Emergency Alert Bill Headed for Passage in Port Legislation
Emergency alert legislation could be enacted as part of the port security bill moving through the Senate, key House and Senate committee staffers said Fri. at an FCBA lunch. Sen. DeMint (R-S.C.) introduced the Warning, Alert & Response Network (WARN) Act as an amendment to the port bill (HR-4954) Thurs. The Senate Commerce Committee approved the Warn Act by unanimous consent Oct. 20. It establishes a network for transmitting alerts across communications including cellphones, BlackBerrys, Internet, TV, radio and satellite TV.
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“I think the Warn Act will pass,” said Senate Commerce Committee Staff Dir. Lisa Sutherland. DeMint is expected to discuss the measure on the floor Mon., and a vote is probable Tues. The House Telecom Subcommittee held a hearing on the issue in July, and the Commerce Committee has been thinking about how to move legislation forward, said Majority Chief Counsel Howard Waltzman. “We'll engage” if the port security measure goes to conference, Waltzman said.
The Warn Act builds out the system that’s in place, Sutherland said. It would monitor weather alerts and ensure that areas in danger of hurricanes or other predictable disasters would get widespread notice, she said. The bill would establish a national alert office in the Dept. of Homeland Security to run the program. It includes $106 million to finance the program.
Telecom legislation is less certain, but not to be ruled out, Sutherland and other key Senate and House staffers said. If the Senate gets its bill approved and to conference, there’s a good chance that differences could be worked out, majority staffers said. “Stevens and [Ranking Member] Dingell (D-Mich.) have a good working relationship,” Sutherland said, as he does with Barton and Ranking Member Inouye (D-Hawaii). “I'm not worried.” Waltzman agreed: “Our bosses have a great relationship.”
But getting to the floor is far from assured. Stevens has been talking “one on one” with members to build support but there’s not a final count, Sutherland said, declining to affirm he has the 60 votes needed to avoid a filibuster. “We'll just have to wait and see” whether the bill can move forward, said James Assey, Senate Commerce Committee minority chief counsel. He said staff is focused on working with the majority to complete the report from the bill’s markup.
Universal Service Fund (USF) reform may not be a major stumbling block between Barton and Stevens if the bill gets to conference, Sutherland and Waltzman said. “Early on, we had a conversation with Chmn. Barton where Senator Stevens said we wouldn’t do a bill without USF,” Sutherland said: “So everyone understands there will be some USF in the bill.” Barton would be prepared to “talk about what types of reform are appropriate” if the bill goes to conference, Waltzman said. He noted that although the House bill is slimmer than the Senate’s, it’s scaled back from its original attempt at comprehensive reform.
How will the elections affect the telecom bill? Staffers said if the House turns over as polls increasingly suggest, that would probably slow progress. Dingell, who has been Commerce Committee chmn., stands ready again, said minority counsel Johanna Shelton: “He'll rise to the occasion.”