Washington - Apr 29, 2009 - President Barack Obama will name Mignon Clyburn to replace Jonathon Adelstein as a commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission. Clyburn has been a member of the South Carolina Public Service Commission since 1998. In that role she is involved in regulating the state's investor-owned public utilities, including telecommunications service providers.

Clyburn is the daughter of the House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D) of South Carolina. Her appointment must be approved by the Senate.

Before her election to the Public Service Commission, she was the publisher and general manager of The Coastal Times, a weekly newspaper in Charleston. She worked there for 14 years.

Obama has also appointed Julius Genachowski to be the chairman of the FCC chairman. Genachowski's appointment has not yet been confirmed by the Senate. Obama has named Adelstein to a position with the Rural Utilities Service. That appointment is also still pending.

This will leave one open seat on the Commission. The chair vacated by former Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate will be filled with a Republican. It is uncertain who may be appointed for that seat.