WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Tonight, Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-MA), the senior member of the House Telecommunications and Internet Subcommittee, released the following statement on the FCC General Counsel decision regarding the AT&T-Bell South merger recusal:

"As I indicated earlier, if Commissioner McDowell is authorized to participate by the FCC General Counsel, he should abstain from participating as a matter of principle.  The General Counsel's own memorandum is instructive.  On the bottom of page 7, the Director of the Office of Government Ethics disagrees with the FCC General Counsel's determination and the memorandum states that if ‘the decision were up to him, he would decide against authorization’ of Commissioner McDowell's participation in the merger proceeding.  Commissioner McDowell should not wade into these ethically murky waters.  I urge Chairman Martin and Commissioners Copps, Adelstein, and Tate to continue their work on this matter and, if they deem to approve the merger, to do so only with meaningful and enforceable public interest conditions."