Climate Change

Floor Speech

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Mr. MARKEY. Mr. President, I rise today on behalf of the first responders in our country. Every day, brave women and men on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic rely on T-Band, a spectrum that makes it possible for them to communicate with each other.

T-Band is the radio frequency that is set aside for these public safety officials so that they can talk to each other to keep all of us safe, all of us healthy. In 11 metropolitan areas, the T-Band system enables our courageous public safety personnel to work quickly and effectively during life-and-death situations.

T-Band allows emergency medical service teams to relay important information about patients' conditions. T-Band permits 9-1-1 dispatchers to send first responders to emergency scenes. Firefighters use T-Band to quickly coordinate strategy.

After the Boston bombing, after the marathon bombing, first responders used T-Band to communicate with each other during the ensuing manhunt.

This resource is nothing short of a lifesaver. T-Band really stands for ``trusted band.'' It is the resource public safety can rely upon.

Unfortunately, the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 required the Federal Communications Commission to begin to auction off the T-Band, the trusted band, by February of 2021, but it would cost between $5 billion and $6 billion for first responders--police and fire--to relocate from the T-Band. That is much more money than an auction of that spectrum would ever generate.

Plus, for many first responders, there is simply no alternative to the T-Band; this is their only option. That is why this body must pass the Don't Break Up the T-Band Act, which repeals the requirement that public safety stop using this spectrum.

The heroes who jump into action when we need them shouldn't have to scramble to figure out how they will communicate with each other. They shouldn't be left in limbo.

My legislation has support from an inspiring coalition of advocates and public safety groups. The International Association of Fire Chiefs, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Sheriffs' Association, the National League of Cities, the United States Conference of Mayors, the National Association of Counties, the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials, the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council, and many others are demanding that we preserve the T-Band.

These groups and the people they represent are not asking for a favor; they are just asking to be allowed to do their jobs effectively.

I thank Leader Schumer for his partnership on this issue and his longstanding commitment to the public safety community. I also want to thank Ranking Member Cantwell and Ranking Member Schatz for their work and dedication to this effort.

But don't just take our word for it. Listen to what the current Republican chairman of the Federal Communications Commission recently said about T-Band. Earlier this year, Chairman Ajit Pai stated: ``An FCC auction of the T-Band is a bad idea.''

This is not a partisan issue. It is a public safety imperative. There is no cost associated with stopping the T-Band auction, and Congress must ensure that the people who step up to keep us safe are taken care of.

If we fail to act, the FCC will have no choice but to move forward and strip this resource from our first responders. To allow that to happen during a public health crisis like the one we face today would be reckless.

First responders already face enormous strain economically and enormous pressure to address the pandemic, as well as deadly natural disasters across the country. The last thing we should be doing is saddling them with millions or billions of dollars in costs to needlessly alter their critical communications system.

Congress can no longer drag its feet. We have run out of time. The FCC has called on this body to stop the T-Band auction, but the Commission has no choice but to start laying the groundwork to auction the T-Band. We can and we must resolve this problem today. Today is the day to do it.

451 and that the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration. I further ask that the bill be read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

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Mr. MARKEY. Mr. President, I just think that we are missing an enormous opportunity here. It is a shame the Senate is not acting with the urgency it needs in order to help our brave men and women who are first responders in our country.

We can work on issues of spectrum going to the private sector. We can do that in a separate bill, and we can do it together. But, here, we have an opportunity to help our first responders, the brave men and women who every day risk their lives, and we have to make sure they have the spectrum they need to communicate.

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