Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this important hearing. I am hopeful that today's hearing will provide this Committee with answers to the following questions: First, how close are we to ensuring that public safety officials from different agencies can seamlessly communicate with each other during emergencies? Second, what must still be accomplished to achieve true interoperability among public safety users?

True interoperability is the ability of public safety agencies to use one wireless device to communicate with each other when necessary. It is not, as is too often the case today, first responders having to carry several different radios because various agencies use different radio frequencies. Nor is it public safety officials having to coordinate emergency response activities by yelling across rising flood waters as was the case when the Ohio River flooded a few years ago.

The need for interoperable communications is not limited to national emergencies. Rather, such capability is needed on a daily basis throughout the country. One needs only to watch the evening news to see examples of multi-jurisdictional emergencies, such as fighting large fires, searching for missing children, or responding to natural disasters, where interoperability among various public safety agencies is essential to protecting lives and property. Unfortunately, it took an extreme tragedy, the loss of many firefighters during the collapse of the World Trade Center, to bring a sense of urgency to making interoperability a reality. We must not lose this sense of urgency.

Last year, a national task force that included public safety officials from around the country detailed the challenges that stand in the way of achieving interoperability for public safety. Such challenges included incompatible and aging equipment, lack of adequate funding, insufficient organization and planning, and too little spectrum. Additionally, public safety spectrum is scattered across ten separate bands, making it difficult for users to communicate with each other. Congress has already allocated public safety 24 megahertz of spectrum in the 700-megahertz band, which is close to the spectrum currently used by public safety. Unfortunately, public safety cannot gain access to this needed spectrum until the broadcasters that occupy those bands return their analog spectrum. It is important that this occur as quickly as possible.

Our hearing today is certain to shed light on all of these issues, and help this Committee to understand what needs to be done to ensure interoperability.