9/11 Commission Gives U.S. ‘F’ on Spectrum Clearing Efforts
The 9/11 Commission gave the federal govt. an “F” for its work on clearing spectrum for public safety in a final report released Mon. The grade will rise to a “C” if Congress passes the budget reconciliation bill, whose DTV provisions include releasing 24 MHz of spectrum for public safety. Nonetheless, Democrats read the report as savaging Republican policies they say have slowed interoperability funding and aid for first responders. “This is a blistering, scalding indictment,” said Rep. Markey (D-Mass.) at a press briefing Mon.
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The Senate and House bills’ 2009 handover date is “too distant given the urgency of the threat” of terrorism, said the report: “A 2007 handover date would make the American people safer sooner.” House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Dingell (D-Mich.) said “people need to know” that Republicans refused to pass an amendment offered by Rep. Stupak (D-Mich.) during DTV bill markup (CD Oct 27 p1) that would have put $5.8 billion toward interoperability. The amendment failed on a 24-24 vote, with House Commerce Committee Chmn. Barton (R-Tex.) declining to break the tie.
“We still don’t have anything close to a strategy for interoperability,” Stupak said. “We've spent $180 billion in Iraq. What has this administration spent on interoperability? $286.8 million,” he said. “It’s a joke. Unfortunately it’s a deadly joke. We will lose lives once again” if there’s a terrorist attack. Markey blamed Republicans for failing to push funding for interoperability. “It is the Republican majority that has blocked this,” he said. “This is what happens when you have a Republican-controlled Congress and a Republican White House.”
House Commerce Committee Chmn. Barton admitted problems with interoperability, but said in a statement the DTV bill would help resolve them: “For years, our first responders have had to make do with antiquated radio equipment while waiting for the airwaves they were promised,” he said: “Our DTV bill will make it easier for these public servants to catch criminals, fight fires and save lives.” Besides opening spectrum to public safety, the bill will give consumers a wide range of new wireless broadband services, he said. He said the bill could raise $20-$20 billion in revenue for the U.S. Treasury, based on private studies.
But House Democratic sources voiced anger at his citing of the billions in revenue estimates given the small sum -- $500 million -- the bill devotes to interoperability. “That makes this all the more egregious,” a source said: “If Barton thinks the revenues proceeds are going to be higher, what are they planning to do with the rest of the money?” The CBO pegs auction proceeds at $10 billion, which most call conservative. Besides availability of spectrum, first responders also need adequate equipment which must be tested and coordinated among geographic territories to hasten interoperability. According to the Office of Management & Budget, the lowest estimate for basic equipment and protocol testing is $15 billion. The Democratic source criticized the Republicans for putting the interoperability issue into the budget process. “They're slow rolling it into a complicated partisan process that has no guarantee of even passing,” he said.