Washington, DC: The following statement can be attributed to U.S. Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Ranking Democrat on the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, regarding today's announcement by FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell on whether he would recuse himself from participation in the AT&T-BellSouth merger process:

"I applaud Commissioner McDowell for adhering to sound ethical standards and judgment.  The American people need to know that government officials act upon important policy issues in an impartial, unbiased manner.  Commissioner McDowell's wise refusal to complicate the pending merger by his participation will remove uncertainty for the Commission in further considering the merger proposal.  Instead of issuing a recusal opinion that Mr. McDowell said reminded him of Swiss cheese because it was so full of holes, the Commission ought to return to the job of assessing whether the merger may be approved by closing the remaining public interest loopholes in the proposed deal.

"I urge Chairman Martin, as well as Commissioners Copps, Adelstein, and Tate, to proceed with discussions over how to resolve remaining issues in contention and to approve or disapprove the merger in timely fashion.  If a majority of the remaining Commissioners decide to approve the merger, I believe the public interest compels that such approval should only come with effective and enforceable conditions to ensure consumer protection and competitive markets."

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