Congressman Doyle Questions FCC Failure to Address e911 Deficiency

Washington, DC – March 14, 2007 – U.S. Representative Mike Doyle (PA-14) today grilled Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin over his decision to terminate a study of deficiencies in the U.S. e911 emergency locator service.

Congressman Doyle questioned Chairman Martin about the issue at an FCC oversight hearing held this morning by the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet.

The rapid rise of wireless phones and Voice-Over-Internet-Protocol (VOIP) technology has created serious problems for 911 dispatchers. 911 dispatchers often cannot determine where wireless and VoIP callers are located – making it difficult to send police, EMTs, or firefighters to help them in a timely fashion.

In 2004, the FCC asked Mr. Dale Hatfield, a respected expert in the field, to study the issue and report his findings to the Commission. Mr. Hatfield presented his tentative results to FCC staff on May 10, 2006. A few days later, he was contacted by Chairman Martin’s personal wireless policy advisor and told to halt the study and turn in his hours for payment and premature termination of his contract.

“I was surprised that the FCC had terminated an important study like this so abruptly,” Congressman Doyle said today. “This is literally an issue of life and death for thousands of people a year. That’s why I was interested in asking Chairman Martin this morning about his decision to kill the report.”

“I was extremely disturbed by Chairman Martin’s testimony this morning” Congressman Doyle said afterwards. “When Chairman Martin said that Mr. Hatfield ‘never presented any of the initial findings to us’ he was at best mistaken, and at worst willfully misrepresenting the truth. Mr. Hatfield presented his tentative findings to FCC staff on May 10, 2006.”

“It seems odd to me that the Chairman’s office killed the report right after that – and that the Chairman now claims he never knew what Mr. Hatfield had found,” Congressman Doyle said. “I found Chairman Martin’s testimony this morning unconvincing and disturbing, and I will be very interested in his response to my inquiry.”

“The real issue here, however, is whether the FCC has been working to identify and fix the problems in our nation’s e911 system,” Congressman Doyle observed.

“Chairman Martin assured the Subcommittee that, despite spiking the Hatfield study, the Commission has been working to fix these problems,” Congressman Doyle stated, adding “This issue is too important to sweep under the carpet. I won’t let this issue go until I’m sure that the deficiencies in our e911 system have been eliminated.”

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