commissioner mcdowell, we talked with your colleague, michael copps, last week and i want to ask you the same question we asked him to begin which was regarding the at&t t-mobile transaction. what do you see as the timetable for this to be considered, and what is the biggest impediment you see to this transaction happening? >> first call, thank you for having me back. excuse me if i have to clear my throat a few times today but i don't, and subsequently on prospective mergers but that process and big mergers in the past few years they take anywhere from a year to year and a half speaking at the sec. looking at that time from we've been told by the parties we should expect an application to be filed at the sec soon next week or two and the clock starts ticking. of course congress is going to want to look at this as well and the judiciary committee as each house of congress will probably have hearings on this, so it will be heavily scrutinized. >> have you talked with at&t or t-mobile representative? >> yes, they came to my office the wednesday after the announcement, and met with me.

commissioner mcdowell, we talked with your colleague, michael copps, last week, and i'm going to ask you the same question we asked him to begin which was regarding the at&t/t-mobile transaction. what do you see as the timetable for this to be considered, and what's the biggest impediment you see to this transaction happening? >> guest: well, first of all, thank you for having me back. it's allergy season here in washington, so excuse me if i have to clear my throat a few times today. but i don't comment substantively on prospective mergers, but i'm happy to talk about process. they take anywhere from a year to year and a half functionally speaking at the fcc, so i would look for that sort of time frame. we've been told by the parties that we should expect an application to be filed at the fcc soon, within the next week or two, and then the clock starts ticking. of course, congress is going to want to take a look at this as well. i imagine the commerce and judiciary committees of each house of congress will have hearings on this, so it'll be heavily scrutinized. >> host: have you tal

we are pleased to welcome back to "the communicators," fcc commissioner michael copps. commissioner thank you for being with us. he also joining us is amy schatz of "the wall street journal." commissioner if i could start with the att, t-mobile usa acquisition. what do you see is the biggest impediment to that happening and how long do you see the process taking? >> guest: well, last part first i really don't know how long the process will take. there's some speculation it could be a better part of a year. i don't know that it should take that long but we will just have to wait and see with the expectations of the commission are. are. this is a huge chance action. it is a paradigm altering transaction insofar is the world of wireless goes. you will remember in the comcast merger that i said at the outset that it was a very -- and would have been a very steep climb for me. ended up voting against it. this is maybe even a steeper climb from the standpoint of a lot of power and a lot of influence given to one company in a world where two companies are going to control 80%

our guest is fcc commissioner michael copps. also joining us, amy schatz of "the wall street journal." >> host: the fcc used to have spectrum caps in place to prevent -- >> guest: we did, indeed. >> host: and then it was, i think it was -- might be the power era, they did away with them. do you think it's time to bring them back? >> guest: i was not in favor of that. i think it would have been much better had we continued with spectrum caps and avoided some of the excessive concentration we've had since then. yes, i think that's something that we could consider. the numbers would have to change, the percentage would have to change probably just given what the inevitable things -- well, the things that did happen in the market. i noticed just the other day offcom in great britain announced it's going to have this enormous auction for, like, 250 megahertz of spectrum, and they're putting limits on the amount any bidder can end up with. and it's premised on the idea that they think there should be at least a minimum of four wholesa

. >> tonight on "the communicators" michael copps on the proposed at&t and t mobil merger. >> what concerns me is this sucks the oxygen out of so many positions pending the fcc. we can chew gum and walk at the same time, i guess, but this affects so much of what we're doing. >> the c-span networks. we provide coverage of public affairs, nonfiction books, and american history. it is all available to you on television, on-line, and on social networking media websites. and we take c-span on the road with our digital bus local content vehicle. it is washington, your way. created by cable, provided as a public service. kentucky senator rand paul was the keynote speaker at a fund- raising event in iowa on saturday, hosted by the state republican party. he talked about people in american history at believed in what they spoke about and talked about not compromise the ideas. >> the person i am about to introduce believes in putting the constitution before everything else. [applause] you realize they gave me a couple of minutes to say something? first of all, i owe it to all of you, probably thousan

. >> host: commissioner michael copps, as always, thank you for being on "the communicators." and amy schatz of "the wall street journal," thank you as well. >> guest: thanks for having me. >> "the communicators" is c-span's weekly look at the issues and people impacting telecommunications policy in the digital age. if you missed any of this discussion with fcc commissioner michael comes on the proposed at&t purchase of t-mobile, catch "the communicators" again tonight and each monday night at 8 p.m. eastern right here on c-span2. >> coming up, deputy secretary of state james steinberg speaks before the house foreign affairs committee on u.s. interests in many libya. and later, the senate returns at 2 eastern for general speeches followed by debate and a vote on a judicial nomination to the u.s. circuit court of appeals. live gavel-to-gavel coverage here on c-span2. >>> also today, an examination of class and economic disparities in america. writer and political scientist charles murray, author of "the bull curve," discusses his theories in the lecture "the state of white amer

tonight on the communicators, fcc commissioner michael copps on the proposed merger. >> what troubles me is that this kind of sucks the oxygen out of so many issues pending before the federal communications commission. we can chew gum and walk at the same time, i guess, but this affects so much of what we are doing. >> the communicator's tonight on c-span2. white house press secretary jay carney today said president obama has invited congressional leaders to the white house tomorrow to discuss government funding for the rest of the year. the spending bill must be passed by midnight friday to avoid suspension of most government services. >> good afternoon. i want to begin with a couple of scheduling announcements or updates. updates. the president this week will make two trips as he continues speaking with americans about protecting consumers against rising oil prices. on wednesday, the president will travel to philadelphia to hold a town hall discussion with workers at the mesa technology corporations. this facility was built as a former u.s. fuel industrial side. on friday, the presi

. >> to live on the communicators, fcc commissioner michael copps on the proposed merger. >> the thingt disturbs me is that this sucks the oxygen out of so many issues pending before the fcc. this affects so much of what we're doing. >> debt on the communicator's on c-span2. policy's been on twitter. you can also join our,ization -- our conversation. get started at twitter.com/c- span. "washington journal" continues. host: john della volpe is here to talk about a new poll out conducted recently. before we start talking about these results, let me let our viewers know -- we are going to changeup our fall mind a little bit this morning so we can hear from these millennial. if your age 18 to 29, you have your own line. president obama's job approval rating with these 18 to 29 year- old groups, 55% approved, 43% disapprove. college student, 60 percent approve, 38% disapprove. guest: it is incredibly important that we begin to look at how the money will generation is fair and in 2012. in 2008, if not for young people, i daresay that hillary clinton and not barack obama would be president ri

. >> commissioner michael copps as always think you for being on the communicators and amy of "the wall street journal." thank you. >> thank you for having me. up next a discussion on health care costs in a policy including implementation of the one-year-old federal health care law. we will hear from congressional budget office director doug elmendorf and former tennessee governor phil bredesen. this is hosted by the world health care conference. >> quickly leaders are leading global diagnostic testing and health management providers working with employers, health plans and positions. we are keenly interested in all things having to do with determining actionable goals and implementation strategy is to demonstrate quality consumer choice, cost effectiveness and transparency and health care. thinking back to last year, almost to this very day, the big news of the conference was the patient protection and affordable care act as we all know the 2,000 page bill designed to change how health care is delivered and paid for in the u.s.. our next speaker doug elmendorf discussed in great detail

know commissioner copps has for many years advocate changing the sunshine act, and i did a report on that for the conference about 15 years ago suggesting some changes, and i know michael powell did and other commissioners, but i thought the -- i might be wrong but chairman genachowski has spoken to this issue -- what is -- if he has a few media can tell us what it is or if not what your view is for changing the sunshine act. >> he's not on the subject and is happy to be a resource to congress if they want to take that up. i would say this is entirely based on my own personal experience. i've been into institutions as a staffer that involve group decision making. the fcc and the supreme court where i was a clerk. the supreme court doesn't have the restriction on how the justices can communicate with each other. i wouldn't say based on my personal observation that having the rule against more than two people meeting or not having the rule has ultimately net one institution has better internal deliberations and the other. they both have advantages and disadvantages but a lot of it is just who the personalities are, how hard they are willing to work at it, with the chairm