Statement of Congressman John D. Dingell, Ranking Member
Committee on Energy and Commerce

SUBCOMMITTEE ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS
AND THE INTERNET
HEARING ON “PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS FROM 9/11 TO KATRINA: CRITICAL PUBLIC
POLICY LESSONS”

September 29, 2005

Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this important hearing. The inability of first responders to communicate with each other during emergencies threatens the public’s safety. It puts the lives of first responders and those in need of assistance at undue risk. Unfortunately, problems with interoperability are neither new nor rare. They occur daily, especially during multi-jurisdictional emergencies such as fighting large fires or searching for missing children. It is unfortunate that it takes large-scale tragedies such as the attacks of 9/11 or Hurricane Katrina to focus needed attention on this issue.

The damage caused by Katrina, the levee breaches, and the flood that ensued was unprecedented in scope and scale. As one public safety official put it, the devastation was so widespread that the biggest issue was not interoperability, but operability. As we heard in testimony from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) earlier this month, the lack of commercial power was the primary issue affecting communications in the days immediately following the hurricane. Power was out for so long that batteries in public safety radios ran down and could not be recharged. Emergency generators that powered the infrastructure ran out of fuel and fresh supplies could not reach those responding to the disaster areas.

Having said that, large scale events such as Katrina are foreseeable. Losing commercial power during emergencies is foreseeable. It is therefore incumbent upon decision-makers to devote the resources necessary for public safety officials to communicate with each other whenever and wherever necessary.

Two years ago, a national task force made up of public safety, State and local government officials issued a report to provide guidance in achieving interoperability. The task force identified several key reasons public safety agencies cannot communicate, including incompatible and aging equipment, inadequate funding, lack of coordination and cooperation, and too little spectrum. Likewise, during a hearing in this Subcommittee last year on the problems with interoperability, a witness from the FCC testified that achieving interoperability requires an emphasis on more than spectrum, technology, and equipment issues - it also requires a focus on the organizational and personnel coordination necessary to make interoperability available in times of greatest need.

 It is important that we address this complex problem with a comprehensive solution. Funding, spectrum, redundancy, coordination, and planning are all important pieces to the interoperability puzzle. They are all needed for true interoperability to become a reality. For example, in New Orleans, the public safety communications system was damaged by the flooding, but there was not adequate redundancy or planning to ensure continued communication. Additionally, in New Orleans, public safety has had access to additional spectrum in the 700 megahertz band for years. Adequate funding, however, was not available to purchase the necessary equipment to take advantage of that spectrum.

All levels of government must commit the necessary resources to solve this problem. The Federal Government must work in partnership with State and local officials to make true interoperability a reality. Nationwide, regional, and local planning and coordination must take place so that the lines of communication stay open during emergencies. Adequate funding must be provided to help pay for the enormous cost of updating public safety’s old communications infrastructure with new, interoperable equipment. Likewise, Congress has already allocated to public safety 24 megahertz of spectrum in the 700-megahertz band. Congress must act this year to get this spectrum into the hands of public safety across the country by a date certain. It must do so, however, in a comprehensive manner that does not unintentionally harm consumers in the process and potentially delay the return of the spectrum.

I thank the witnesses for being here today, especially Lieutenant Colonel Tom Miller from the Michigan State Police. I look forward to hearing your comments about what steps are currently underway as well as what assistance is needed from Congress to make sure that first responders can adequately communicate with one another in times of public emergencies.

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(Contact: Jodi Seth, 202-225-3641)