Spectrum Bill Moves To Full Senate For Approval

With just four “No” Republican votes, yesterday a U.S. Senate committee approved a bill that would allocate the embattled D Block of spectrum directly to public safety, and now S. 911 goes to the full Senate for final approval, House approval and a possible Presidential signature. Congress originally ordered the 10 MHz of spectrum in the 700 MHz to be sold to the highest bidder in a Jan. 2008 auction. The winner would then create and operate a nationwide, interoperable public safety wireless network. However, the D Block failed to sell—only one $432 million bid was received for the spectrum, and the reserve price had been set at $1.3 billion. Since then there has been debate, controversy and recommendations to re-auction the spectrum. Finally, several legislators introduced bills that would take the D Block off the auction block and assign it directly to public safety. Today the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) issued congratulations to itself and the Public Safety Alliances for successfully lobbying the bill. APCO asked its members to write letters of thank-you to those who voted for the bill, and “to keep the pressure” on those who voted against the bill: Senators Olympia Snowe (ME-R), Jim DeMint (SC-R), Pat Toomey (PA-R) and Marco Rubio (FL-R). Read APCO’s statement after the break.

[Statement of APCO upon passage of S. 911 out of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee]

Sometimes you have to stand up and pat yourself on the back for a job well done. Yesterday was one of those days! Congratulations APCO and the Public Safety Alliance for an important victory in the US Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.

You responded to our recent call to action to our members in key states whose Senators serve on the Committee. The results of your numerous calls, emails, and faxes that you generated to each office were evident in the overwhelming approval of S. 911, the Public Safety Spectrum and Wireless Innovation Act, that was passed out of committee by an overwhelming 21-4 bipartisan vote.

Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV and Ranking Member Kay Bailey Hutchison today led their Commerce Committee colleagues in sending S. 911 to the full Senate for consideration. This significant development follows several months of hard work, compromise and negotiation, and is consistent with public safety’s top priority to gain D Block allocation and federal funding necessary to realize a nationwide, interoperable public safety broadband network.

We have a long road ahead and we must stay vigilant in our grassroots effort to get the job done. Now every Senator in every state needs to be urged to co-sponsor the new Committee-backed bill, S. 911, as the full Senate takes up the measure within the next few weeks. We also urge our members to thank those Senators who voted for the bill in the Committee (see “yes” list below) for their support of public safety and to keep the pressure on those Senators who voted against the bill (see “no” list below) to change their vote.

Thank you templates and Senate contact information is available on the PSA website (www.psafirst.org/take-action).

We have demonstrated once again, that APCO’s core strength lies in our numbers. Thank you, again, and please remain vigilant because we must continue to press our case together to get the job done.

Sincerely,

William Carrow, President
APCO International

Rockefeller, Hutchison Deliver Bipartisan D-Block Allocation Bill

Public Safety’s Top Priority Approved On An Overwhelming 21-4 Vote

Psa Applauds Committee & Leaders For Their Hard Work; Urges Majority Leader Reid & Republican Leader Mcconnell To Move S.911 To The Floor Now

WASHINGTON, D.C. – June 8, 2011 – The Public Safety Alliance (PSA) today congratulates the overwhelming majority of Republican and Democratic members on the Senate Commerce Committee for working together in passage of S.911 supporting the nation’s first responders’ top priority communications issue. Chairman Jay Rockefeller and Ranking Member Kay Bailey Hutchison introduced S.911: Public Safety Spectrum and Wireless Innovation Act of 2011 today. This significant development follows several months of hard work, compromise and negotiation, and is consistent with public safety’s top priority to gain D-block allocation and federal funding necessary to realize a nationwide, interoperable public safety broadband network.

“On behalf of the more than 2 million first responders nationwide, the Public Safety Alliance congratulates Chairman Rockefeller, Ranking Member Hutchison and the vast majority of Committee Members for their support and hard work to in taking this “massive step” toward greatly improving the public’s safety,” said PSA spokesman Deputy Chief Charles Dowd, Commander of the Communications Division of the City of New York Police Department. “As Chairman Rockefeller said today, this is a deeply and profoundly emotional step, and we truly appreciate that it was done with integrity, with substance, and passed by a wide margin on a bipartisan basis.

Dowd continued, “Most of the members of this committee demonstrated that they believe the safety of the American people is what’s most important in this debate, and we look forward to Senators Reid and McConnell taking this legislation to the Senate floor and moving the full Senate to quickly pass it and get it to the President’s desk for signature before the 10th Anniversary of 9/11. It is the least we can do to honor those who serve the American people every day and for the many men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice keeping our country safe.”

Nearly 10 years ago, police, firefighters and EMS workers lost their lives because of inadequate public safety communications networks during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In March, the chairmen of the 9/11 Commission announced their support for the policy that would finally advance the allocation of the D Block spectrum to public safety – a key 9/11 Commission Report recommendation. For more information on a Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network, visit www.psafirst.org.