The push for Congress to reallocate the D-block of 700 MHz spectrum to public safety continues, and a conference held earlier this week by the New York State Association of Chiefs of Police explored some questions on the most recent bill introduced by Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.). Also in attendance was Charles Dowd, deputy chief of the New York City Police Department and head of their immense communictions system.
According to King, the new bill is getting great support from both the Democratic and Republican sides of the room, much like the first D-block bill did. Last year's bill had about 80 co-sponsors. There is no guarantee the bill will pass, but strong bipartisan support is a positive sign. Among the champions of the bill is Rep. Benny Thompson (D-Miss.), the ranking member and former chairman of the homeland security committee who, despite having fundamental differences with King regarding defense, supports the bill vigorously.
King also said a similar bill will be introduced into the Senate soon by Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.). This bill is side by side with one reintroduced in January by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), which is only slightly different. Hearings are to be held today on both bills.
Other strong signs for this cause are President Obama's official declaration of support, and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano's commitment to working with Congress to put the allocation into legislation. These combined efforts are already a significant stride forward, considering the issue was not even being discussed in Congress one year ago. Today the biggest names in Washington are backing D-block allocation, calling it vital to our country's safety and progress.
H.R. 607 addresses three necessities of nationwide wireless broadband network for first responders. Spectrum, funding, and governance are all important pieces of the puzzle. The need for more public safety spectrum stems back from the 9/11 Commission Report, which made the recommendation to Congress eight years ago. Passing the bill is only half the fight, since funding will be necessary to make the transition. H.R. 607 includes verbiage providing grants programs with construction and operations-and-maintenance funding. "Yet, we still don't have ufficient allocated spectrum or a national [interoperable] public safety wireless broadband network. We have to make progress; we have to move forward," King said.
The biggest challenge now is ensuring the bill is comprehensive enough to suit public safety agencies across the board. "No agency gets left behind. We've said that from the start of this. If this doesn't work for the urban and rural and the big and small, then it doesn't work [at all]. We're not leaving anybody behind on this effort," said Dowd.
Read more here in Urgent Communications.
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