STATEMENT OF SENATOR KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON

RANKING MEMBER

COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION

“KEEPING US SAFE: THE NEED FOR A NATIONWIDE PUBLIC SAFETY NETWORK”

September 23, 2010; 10:15 a.m. SR 253

 Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding today’s hearing.  I want to welcome all of our witnesses, and extend a special welcome to Annise Parker, the Mayor of Houston.

It has been more than nine years since the tragic events of 9/11 and five years since Hurricane Rita caused such devastation to the Gulf Coast.  More recently, Hurricane Ike and its huge storm surge reminded us that in emergency situations, first responders and other public safety professionals need the best equipment available to ensure the preservation of life.  Robust and interoperable communications is one of these tools.

Stories about responders during these, and other, emergencies resorting to hand written notes passed across rubble piles because they are using devices incapable of communicating with other responders, or because the communications networks are overwhelmed with traffic, are simply not acceptable given our technical capabilities.

We are here today to talk about this issue in a broad sense, but we are also here to discuss the future of a particular block of wireless spectrum.  In particular, whether this spectrum, known as “the D block,” should be auctioned as the law currently requires.  Or, whether it should be directly allocated to the public safety community to be paired with other public safety spectrum holdings to create a nationwide interoperable broadband network for public safety.

There is no question that public safety should have all of the resources it needs, including use of vital spectrum.  And, I am prepared to support a direct allocation of this particular spectrum to public safety rather than auctioning it for commercial use, Mr. Chairman.  But, I believe several important questions must be answered before we can enact legislation to do that.

From a technical standpoint, I would like to know if this spectrum were auctioned off to a commercial user, rather than allocated to public safety directly, what the challenges are in allowing public safety assured priority access to use the commercial network in an emergency.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has indicated that it believes a priority access arrangement can meet public safety’s needs while allowing this spectrum to be used to further innovation in the commercial wireless market.  The FCC is represented here today, and I would like the FCC witness to address how such a framework would operate, and for our public safety witnesses to identify for us what the concerns and possible short comings of that approach might be.

I think it would also be useful for members to know and understand the advances in capability that this additional spectrum allocation will provide to our first responders.  My understanding is that there are some critical new applications a true broadband capability will provide, such as high resolution image transmission that will allow field personnel to communicate directly with offsite medical personnel to enhance field treatment of injuries.

So, Mr. Chairman, there are several technical questions that I hope our witnesses can address to assist us as we consider legislation.  But, I think we also have to consider whether particular proposals provide adequate and predictable funding to assist localities and the public safety community with the deployment and operation of the infrastructure needed to fully utilize this asset. 

I have some concerns about the focus on using proceeds from future spectrum auctions to fund the deployment of the public safety network.  Congress and the relevant federal agencies have struggled to develop a plan for spectrum inventory and redeployment.  As a result, it is uncertain when we will have additional spectrum available for auction, or how much revenue we can expect to generate through the auctions.

Tying the availability of funds for the construction and operation of a nationwide broadband public safety network therefore carries risks.  One of those risks could be that with uneven and sporadic funding, the public safety network is built first in larger communities while more rural and expensive areas to construct the network wait for additional funding.  I do not believe that would be an acceptable result.

It may be that that the reliance upon future auction proceeds proves to be the most practicable approach, but I believe some of the proposals I have seen close the door too quickly on alternative means of providing support to localities and public safety agencies.

For example, we have not considered ideas like revolving loans with low interest rates that would allow local governments to borrow money at low interest rates to be paid back over a number of years.  That type of program has been used successfully in other contexts to generate substantial investment with more limited up front appropriations from Congress.

There are also numerous existing grant programs that support public safety communications programs, some of them authorized by this committee, and several billion dollars available through the Department of Commerce’s broadband programs.  I would like to know whether there is an opportunity to modify eligibility and use criteria to allow public safety to draw upon these programs.

Mr. Chairman, thank you again for holding this hearing.  I believe it is time for Congress to meaningfully address the need for a nationwide public safety network for the broadband age.

Again, I am prepared to support a direct allocation of the remaining 700 MHz spectrum directly to public safety.  But, I also believe that the committee has more work to do on this issue.  I pledge to work with you, Mr. Chairman, to ensure we consider an appropriate piece of legislation and that the public safety community gets the resources it needs to execute its critical mission.

Thank you.