The Honorable Christopher A. McLean, Esq.

Christopher A. McLean is a leading expert in the area of telecommunications, electric and water utilities policy, emergency communications and the convergence information, transportation and navigation technologies. 

Mr. McLean served as Administrator of the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) and Governor of the Rural Telephone Bank.  Mr. McLean came to RUS in January 1998 as Deputy Administrator.  He was named Acting Administrator in 1999 then nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate as Administrator and led the agency through the end of the Clinton Administration.  As the administration’s chief advocate for rural consumers and rural infrastructure investment, Chris testified before congressional committees, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and state regulators.

The RUS, the successor to the Rural Electrification Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that provides low cost loans and grants to finance rural electric, telecommunications and water projects.  The agency also provides loans and grants for distance learning and telemedicine initiatives.  When Chris was Administrator, the RUS loan portfolio contained more than $43 billion in investments in rural utilities infrastructure.  The Rural Telephone Bank, a public/private lending institution, provided loans for rural telecommunications infrastructure in concurrence with RUS.

During his tenure at RUS, Mr. McLean championed broadband deployment, new and renewable energy technologies and universal service.  Congress responded with historic agency budgets and new responsibilities for the agency in broadband technologies, local television service, merger and acquisition financing for electric utilities, and infrastructure investments in Alaska and other remote areas.  The agency’s first loans for solar and wind energy systems as well as the agency’s first loans under its broadband authority were made under his leadership.  Mr. McLean was also appointed by the FCC and the Federal State Joint Board to serve on the Rural Task Force, which recommended reforms of universal service support for rural telecommunications carriers.

Prior to joining RUS, Mr. McLean worked on Capitol Hill for more than 15 years on telecommunications, budget, transportation and international trade issues. He joined Senator Exon’s staff in 1982 and served as Legislative Assistant and Legal Counsel until the Senator’s retirement in January 1997.  As a senior advisor to Senator Exon he played a significant role in the crafting of the Exon-Florio foreign investment law, the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the Gold Bullion Coin Act and the Swift Rail Act and the ICC Termination Act.  In 1997 Chris served as Legislative Counsel to Senator Bob Kerrey and advised the Senator on telecommunications and transportation policy.  Mr. McLean was a founding member of the group of Senate staffers known as the FARM TEAM who helped craft the universal service and rural provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

Mr. McLean hails from Omaha, Nebraska.  He received an L.L.M. in International and Comparative Law from Georgetown University in 1985, a J.D. from Creighton University School of Law in 1982, and a B.S. in Business Administration from Creighton University in 1980.