More than 25 years ago, Air Florida Flight 90 crashed on the 14th Street Bridge here in Washington. First responders to the crash site could not communicate or coordinate their rescue efforts of airline passengers drowning in the wintry Potomac River! Congress vowed never again would citizens lose their lives because first responders could not communicate and coordinate life saving efforts.

Other natural disasters and catastrophic events have occurred since 1982. Each time, Congress vowed that first responders would have the equipment they needed to communicate with each other.

Today, we are nearly six years after the September 11th terrorist attacks and almost two years after Hurricane Katrina, and America’s first responders still cannot communicate with each other. 

In layman’s terms, interoperability means that first responders possess the radio technology to talk with one another. On September 11th, we saw the horrific results of what happens when first responders are incapable of communicating with one another. One hundred twenty-one firefighters perished because their radios were incompatible and they could not be warned that the World Trade Center was about to collapse on them.

In response to the interoperability woes of first responders at the Pentagon, World Trade Center and Somerset County, Pa., President Bush declared after the September 11th attacks:

“It’s important that we understand in the first minutes and hours after attack, that’s the most hopeful time to save lives. And that’s why we’re focusing on the heroic efforts of those first-time responders. That’s why we want to spend money to make sure equipment is there, strategies are there, communications are there to make sure that you have whatever it takes to respond.”

Three years after the president’s promise, Hurricane Katrina’s first responders were plagued with communication problems. For instance, the Shreveport, La., fire department sent rotating groups of 25 firefighters to New Orleans to assist with rescue efforts. But, the Shreveport radio system was not registered with the Louisiana State Police radio system, so there was no way for the firefighters to communicate and coordinate rescue efforts.

America cannot wait for the next hurricane or terrorist attack to achieve nationwide interoperable communications for our first responders. Many members of Congress claim America cannot achieve interoperability until television broadcasters vacate the analog spectrum in February of 2009. It is not necessary to wait until February 2009 to provide our first responders with interoperable communications.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee has held several hearings on the status of interoperability and has found there are technological solutions (such as Internet Protocol) available today that would achieve interoperability.

The federal government must steadfastly commit to ensuring that interoperable systems are aggressively rolled out. Sadly, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claims that it will require over 20 years and $30 billion for America to become interoperable.

Fortunately, Congress has lost patience with the administration’s 20-year, $30 billion plan. In 2006, Congress created an interoperable communications grant program to be administered by the National Telecommunications Infrastructure Agency (NTIA). The “Public Safety Interoperable Communications Grant Program,” with an initial billion-dollar appropriation, is to direct new funding and to advance new approaches for interoperable communications.

Once again, the administration demonstrated a lack of commitment to interoperability, as the president’s budget would have used this $1 billion for NTIA to offset its $1 billion dollar cut in public safety grants. Emerging technologies are offering multiple solutions at lower costs, but the administration remains “tone deaf!”

The well-deserved praise heaped on our first responders by the president and members of Congress rings hollow when words are not matched by a commitment to provide interoperability. The brave first responders who risk their lives to protect us deserve support worthy of the uncertain challenges they face daily. More political rhetoric and broken promises are no longer acceptable. This week, I am re-introducing my legislation to permanently establish the NTIA grant program and to dedicate one-half of the proceeds from the upcoming analog spectrum auction to an interoperability trust fund.

As the chairman of the House Energy and Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, I will continue to exercise vigorous oversight of NTIA’s and DHS’s interoperability efforts. As a former first responder, I will do my best to ensure my former colleagues have the communications tools to protect us and safely return home! I hope my House colleagues will share in this commitment.

Stupak is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and founder and co-chairman of the Congressional Law Enforcement Caucus, a bipartisan organization of more than 100 members.

SPECIAL SECTION: COMMUNICATIONS