1. Monthly archive
  2. September 2005

September 2005

Senate Rejects First Responder Plan

The Senate rejected language that would have earmarked $5 billion in government grants to strengthen communications among emergency responders. The measure, which Michigan Democrat Sen. Debbie Stabenow tried to add to a fiscal 2006 funding bill, was rebuffed by a vote of 58-40. Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) insisted that the amendment was unrelated to the hurricane. "The breakdown in communications in the Katrina event was not an interoperability event," he said, insisting that damage to the telecommunications infrastructure along the Gulf Coast and a lack of electricity to recharge portable phones caused most of the problems. Sen John McCain also opposed the bill. said funding must be increased to bolster communications systems for emergency responders. "The better approach is for the nation to get serious about public-safety communications by developing and funding an interoperable communications system for all local, state and federal first responders." Sen McCain said the Homeland Security Department already has spent more than $280 million to purchase interoperable equipment. Gregg, however, cited a much higher figure of $2 billion. Sen McCain also noted that the Senate has passed a homeland security appropriations bill for fiscal 2006 that would provide an additional $2.6 million for interoperable communications.

Emergency Preparedness Fails Post-9/11 Test

Hurricane Katrina provided the first major test of the government's emergency preparedness following Sept. 11, 2001 - and it failed. That's the consensus from the White House to Capitol Hill; despite a huge investment of billions of dollars for communications efforts, the failure of communications systems was a deadly problem. On Capitol Hill this week, a group of lawmakers said they want to begin by looking at the communication problems that left Federal Emergency Management Agency officials in Baton Rouge and Washington unaware of the chaos and squalor facing tens of thousands of people at the New Orleans Superdome and Convention Center.
* Also see "Reality scuttles a great plan" at same URL: "The New Orleans emergency preparedness plan offers a precise communications strategy, so all city residents will know exactly where to go in times of crisis."

Despite Katrina, Industry Expects Action On Digital TV Transition

Technology and telecommunications industry officials eager for a fixed date for the transition to digital television voiced optimism that Congress would act soon, despite uncertainty related to the recovery from Hurricane Katrina. The digital TV language was set to be part of a so-called reconciliation bill, designed to "reconcile" tax and spending initiatives with the congressional budget resolution adopted earlier this year. Despite some fears early last week that Katrina might sidetrack the budget reconciliation process entirely, technology industry officials said that their preferred route remains the plan by House Energy and Commerce Chairman Joe Barton, R-Texas, to include DTV language in a reconciliation bill now delayed until mid-October. Referring to the prospects for the DTV transition measure, an aide to one Republican senator said: "I have no doubt that it will happen. If it was neglected [by Senate leaders], many members would be disappointed because many members see the DTV legislation as Katrina legislation."

DTV Bill Gets New Life with Oct. 26 Reconciliation Deadline

Senate leadership set Oct. 26 as the new deadline for budget reconciliation, which puts DTV legislation back on track for consideration while giving lawmakers time to deal with funding for Hurricane Katrina. Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. Stevens told reporters Tues. he plans to meet with members the next day or 2 to brief them on DTV matters. In the House, Commerce Committee Chmn. Barton is still working on his bill. Sources said progress is being made on controversial provisions. The anticipated $10 billion proceeds from auctioning analog spectrum is an important revenue consideration for the reconciliation package. Under budget resolution instructions, the Senate Commerce Committee must raise $4.8 billion and the House Commerce Committee must cut -- or raise -- $14.7 billion, much of which is expected to come from cuts in Medicaid program growth (CD July 8 p1). The House and Senate reconciliation bills will include DTV provisions that will be submitted separately to the Senate Budget Committee and worked out in conference. The House has taken the lead on DTV and is making progress on divisive provisions. One sticking point that may be getting resolved is the amount of the subsidy to allocate for converter boxes to allow consumers with analog TVs to receive digital signals. Apparently, Republicans and Democrats are nearing a compromise on the subsidy: $800 million total, $40 vouchers for consumers who buy convertors boxes.
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America's Second Harvest

-- "The Nation's Food Bank Network" and a recipient of a 1999 award from NTIA's Technology Opportunities Program -- has obtained and distributed more than 16 million pounds of food, water and essential grocery supplies to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. By the beginning of this week, the Network had secured and dispatched 487 trucks, carrying 16.5 million pounds of supplies (about 12.9 million meals) to the affected areas. The award Second Harvest received from TOP in 1999 helped create a model demonstrating that connectivity and data sharing can result in a better supply chain for relief products. The Network secures supplies and then moves them to local food banks that pack 25 pound relief boxes to go to the more than 200 emergency shelters in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, and the surrounding states where hundreds of thousands of evacuees are moving. Second Harvest is the nation's largest charitable hunger-relief organization with a Network of more than 200 regional member food banks and food - rescue programs serving all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The Network secures and distributes nearly two billion pounds of donated food and grocery products annually. The Network supports approximately 50,000 local charitable agencies operating more than 94,000 programs including food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, after-school programs, and Kids Cafes. Last year, the Network provided food assistance to more than 23 million low-income hungry people in the United States, including more than nine million children and nearly three million seniors.

Health Records Of Evacuees Go Online

The federal government is making medical information on Hurricane Katrina evacuees available online to doctors, the first time private records from various pharmacies and other health care providers have been compiled into centralized databases. Electronic health records are controversial among many privacy advocates, who fear the data could be exploited by hackers, companies or the government.

Wireless Experts Aid Hurricane Victims

Technology professionals proficient in wireless Internet access have established high-speed connections in at least 15 relief centers in northern Louisiana -- prompting many to argue for stronger policy incentives to create community and municipal broadband networks. Wireless Internet connections are proving to be a significant means of communication in and out of the disaster area, and some people are using the occasion to argue that more spectrum should be allocated for unlicensed devices, such as those using the Wi-Fi standard. Others note that disaster relief and homeland security become important additional reasons to establish municipal broadband networks. "There has been a lot of publicity on the Philadelphia" municipal broadband network but "less on Oklahoma City and Corpus Christi, Texas, which were primarily designed for public safety," said Reed Hundt, a former FCC chairman and now an advocate and board member of several wireless companies. "Oklahoma City had its own experience with tragedy, and Corpus Christi, which is certainly not unaware of hurricanes, wanted networks that would help with first responders," Hundt added. Both cities have established Wi-Fi networks as a way for police and firefighters to communicate in emergencies.

McCain Wants Analog Spectrum By 2007

Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) took aim at broadcasters from the Senate floor Tuesday over the issue of Katrina Communications failures, saying they should be forced to give their analog spectrum back by the end of next year. "Let’s remember that Congress provided additional spectrum for first responders in the Telecommunications Act of 1996," said McCain. "So, after spending millions of dollars in funding and additional spectrum for our nation’s first responders why aren't we better off than we were on 9/11 when it comes to interoperable communications? Because the spectrum Congress provided to first responders in 1996 is being held hostage by television broadcasters even though broadcasters have been given new spectrum." Former Commerce Committee Chairman McCain argued for action on the SAVE Lives Act, a bill he introduced with Senator Joe Lieberman that would return analog spectrum by Jan. 1, 2009, But he said that given the hurricane problems, he wanted to amend that to Jan. 1, 2007.

Stabenow, Biden Push Emergency Communications Funding

Sens. Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Biden (D-Del.) Tuesday introduced amendments to the Commerce-State-Justice appropriations bill that would add money for emergency communications equipment. Sen Stabenow's amendment called for $15 billion to go to the Homeland Security Dept. over 3 years to buy equipment that fire, police and rescue units could use to talk to one another in crises. Biden's amendment, which failed 56-41, included $300 million for local agencies for interoperable communications to be handled through the Justice Dept. Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program. At CommDaily's deadline, the Stabenow amendment was on the floor awaiting a vote. Sen Stabenow cited a U.S. Conference of Mayors 2004 survey showing 94% of cities lack interoperability among rail facilities, police, fire and emergency medical service. "There is no excuse for that," Stabenow said at a news conference introducing her amendment: "The government's response to Katrina shows how little has been learned." She said only $280 million has been spent on equipment despite a Congressional Budget Office estimate that nearly $15 billion is needed to assure safety.
(Not available online)

Congress Urged to Make Public Safety Communications a Priority

The Association for Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) is urging Congress to make first responder communications a priority during the last months of this session. “The Katrina disaster demonstrates once again the critical need for robust, interoperable radio communications for public safety personnel,” the organization wrote in a letter to Members. APCO urged Congress to pass legislation this year that would: (1) Set a hard date to clear TV stations from 700 MHz band radio spectrum already allocated for public safety. (2) Boost federal grants supporting interoperable communications planning, staffing and equipment. (3) “Improve the way funds are allocated to local governments to be used for upgrading or purchasing interoperable communications systems.” (4) “Provide federal grants to PSAPs to upgrade their 911 systems.” (public safety answering point, a physical location where 911 emergency telephone calls are received and then routed to the proper emergency services) (5) “Consider the need for additional spectrum for broadband public safety communications applications.”
(Not available online)

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