[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 80 (Thursday, May 31, 2012)]
[House]
[Page H3271]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          BROADCAST EMERGENCY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. David Scott) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Tomorrow is June 1, and it marks the very 
start of the hurricane season in the United States.
  First, I want to take a moment to thank our first responders--those 
police officers, those firefighters, those EMS personnel, and all of 
our emergency personnel--who risk their lives to save Americans' lives.
  I also want to stand and thank and recognize another group of first 
responders, those who are our brave and talented--and at many times 
courageous--local broadcasters of television and radio and the 
journalists, many of whom are the first right after the first 
responders, sometimes before the first responders, bringing to the 
American people vital, life-saving information. So it is very important 
that as we begin this hurricane season that we take a moment and say a 
word for our local broadcasters of television and radio.
  I know firsthand how important this is, for I represent a district in 
Georgia that had a devastating, history-making flood and storm 
situation in 2009. I represent Cobb County and Douglas County, which 
were two of the hardest-hit counties, along with Fulton County. We lost 
10 lives. Seven of those lives that we lost were from one county alone, 
in Douglas County. Many of you might have seen the devastation at the 
Six Flags Over Georgia, which is an amusement park. It was completely 
under water. We lost over 500 businesses and homes in that area. Most 
importantly, we would have lost so much more if we had not had the 
timely, vital, life-saving information from our local radio and 
television broadcasters.
  A broadcaster's commitment to public service is never more apparent 
than during a time of crisis. During an emergency, no other service can 
match the ability of broadcasters to deliver the comprehensive, up-to-
date warnings and information affected by citizens. Just think, we have 
senior citizens, many of whom live alone, and their only contact with 
the outside world is that radio or that television letting them know 
what is coming and how to prepare for it. Television broadcasters reach 
millions of households across the country every day, and radio reaches 
more than 241 million Americans each week.
  Yet, if we are to improve disaster preparedness in our Nation, we 
have got to make sure that local stations of television and radio have 
the necessary tools to continue to communicate with people and to 
communicate with each other in these times of crisis.
  So as the 2012 hurricane season gets under way and as local 
communities continue to face erratic weather conditions, I know that 
every American feels safer in knowing that their local broadcasters are 
dedicated and committed to saving lives by providing critical news and 
information to our local communities. It is so important that we always 
remember that we must prepare for the storms before--before--the 
hurricanes are raging, and we thank our local broadcasters for helping 
us to prepare for the storms before the hurricanes are raging.

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