Administration Fully Committed on D-block, Public Safety Broadband Network, Biden Says

Biden, who public safety officials say was key in getting the administration to shift gears and endorse a plan to give the 700 MHz D-block to public safety, acknowledged his longtime ties to public safety in Delaware, which he represented in the Senate for 36 years. Biden also chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee for eight years, from 1987 to 1995, and was active on public safety issues as a senator. “Like so many of you, I have been working on this issue for a long time,” he said.

Biden expressed confidence the full Senate will move on legislation because of the bipartisan work of Sens. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, leaders of the Senate Commerce Committee, which approved a public safety broadband bill last week (CD June 9 p4). “We've been trying to get here for 10 years,” he said. “You know how badly you need it.”

Biden did not specifically mention the Republican-controlled House, which is deeply divided on whether the D-block should be reallocated to public safety. He acknowledged there is “a bit of gridlock” in Washington at this point. “I don’t believe this place doesn’t function,” he said. “I believe it will function. I believe we'll get to the right place.”

Spectrum fights are tough, Biden acknowledged. “There’s only so much space on the highway here, man,” he said. “The question is, how does it get allocated.” Some “very serious interests” decided public safety shouldn’t be “the top priority ... when you cut through everything here.” Biden noted that he has the “dubious distinction” of chairing a congressional panel trying to reach a bipartisan deal on raising the U.S. debt ceiling and avoiding a government shutdown. “This is an issue,” he said. “This is a revenue issue. We're going to sell some of the spectrum. But there’s a lot of pull and tug in terms of priorities.”

Biden expressed admiration for first responders, many of whom attended the White House briefing. “You're sitting there now with bars and stripes on your shoulders or you're sitting in suits you can now afford, but for a long, long time you strapped on a sidearm and a badge every single day and you walked out in the street not knowing what in God’s name you were going to be met with,” he said. “I wouldn’t have taken your jobs for all the rice in China, as my mother used to say.” Like soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, first responders in the U.S. should have access to the equipment and technology they need to do their jobs, he said. With the national network, “you're going to be able to do things you should have been able to do a decade ago,” he said, addressing direct responders. “Scanning fingerprints, checking them against databases with handheld devices, downloading floor plans of burning buildings, sending photos and videos from an accident scene ahead to ER rooms so instantly they're prepared and ready."

The 10-year anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks is approaching, Biden noted. “We urge the Congress to continue moving toward this legislation,” he said. “The only way this will not come to fruition is if we take our foot off the pedal, if we let up, if think that this is now inevitable."

The nation has “never been closer” to launch of a national public safety network, Holder said. “As national security and public safety threats have continued to grow and to evolve, the need to bring public safety communications into the 21st century ... has never been greater,” Holder said. The Department of Justice has been working with the White House, the departments of Homeland Security and Commerce on the network and the future of the D-block, he said. “For as long as it takes, we will continue bringing together policymakers and leaders from law enforcement, the broader public safety community, and the telecommunications industry to determine a path forward,” he said. “A solution is in view."

"The ability of our nation’s emergency responders to effectively communicate is paramount to the safety and security of our country,” Napolitano said. Napolitano noted that the establishment of a nationwide interoperable network for public safety was a key recommendation of the 9/11 Commission. First responders have made “significant progress” since the Sept. 11 attacks, but “we have been limited by wireless technologies that were introduced decades ago,” she said.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, who also spoke, thanked leaders in the House and the Senate for their work on making a national network possible. “We are closer than ever to achieving the vital goal of funding and building a nationwide interoperable communications network for our first responders,” he said. “The unfortunate truth is that the capability of our emergency response communications hasn’t kept pace even with commercial innovation, hasn’t kept pace what ordinary people and businesses now do every day with communications devices.”

The National Broadband Plan made the launch of a public safety network one of its primary goals, Genachowski noted. “Everyone here has made this a vital priority, he said. “The challenges to progress have been real, but enough is enough."

"Today, the Administration highlighted just how urgent this issue is by bringing together federal, state and local leaders to talk about the safety of Americans and first responders,” Rockefeller said in a written statement. “Vice President Biden understands this as well as anyone, and I am glad he is so involved."

The White House released a paper Thursday titled “The Benefits of Transitioning to a Nationwide Wireless Broadband Network for Public Safety.” The paper begins by citing testimony from New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, who remarked at a recent Senate hearing that a 16-year-old with a smartphone has better communications capabilities than the cop on the beat. “The failings of public safety communications systems include both interoperability -- with the limitations of current systems becoming tragically apparent on 9/11 and in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina -— and operability -- with the cost-effectiveness and performance of traditional public safety devices trailing well behind those provided by modern commercial cellular operators,” the paper said. It is available online at http://xrl.us/bkrwb8.