President Clinton intends to nominate a New Mexico regulator to fill the last opening on the Federal Communications Commission, Vice President Al Gore said Monday.
Gloria Tristani, a member of the New Mexico State Corporation Commission since 1995, will fill one of the Democratic seats on the five-member FCC.
Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Tristani has lived in New Mexico since 1982. As a member of the New Mexico commission, the 43-year-old lawyer has promoted policies intended to help people obtain less-expensive telephone service.
Clinton has already nominated FCC General Counsel Bill Kennard, a Democrat, to replace FCC Chairman Reed Hundt, who will leave upon confirmation of his successor.
The president also has nominated Michael Powell, son of retired Army Gen. Colin Powell, and Harold Furchtgott-Roth, the House Commerce Committee’s chief economist, to Republican-designated seats on the FCC.
The Senate Commerce Committee plans to hold a hearing on Kennard’s nomination Oct. 1 and will review nominees for commissioners in a Sept. 30 hearing.
