A couple dozen African American and Hispanic members of the House
have added their voices to those calling for government approval of the
Comcast/NBCU deal.
Comcast provided copies of letters to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski
supporting the deal, and in the case of the Hispanic contingent, adding that it
needed to be approved before year's end.
Among the African American legislators weighing in were Rep. John
Lewis (D-Ga.), Ed Towns (D-N.Y.) and Elijah Cummings (D-Md.). They praised
Comcast's track record on diversity, its new commitments as part of the deal,
and said it looked to the company to be a model of a corporate leader on
diversity for others to follow.
The Hispanic legislators, including Luis Guitierrez (D-Ill.)
and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), said the deal's benefits outweighed any
concerns, argued the deal would create new programming opportunities and jobs,
and echoed the belief that the new company would be a "model" of
corporate citizenship.
They also went one step further, not only endorsing the deal, but
saying that it needed to be approved this year so the companies can start
"delivering on their promises without delay."
The
FCC's informal shot clock, a deadline Comcast sources say it is trying to
meet, expires in late November, but that assumes no more stoppages--there have
already been two.
