[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[House]
[Pages 26056-26058]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 ALLOWING FUNDING FOR THE INTEROPERABLE EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS GRANT 
                                PROGRAM

  Mr. BOUCHER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (S. 1694) to allow the funding for the interoperable emergency 
communications grant program established under the Digital Television 
Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005 to remain available until 
expended through fiscal year 2012, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                S. 1694

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. PUBLIC SAFETY INTEROPERABLE COMMUNICATIONS GRANTS.

       (a) Notwithstanding section 3006(a)(2) of the Digital 
     Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005 (47 
     U.S.C. 309 note), sums made available to administer the 
     Public Safety Interoperable Communications Grant Program 
     under section 309(j)(8)(E) of the Communications Act of 1934 
     (47 U.S.C. 309(j)(8)(E)) shall remain available until 
     expended, but not beyond September 30, 2012.
       (b) The period for performance of any investment approved 
     under the Program as of the date of enactment of this Act 
     shall be extended by one year, but not later than September 
     30, 2011, except that the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for 
     Communications and Information may extend, on a case-by-case 
     basis, the period of performance for any investment approved 
     under the Program as of that date for a period of not more 
     than 2 years, but not later than September 30, 2012. In 
     making a determination as to whether an extension beyond 
     September 30, 2011, is warranted, the Assistant Secretary 
     should consider the circumstances that gave rise to the need 
     for the extension, the likelihood of completion of 
     performance within the deadline for completion, and such 
     other factors as the Assistant Secretary deems necessary to 
     make the determination.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Boucher) and the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Cao) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia.
  Mr. BOUCHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, before the House today is Senate 1694, a measure to 
enable funding for the Interoperable Emergency Communications Grant 
Program to remain available through fiscal year 2012. In the absence of 
this measure, the funds for the program could not be expended by the 
recipients of grants under the program after the end of this year.
  The bill before the House has been approved in the other body, and it 
is identical to House bills previously introduced by the gentlelady 
from California (Ms. Harman) and by the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. 
Cao). The bill extends the Public Safety Interoperable Communications 
Grant Program that is jointly administered by the U.S. Department of 
Commerce through the National Telecommunications and Information 
Administration and by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
  The funds, which are awarded as grants to first responders under the 
program, derive from proceeds of the auction by the Federal 
Communications Commission of the 700 megahertz spectrum, which became 
available as TV broadcasters ceased their analog television broadcasts 
in association with the digital television transition. The program had 
its genesis in recommendations by the 9/11 Commission concerning the 
well-acknowledged shortcomings in interoperable communications 
capabilities among first responders nationwide.
  As required by law, the Department of Commerce's Office of the 
Inspector General conducted an annual assessment of that Department's 
management of this grant program. It found that the NTIA within the 
Department of Commerce had met the statutory guidelines and 
requirements for making awards and for reviewing and approving the 
grantees' communications plans, but the Office of Inspector General 
also found that the congressional deadline which exists in current law 
had not allowed the States a sufficient amount of time within which by 
the end of this year to expend the grant funds that they receive under 
this program. That inability of States to expend all of these moneys by 
the end of this year is what necessitates the passage of the measure 
that is before us today.

                              {time}  1045

  Ms. Harman's measure was approved by the Subcommittee on 
Communications, Technology, and the Internet of our House Energy and 
Commerce Committee on the 8th of October, and her measure was approved 
by the full committee on October 15. It has been endorsed by, among 
others, the National Governors Association, the Major Cities Chiefs 
Association, the Association of Public-Safety Communications 
Officials--International, the Telecommunications Industry Association, 
the National Emergency Management Association, and mayors of the cities 
of New York, Houston, and Los Angeles. S. 1694 passed the other body by 
unanimous consent on October 14, and we're taking up the Senate measure 
today so that upon approval in the House, it can go directly to the 
President for signature without further delay.
  I want to say thank you this morning to the gentleman from Florida 
(Mr. Stearns), who is the ranking Republican member of the Subcommittee 
on Communications, Technology, and the Internet, and also the gentleman 
from Texas (Mr. Barton), who is the ranking member on our full 
committee, for the bipartisan manner in which we have processed the 
legislation through the Energy and Commerce Committee. I commend both 
Ms. Harman and Mr. Cao for their leadership.
  Mr. Speaker, with the conclusion of these comments, I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. CAO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, S. 1694, with an identical version in the House, H.R. 
3633 and H.R. 3348, is an important bill because it would provide an 
additional 2 years for public safety officials, first responders, and 
firefighters to use communications grants. This will help many 
districts, especially ones like mine, where officials are still 
replacing and upgrading equipment. Only people who have lived through 
the horrors such as Katrina realize the importance of this grant.
  After Katrina, much of the communications systems in the Second 
Congressional District and throughout southeast Louisiana were down for 
a period of several weeks. First responders were trying to save lives 
and trying to fight crime, while at the same time they were unable to 
communicate with one another. So, with this grant, it will provide 
cities such as New Orleans the time to rebuild their emergency 
operations centers. That includes replacing the building in which they 
were housed as well as replacing an entire interoperable system. Some 
emergency personnel are still using radios on loan from FEMA 4 years 
after the storm because, without an extension, the Public Safety 
Interoperable Communications Grant Program would have expired next 
year. My district could not fully take advantage of it.
  Other areas in the Gulf Coast and Midwest that were struggling to 
rebuild after disasters were also having

[[Page 26057]]

trouble completing or even applying for communications grants because 
of the short window of the program. It became clear that the need for 
this program extended beyond those areas when we began to receive calls 
and letters of support from States like Vermont, Montana, Texas, and 
California, who all voiced the same concern--they needed more time to 
use these grants, and they needed Congress' help.
  The International Association of Fire Fighters, National Emergency 
Management Association, and Association of Public Safety Officials all 
lent their support to this effort. I would like to thank them for 
helping get this bill up for a vote.
  I would also like to thank the staff on the Energy and Commerce 
Committee for their fast, bipartisan work on getting this bill to the 
floor, and I would also like to extend my thanks to the gentlewoman 
from California, Congresswoman Jane Harman, who took the initiative to 
file H.R. 3633 when there was a slim chance that my own bill, H.R. 
3348, would have a chance of passing. So I would like to thank her for 
her initiative in making sure that this important extension gets passed 
so that we can help people who need help.
  I would also like to thank my colleagues on the floor who have shown 
the bipartisan support and spirit to support this bill today.
  Mr. Speaker, it doesn't seem that I have any other speakers, so I 
will yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. BOUCHER. Mr. Speaker, I recognize myself for 2 minutes.
  Let me again thank the gentleman from Louisiana and the gentlewoman 
from California (Ms. Harman) for bringing this measure before us today. 
It is a bipartisan measure.
  It is necessary that we pass this legislation in order to assure that 
first responders are able to expend the funds that are awarded to them 
under the Emergency Communications Grant Program. That program expires 
at the end of this year, and the Inspector General at the Department of 
Commerce found that awardees under that program simply within that 
timeframe do not have the time necessary in order to make good on these 
grants and expend those for communications equipment. So by extending 
this program until the end of fiscal year 2012, we provide the time 
that is necessary.
  It is appropriate legislation, completely bipartisan, and I encourage 
that the House adopt this bill.
  Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 1694, the 
Extension of Public Service Interoperability Communications, PSIC, 
Grant Program, and I'm proud to be one of the first to have cosponsored 
this important piece of legislation. I thank my colleague from 
California, Ms. Harman, for her hard work in helping to create the PSIC 
program and for her support of public safety funding.
  The funds available under these PSIC grants must have a more flexible 
timeline so that our public safety agencies can take full advantage of 
this program and develop interoperability plans that work for their 
communities. These funds are essential to public safety 
interoperability plans nationwide.
  I've long supported funding for public safety interoperability, both 
as a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee and in my role as Co-
Chair of the E911 Caucus.
  First Responders must have the best resources available to them 
during a crisis. Just as importantly, different emergency agencies must 
have the ability to communicate with one another to provide essential 
information. The inability to communicate could have life or death 
consequences. We knew this hard fact long before 9/11/2001, but we saw 
it demonstrated in the starkest terms on that day. We should never have 
to say ``what if?'' We must take the question mark out of interoperable 
communications and ensure that we have efficient systems in place as 
soon as possible.
  It's been over eight years since we learned the important lessons, of 
September 11, but we're still taking the initial steps toward 
interoperability. These grants are just the tip of the iceberg. We need 
to develop more funding resources and encourage the rapid deployment of 
available spectrum for public safety interoperability. I'm committed to 
making certain that we have adequate spectrum rollout for this purpose 
and I support funding initiatives that will provide interoperability 
opportunities throughout the Nation.
  Thank you again for your personal commitment to keeping our first 
responders and all Americans safe.
  Mr. WELCH. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Representative Harman for 
introducing legislation to provide additional time for States to 
utilize Federal grants made available through the Public Safety 
Interoperable Communications Grant Program, PSIC. I am proud to be a 
sponsor of this legislation and commend her for her ongoing leadership 
on this critical issue.
  The PSIC grant program funds State projects that provide public 
safety personnel with interoperable communications equipment and 
training for system users. The Act appropriated $1 billion for the 
program from the proceeds of the auction of analog spectrum reclaimed 
by the digital television transition.
  In our current fiscal environment, public safety needs this 
assistance more than ever.
  Unfortunately, under current law, funding for these critical 
interoperability projects will expire in September 2010.
  Given the enormous importance of interoperable public safety 
communications during times of crisis, we need to allow States the time 
and funds necessary to complete projects already underway or in 
planning stages. If adopted, Representative Harman's legislation will 
provide this necessary time.
  S. 1694 represents the best approach to this problem because (1) it 
minimizes the regulatory burden on public safety; (2) it creates 
incentives for public safety to act quickly and (3) it protects public 
money. More specifically:
  The proposed legislation allows all States an automatic one-year 
extension. This will reduce the regulatory burden on States associated 
with individual extension requests. Some states may not need more than 
a year and they can avoid filing an extension request altogether.
  The automatic one-year extension also incentivizes States that are on 
track for completion to complete work rapidly so they do not have to go 
through the extension request process.
  But those States that need more than one year to complete projects 
will have the flexibility to request an additional year if the head of 
NTIA determines that their circumstances warrant an extension.
  The criteria enumerated in the proposed legislation will ensure that 
the Assistant Secretary's decisions are based on a complete evaluation 
of the extension request. This discretion allows the Assistant 
Secretary to protect public money and ill-advised or mismanaged 
projects may not be eligible for continued funding.
  S. 1694 has widespread support. A number of organizations, including 
the National Governors Association and the Association of Public 
Communications Officers, APCO, have all expressed support for 
Representative Harman's bill.
  Representative Harman's bill is identical to a bipartisan measure 
introduced in the Senate by Senators Rockefeller and Hutchison. If we 
pass this bill today we have a decent chance of making this extension 
happen in time for public safety to plan and budget accordingly.
  One of the painful lessons our Nation learned in the aftermath of the 
terrorist attacks of September 11 from the response to Hurricane 
Katrina was how critical it is for first responders to be able to 
communicate seamlessly with one another when responding to an 
emergency. This is as true in a city like LA as a rural State like 
Vermont, where emergency personnel are sparse in many parts of the 
State and it is often necessary for multiple jurisdictions to work 
together when responding to a call. If we are going to ask our first 
responders to put their lives on the line and work together to protect 
us, we must provide them with the tools they need to do their jobs 
effectively.
  I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in 
supporting this important legislation.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of 
legislation, S. 1694, offered by Ms. Harman. This bipartisan bill is 
critical to promoting interoperable emergency communications 
capabilities for the Nation's first responders. This important piece of 
legislation provides our Nation's first line of defense with the tools 
and equipment necessary to carry out their life-saving 
responsibilities.
  As Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, it remains 
unsettling that most of the public safety communications failures 
uncovered during the terrorist attacks on 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina in 
2005 still exist today. Those tragic events will forever be engrained 
in the minds of every American. We learned a shrilling lesson from 
those major incidents: that when our Nation's first responders cannot 
communicate during a manmade or natural disaster, lives are lost.

[[Page 26058]]

  Today, we have the opportunity to act with what Reverend Dr. Martin 
Luther King, Jr. coined as, ``the fierce urgency of now.'' 
Interoperable communications--the ability of emergency responders to 
communicate in real-time, when needed, and as authorized--remains an 
unaccomplished goal. Therefore, we must commit to the American people 
that we will do our due diligence and address the daily challenges--
both human and technological--that first responders face with 
interoperable emergency communications post-haste.
  I would like to applaud Ms. Harman for her leadership in the effort 
to bring our Nation's first responders one step closer to achieving 
interoperable communications by closing a loophole in the Public Safety 
Interoperable Communications, PSIC, grant program.
  Specifically, S. 1694, which is a companion bill to H.R. 3633, 
appropriately extends next year's statutory deadline to spend PSIC 
grant funds to September 30, 2012. The PSIC program is an important 
grant program for the public safety community and has provided nearly 
$1 billion of funding to State and local to purchase equipment, deploy 
new communications systems, and train personnel.
  As a condition to receive grants under the PSIC program, States and 
local governments must develop Statewide Communications 
Interoperability Plans, SCIPs. The Department of Homeland Security 
faced delays in approving the SCIPs, creating the challenge for State 
and local grantees to spend the grant funds by the end of next year.
  S. 1694 makes an important change and gives grantees the much needed 
time and flexibility to do their due diligence and avoid wasteful 
spending. This bipartisan bill allows for State and local governments 
to properly invest in public safety communications systems that will 
achieve the goal of implementing nationwide interoperability.
  I support S. 1694 and urge my colleagues to join me in this 
supporting our Nation's first responders.
  Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of S. 1694, 
the Public Safety Interoperable Communications Grant Program Extension 
Act of 2009.
  This grant program, due to expire at the end of this year, is a vital 
component of a nationwide fully interoperable communications network 
for our first responders. It provides grants to States so they may 
purchase expensive, yet essential, interoperable communications 
equipment.
  This simple, straightforward extension would assist States in 
establishing their portion of a nationwide interoperable network. We 
cannot afford to let this program expire.
  There are two primary reasons to support this bill.
  First, interoperability is essential for the safety of Americans. We 
all know the devastating consequences that occur when our first 
responders and public safety entities cannot communicate in the face of 
incredible disaster. Tragedies such as 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina 
instantly come to mind.
  Interoperability was a key recommendation of the 9/11 Commission and 
one of the foremost reasons Congress passed legislation to ``free-up'' 
spectrum by transitioning to digital television.
  First responders need to be able to communicate effortlessly--lives 
depend on it.
  Second, we want to ensure the communications networks established by 
States are thorough, effective, and efficient.
  The Department of Homeland Security has set deadlines for all States 
to develop Statewide Communications Interoperability Plans and Congress 
established the grant program to help States purchase the equipment to 
implement these plans.
  Unfortunately, the deadline for the program has not afforded States 
sufficient time to comply with the program requirements.
  By extending the deadline for applications for this grant program, we 
are enabling public safety entities to do the right thing--to carefully 
and thoroughly design their interoperable plans before they spend 
millions of taxpayer dollars on equipment.
  Of course, the sooner interoperable communications networks come 
online, the better. But we do not want to unwisely rush their 
implementation or effectively punish those entities that do their due 
diligence in the planning stages. We must extend this vital grant 
program.
  Mr. Speaker, I am grateful to my colleague Rep. Harman who had the 
foresight to introduce this legislation. I urge my colleagues to 
support S. 1694, the Public Safety Interoperable Communications Grant 
Program Extension Act of 2009.
  Mr. BOUCHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Boucher) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, S. 1694.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. CAO. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

                          ____________________