Allowing Funding For The Interoperable Emergency Communications Grant Program
Floor Speech
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Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 1694, the Extension of Public Service Interoperability Communications, PSIC, Grant Program, and I'm proud to be one of the first to have cosponsored this important piece of legislation. I thank my colleague from California, Ms. HARMAN, for her hard work in helping to create the PSIC program and for her support of public safety funding.
The funds available under these PSIC grants must have a more flexible timeline so that our public safety agencies can take full advantage of this program and develop interoperability plans that work for their communities. These funds are essential to public safety interoperability plans nationwide.
I've long supported funding for public safety interoperability, both as a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee and in my role as Co-Chair of the E911 Caucus.
First Responders must have the best resources available to them during a crisis. Just as importantly, different emergency agencies must have the ability to communicate with one another to provide essential information. The inability to communicate could have life or death consequences. We knew this hard fact long before 9/11/2001, but we saw it demonstrated in the starkest terms on that day. We should never have to say ``what if?'' We must take the question mark out of interoperable communications and ensure that we have efficient systems in place as soon as possible.
It's been over eight years since we learned the important lessons, of September 11, but we're still taking the initial steps toward interoperability. These grants are just the tip of the iceberg. We need to develop more funding resources and encourage the rapid deployment of available spectrum for public safety interoperability. I'm committed to making certain that we have adequate spectrum rollout for this purpose and I support funding initiatives that will provide interoperability opportunities throughout the nation.
Thank you again for your personal commitment to keeping our first responders and all Americans safe.
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