So we kept working right through i cant say it had a great personal effect on me at the time. Host how about working with the fcc prospective . Did that put a crimp in your ability to move forward . Guest as layers that i think the fundamental what we were getting from the commission is how quickly can you do these and i have to sit where of all of the things that you did the one thing that is probably the most miraculous as you did meet all the deadlines. It was really quite an accomplishment. But there wasnt really a lot of other Congress Needed at that time. Host lynn stanton. Guest did the morale of agency staff take a hit when they came back from two, one short and one longer shut down . Did you sense from staff that there was any kind of discouragement or people have to appreciate their job and to be told they are important to be told you are not essential and to go home is not a good deal. Host guest there was a shortterm loss. Read who i have the greatest respect for one of his great strength was as a leader getting the staff morality was fantastic. He worked harder than anybody and he was there and he would do anything to make sure the work got done. The second thing was a couple of months later the United StatesCongress Gave the fcc the biggest mandate they had done in 60 years so clearly we were important agents at the time and i think that helped staff morale get up and actually there was an article in the post talking about how our utility bill there is an extra halfmillion dollars in the month of april because of how long everybody was working but i think everybody felt this was the normal time we did do that. The shutdown i think is different because we have a lot of Different Things such as fox news calling it a slimmed down such as David Vitters naf snarky things about the shutdown the focused on the epa but theres a tremendous amount of antigovernment feeling that underlies this one that i think is quite different from 95. At least we knew at the dispute was about. About. Theres this undercurrent of the county government at all that makes it very problematic and the consequences for staff morale will be much more severe. Guest i would take a little bit of an exception with that. I think in 95 there was a realization that government may have gotten big. In fact president clinton was giving an address in 1996 just after it shut down and perhaps the most famous line of this administration and maybe one of the most influential things he ever said when he said the era the government is over and i think that was a direct response if you will to the Government Shutdown which in some ways arguably president clinton won that but at the same time i think he got the message that unending government was going along. Guest having been on both sides of hill and the fcc in the conversation that goes on in terms of guidance from congress to the fcc something outside of pure legislation do do you think theyre things that congress can do acknowledging that it has made life a little more difficult for the fcc to get things done and perhaps a these are the things we wanted to focus on . Is there any way to guide the fcc . Guest i would be interested to hear players view of this. The reality is the fcc is not the top priory for very many members of congress and the issues that members of congress are aware of that the fcc probably three or four in probably the night not be the obviously one. They might be in distant indecency but the overriding issue is the auction the spectrum auction and whats going to happen with that and how that goes forward. I think there a lot of members of congress who do focus on that and when they hear fcc they say oh yes not outcast auction. Guest i think thats right. I do think auctions are important and i think the transition to ip is a very important element in terms of how we think about regulation. We have effectively developed a bunch of regulatory rules all around the network that is not really the Critical Network and one we have to figure out what is essential in terms of revelation and what does the public really need, how do we think about competition in this and barman etc. I think thats really important. I think there is a lot of concern about the rate and bandwidth in the classroom so i think theyre a number of different issues where congress can be very helpful. The problem is they often act in a way that is kind of like a critic from the sideline and that is actually not helpful. Host i want to go back to what you said commissioner furchtgottroth about congress not focusing necessarily on fcc issues are not knowing about them. From that perspective is that beneficial to the fcc . You have served on both sides of the but is that beneficial to the fcc so you can move forward or to zap put does that stop the work that you can do because congress hasnt focused on that . Wouldnt you prefer congress not to be focused on a . Guest it depends. And let me be clear there are some members of congress who has spent a lot of time focusing on the fcc. The chairman of the subcommittee on telecommunications in both the house and the senate and then the members of the Commerce Committee in each body focus more than other members do. On almost any issue at the fcc theres probably one member of congress somewhere he was actually very interested in it. On a whole there a lot of issues that the commission where there isnt a lot of interest on the hill. Just as an example, a the commission does routinely thousands and thousands of license transfers every year that are between small private parties and unless its someone who is a constituent in that particular Congressional District there isnt a lot of attention from the hill. Its a very important part of the work from the commission so that it operates smoothly yet its not something we are hearing about everyday on the hill. Some of the issues that i mentioned in the player mentioned, those are issues that the commission probably does care about. Host the fact that congress has been focused on issues other than those confronting the fcc recently such as budget issues and debt ceiling issues, does that prevent legislation such as cell phone unlocking etc. From getting forward and getting through congress . Guest well candidly in almost any congress there are very few pieces of substantive legislation that have any chance. The number of substantive pieces of legislation that any Congress Passes is one or two dozen. The number related to telecommunications as once every few years, if that. So its a good bet to bet against congress in substantive legislation on telecom issues in congress. That doesnt mean it doesnt happen. A couple of years ago congress did pass a law authorizing auctions including the broadcast spectrum auction. That happened but i dont think congress is going to address telecom issues anytime soon. Guest i agree with that. I too think certain small pieces of legislation are not stopped by the budget negotiations and they think you need a certain kind of force to get it through. I recall that i think it was a court in denver that overturned i believe the fccs do not call list and congress fixed it within 48 hours because there was such a consumer outrage for Something Like that. So you need some momentum to get something through. Guest you both have mentioned the incentive option but there is an h block auction coming up in february which coincidently as a couple of weeks after the next deadline in the continuing budget resolution and write about the time the debt limit supposedly will be hit again. How much gets done for an auction in those last few weeks and days before the auction takes place that if it were to shut down for another 15 days and then come back up in early february that would that be devastating and putting the auction for so will everything be in place by that time . Guest i think that auction is one that is consistent with auctions that have happened before so its not crucial but i think it may well be pushed that exist there a lot of steps that have to be taken. Incentive auction is a much more complicated thing and the most confiscated auction the fcc has ever done. I think the staff is doing a great job but it cant really move forward until wheeler gets there and the team that is going to actually run the auction is in place. So i worry more a about that auction or the aws auction which may become the come between those two. Guest the h block auction auction auction could get pushed back a few weeks. There are issues about who is going to show up for it in some of the specific rules associated with the auction that for any auction change up to the last minute. Every auction has had many and this one will be no exception. They will be in effect but i dont think you will be longterm. Host finally gentlemen what is the Lasting Legacy if any of the shutdown . Guest i believe with harold in the long run. It shouldnt have an impact but of course John Maynard Keynes said [inaudible] i feel that this one is the beginning of the cycle for a variety of reasons but i think they are very troubling for how we operate government and i think unless there is a clear signal from leadership and from the electorate that look disagree and write laws and do whatever but dont shut down the government and dont play with the full faith and credit. I think the longterm implications are horrible. Guest i think the longterm up with implicatiimplicati ons for the fcc are quite limited as allaire said and agree we need to do something together budget structure in order. This is not a good way to run a government. I do think there are Serious Problems with the way we do budgets in in the United States we need to get those in better shape. Host gentlemen thank you for being on the communicators. And lynn stanton the editor of telecommunications report. President obama says there is no excuse for the problems people are having trying to sign up for health insurance. He was speaking at the white house and he said the Health Care WebHealth Care Web site hs had 20 million visits. Heres a little of what he said. There is no sugar coating it. The web site has been too slow and people have been getting stuck during the application process. And i think its fair to say that nobody is more frustrated by that than i am precisely because the product is good. I want the cash registers to work. I want to the checkout lines to be smooth. So i want people to be able to get this great product. And there is no excuse for the problems. These problems are getting fixed but while we are working up the in the system i want everybody to understand the nature of the problem. First of all even with all the problems at health care. F. The web site is still working for a lot of people. Its not as quick or efficient or consistent as we want and although many of these folks have found they had to wait longer than they wanted once they complete the process they are very happy with the deal that is available to them. Second, i want everybody to remember that we are only three weeks into a sixmonth open Enrollment Period when you can buy these new plans. [applause] keep in mind the insurance doesnt start until january 1. Thats the earliest that the insurance can kick in. No one who decides to purchase a plan has to pay their first premium until december 15. And unlike the day after thanksgiving sales for the latest playstation or class 3 tvs the insurance plans dont run out. They are not going to sell out. There will be available through the marketplace. [applause] throughout the open Enrollment Period. The prices insurers have set will not change so everybody who wants insurance through the marketplace will get insurance, period. [applause] everybody who wants insurance through the marketplace will get insurance. The this is Eleanor Roosevelt typewriter the Office Typewriter that mrs. Roosevelt wrote her my day columns. What i have here are the original drafts of the mighty columns i wanted to share. The first one is Eleanor Roosevelts first my day column and sets the tone for the columns to follow. What she is talking to hear the comings and goings in the white house as they are getting back to the regular schedule after the holiday season. This clipping is in my day clipping from november 6, 1940 election day. She talks about how at midnight a larger cloud venetia came in from hyde park with wonderful placards. The president went out to greet him. This was a tradition on Election Night in and the roosevelt took him to hide park gather family round and await the election results. When they were announced the folks would march down and the president would come out and greet them. The head of the u. S. Chamber of commerce says his organization has not yet decided decided whether or not to challenge incumbent republicans and 2014 but tom donahue said the chamber does not want democrats to win back the house. He was hosted by the Christian Science monitor for little more than an hour. He rico folks. Thanks for coming. Tom donahue presidency of the u. S. Chamber of commerce and the chambers executive Vice President bruce josten of the Worlds Largest notforprofit business federation. Both up have been our guest before me welcome them back. Mr. Donohue has just led the chamber since 1987 and served 13 years as president chief executive officer of the American Trucking association and prior to his tour at the ata he was Vice President of the chamber for eight years and in an earlier chapter of his life postmaster general and Vice President of connecticuts Fairfield University in new york native and has a bachelors degree from st. Johns university and an mba from a delphi. Bruce josten is the Political Affairs executive starting as a telemarketer in 1974 came to the organization will touch it quits for rapid rise. He is a degree from harvard and oversees six divisions of the chamber. So much for biography and now i want to go through the process portion of the program. Please no live blogging or tweeting and no filing of any kind while the breakfast is underway. There is no embargo in the session ends except that our friends at cspan have agreed not to air the session until one hour after the breakfast and to give orders in the room time to file. We if you would like to ask a question to the traditional thing and send me a subtle nonthreatening signal. I will start by offering our guests a chance to offer comments and move around the table and with that thanks again for coming. Thank you very much. Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Thanks for giving up on an early monday morning for this and i will be brief and you can then have at it. Thank you david. We always enjoy coming here. Its the one place you can have a conversation. Joining me as you saw is bruce josten and tom who handles all of our Communications Issues which become more complicated every day. I know the buzz is still all about the cr and the debt deal and whove won and who lost who is up and he was down on what going to happen next but i would like to open todays breakfast by looking a minute to the future and of course the Business Community overall is flat and the immediate crisis has been resolved of do we are planning now for the next three rounds of this go. However it temporary however imperfect it current agreement is gives us a chance to think their way through this and get ready for whats next. The fact is we have got a lot of work to do in this country and we need to get back to it now. We need to fire up our economy and speed up the recovery. We need to