OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN JOHN SHADEGG
SUBCOMMITTEE ON EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE
Washington,
Sep 22, 2004 -
The Committee will come to order. I would like to ask unanimous consent that opening statements be limited to the Subcommittee and Full Committee Chairmen and Ranking Members. Without objection, it is so ordered. September is National Preparedness Month, an effort to heighten the importance of American families and businesses to be better prepared for emergencies, especially in this new era of homeland security. As part of that effort, today we will be focusing on Emergency Warning and Communications Systems, that is, how can we get the best information to the public on what steps they should take to protect themselves in the event of an emergency. You know, it was Robert Newman and Paul Revere who pioneered – unknowingly -- the first emergency warning system in our country. One if by land and two if by sea as well as a midnight ride warning that “the British are coming” were effective means of spreading the word in the 18th Century. However, in the 21st Century, in a new war on terrorism, and a new era of homeland security and technology, we must look at the most modern and effective ways to get emergency warnings to the citizenry. Consider these statistics in our country: • There are 169 million cell phone users; • There are 28 million high speed, always on, Internet lines; • There are 107 million households – well over 90 percent – that have telephone service; • There are over 11 million paging units in service. More and more, technology is becoming ubiquitous, and it would be foolish not to capitalize on these potential conduits for informing Americans about what to do in an emergency so they can make an educated decision about how best to protect themselves. Think about a potential release of a bioagent or a dirty bomb. Based on global positioning technology, a cell phone user could receive a text message based on which cell towers he was closest to, advising him of the event. Linked with plume modeling technology, an individual could be advised further to shelter in place or to evacuate. And this sort of technology is already being put into place. For example, the States of Washington and Arizona have launched a multi-state Amber Alert Web Portal, which has the ability to notify thousands of subscribers through email, cell phones, pagers, and other devices that a child has been abducted. Fourteen additional states are set to join, including the State of Mississippi. This is a partnership of the States, law enforcement, private companies and the broadcast media. But there are also questions when we start discussing notification systems. Keep in mind, the Emergency Alert System was never activated on September 11th, 2001. We need to consider who will control the content of the messages? How will we know that it is completely accurate? Will it be nimble enough in order to take action in a timely manner? Will local law enforcement be willing to share information with the media? Will there be information overload? What happens if electric power is lost? An efficient and effective all hazards alert system must bring together all the available information in an accessible and reliable manner and disseminate it to Americans in a timely manner via multiple technologies. In our examination, it is likely that we will learn that no single solution exists. Rather, we will have to rely on multiple nodes and build in redundancy. Today, we will hear from federal officials from the Department of Homeland Security as well as the Federal Communications Commission. We will be particularly interested in what the Department is doing to coordinate and build upon the message from the seven different warning systems that currently exist for all hazards emergency notice and its latest emergency communication demonstration project in the National Capital Region. Our FCC witness will provide perspective on the Commission’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on changes to the Emergency Alert System as well as the role of the media. Do local broadcasters have enough guidance from local, state, and the federal government to operate an effective warning system? And our second panel will provide insight on what technologies are available and other issues that should be addressed when considering emergency communications systems. I now recognize the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee, Mr. Thompson, for purposes of making an opening statement.
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