WASHINGTON – Endless news reports bear quotes from top officials like Maj. Gen. Harold Cross of the Mississippi National Guard saying, “We've got runners running from commander to commander. In other words, we're going to the sound of gunfire, as we used to say during the Revolutionary War.” Today, Congressman Bart Stupak (D-MI) cited this as one of many reasons for sending a letter to President George W. Bush calling on him to fund and implement interoperability, an inter-agency communication network for first responders. 

“As a former law enforcement officer and founder of the Congressional Law Enforcement Caucus, I once again call on your Administration to finally make a commitment to the public safety officials who are working so bravely and diligently in the devastated areas of the Gulf by making a meaningful investment in public safety communications and interoperability,” Stupak said in the letter.

More than 80 percent of America’s local first responders are not able to communicate with their counterparts at other agencies.  A report issued by the U.S. Conference of Mayors in June of 2004 stated that 97 percent of cities are unprepared to communicate during a chemical plant disaster; 94 percent are unprepared during a rail disaster; and 92 percent are unprepared during a seaport disaster.

While costs for full interoperability are estimated at $18 billion, for the second year in a row the President’s budget completely zeros out specific funding for interoperability. Stupak reintroduced the Public Safety Interoperability Implementation Act (H.R.1323) again in March of this year which would establish the Public Safety Communications Trust Fund. After an initial three-year grant program, the funding for the Trust Fund would come from future sales of spectrum.  Grants would be allocated to eligible entities, with multi-year grants available to ensure that agencies can make long-term plans without having to worry about funding from one year to the next. Congress is currently considering legislation to sell spectrum valued at $10 to $20 billion.

“In fact, in 2002 President Bush himself said that the first minutes and hours after an attack are critical and it is essential to have the equipment, strategies and communications for our first responders,” Stupak said. “Four years after 9/11, we have yet to make a proper investment in communications upgrades, and it shows.”

“This lack of commitment to our country’s first responders unfortunately became glaringly evident this past week. There are solutions to the problem, and I call on the President to work with Congress to immediately implement those solutions,” Stupak said. “America cannot wait for another terrorist attack or national disaster.  We have demonstrated how the interoperability problem can be solved using today’s technology. I challenge the Administration to apply this technology today to keep Americans safe.”

The 9-11 Commission Report stated, “The inability to communicate was a critical element of the World Trade Center, Pentagon, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, crash sites where multiple agencies and multiple jurisdictions responded.  The occurrence of this problem at three very different sites is strong evidence that compatible and adequate communications among public safety organizations at the local, state and federal levels remains an important problem…Federal funding of such (interagency communication) units should be given high priority…” 

Four years of Stupak’s appeals for interoperability and legislation to fund interoperability have fallen on deaf ears.