H.R. 4401 (ih) To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for the establishment of a program under which long-term care insurance may be obtained by Federal employees and annuitants. ...

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108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4400

    To establish the Office of Wireless Public Safety Interoperable 
    Communications, to provide grants and other support to achieve 
  communications interoperability in the United States, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 19, 2004

 Mrs. Lowey (for herself, Mr. Turner of Texas, Ms. Loretta Sanchez of 
  California, Mr. Dicks, Ms. Slaughter, Mr. DeFazio, Mr. Andrews, Ms. 
    Norton, Ms. McCarthy of Missouri, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. 
Etheridge, Mr. Langevin, Mr. Sandlin, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Towns, Ms. Lee, 
  Mr. Reyes, Mr. Gutierrez, Mrs. Maloney, Mr. Lantos, Mr. Matsui, Mr. 
 Delahunt, Mr. Cardoza, Mr. Hoeffel, Mr. Case, Mr. Frost, Mr. Skelton, 
Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr. Green of Texas, Mr. Moore, Mrs. Capps, Mr. 
  Nadler, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mr. 
 Wynn, Ms. Kilpatrick, Mr. Tierney, Mr. Acevedo-Vila, and Mr. Lucas of 
  Kentucky) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
    Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Select 
    Committee on Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To establish the Office of Wireless Public Safety Interoperable 
    Communications, to provide grants and other support to achieve 
  communications interoperability in the United States, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as ``Connecting the Operations of National 
Networks of Emergency Communications Technologies for First Responders 
Act of 2004''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Throughout the United States, public safety agencies--
        law enforcement, firefighters, emergency technicians, public 
        health officials, and others--in the same jurisdictions cannot 
        now communicate effectively with one another, with agencies in 
        neighboring jurisdictions, or with other public safety agencies 
        at the Federal and State level, when responding to emergencies 
        or participating in major deployment.
            (2) The inability of public safety agencies in the United 
        States to communicate with one another within and across 
        jurisdictions and disciplines is a long-recognized and complex 
        problem that threatens the public's safety and security and 
        often results in unnecessary loss of lives and property.
            (3) The lack of interoperability was at least partially 
        responsible for the deaths of 343 firefighters in New York City 
        on September 11, 2001, when police could not communicate 
        effectively with firefighters prior to the collapse of the Twin 
        Towers.
            (4) In the immediate aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing 
        in 1995, studies showed that emergency responders had to use 
        runners to carry messages from one command center to another 
        because the responding agencies used different emergency radio 
        channels, different frequencies, and different radio systems.
            (5) In Littleton, Colorado, 46 public safety agencies 
        responded to the shooting spree inside Columbine High School in 
        1999. Precious minutes were lost because command personnel were 
        forced to send runners to communicate crucial information. 
        Incompatible radio communication systems were a significant 
        factor, according to the Columbine Review Commission.
            (6) There are more than 50,000 State and local public 
        safety agencies. Many of these agencies are small or volunteer 
        organizations with limited budgets, and little or no 
        engineering expertise. State and local agencies consistently 
        cite lack of funding as a critical obstacle to 
        interoperability.
            (7) State and local budget crises have made funding public 
        safety communications even more difficult, and competition with 
        other critical homeland security needs, such as personnel, 
        physical facilities, protective gear, and other kinds of 
        equipment reduce the available funding for mission-critical 
        communications infrastructures and equipment.
            (8) Funding is needed for all phases of the communications 
        system life cycle: planning, system design and engineering, 
        procurement and installation, operations and maintenance, and 
        testing and technology development. There is clear need for a 
        dedicated and consistent Federal funding source that is 
        sufficient to finance comprehensive interoperable 
        communications solutions. The role of Federal, State, and local 
        governments and agencies in funding interoperable 
        communications must be clear.
            (9) Achieving nationwide interoperability will require a 
        significant financial commitment at all levels of government. 
        In 1998, the Public Safety Wireless Network estimated that 
        developing interoperable communications nationwide could cost 
        $18,000,000,000. According to the Office of Wireless Public 
        Safety Interoperable Communications, the umbrella program in 
        the Department of Homeland Security designed to lead and 
        coordinate interoperability efforts that is commonly known as 
        Project SAFECOM, that estimate is now outdated and includes 
        only part of the total cost of upgrades.
            (10) An Independent Task Force sponsored by the Council on 
        Foreign Relations stated that ``among other things, additional 
        funds are desperately needed . . . to foster interoperable 
        communications systems for emergency responders across the 
        country so that those on the front lines can communicate with 
        each other while at the scene of attack''. The Task Force 
        recommended, ``conservatively'', that $6,800,000,000 over 5 
        years is needed for interoperability as well as public alert 
        and information systems programs.
            (11) Numerous Federal agencies provide information or 
        grants that can be used in the development of interoperable 
        communications systems. However, without common guidance and 
        standards, funding and grants are often used in isolation of 
        broader, regional communications needs and capacities. There is 
        a need to better coordinate these disparate grant programs, and 
        to provide unified and consistent leadership and funding from 
        the Federal Government.
            (12) The partnership between the private and public sectors 
        has developed numerous solutions to significantly improve 
        communications interoperability that can be implemented 
        immediately. These solutions include deployable vehicles that 
        contain crosspatch capabilities that allow radio users on 
        separate frequencies to talk to each other; communications 
        system overlay software and hardware that allow multiple 
        disparate communications networks to act as one network; and 
        the Project 25 standard for the manufacturing of interoperable 
        digital two-way wireless communications products.
            (13) Current approaches to achieving communications 
        interoperability are also hampered by the fact that in many 
        jurisdictions--
                    (A) the existing radio communications 
                infrastructure is old and outdated;
                    (B) planning for interoperability is limited and 
                fragmented among multiple agencies;
                    (C) the necessary coordination and cooperation 
                within and among jurisdictions is difficult to achieve; 
                and
                    (D) there is limited and fragmented amount of radio 
                spectrum available to public safety organizations.
            (14) The lack of universally recognized, fully open, and 
        implementable standards for public safety agency needs has 
        limited the cost efficiencies of interoperability, and has 
        delayed the adoption of new technologies by public safety 
        agencies.
            (15) Solutions can only be achieved through cooperation 
        among all levels of government, and the Federal Government, 
        through the Department of Homeland Security, must provide 
        nationwide leadership, coordination, and a substantial share of 
        resources necessary to purchase appropriate technologies and 
        create seamless communications among United States public 
        safety agencies.
            (16) In April 2004, the General Accounting Office found 
        that in Project SAFECOM's 2 year history, the program has made 
        very little progress in addressing its overall objective of 
        achieving national wireless communications interoperability 
        among first responders and public safety systems at all levels 
        of government, principally due to--
                    (A) a lack of consistent executive commitment and 
                support; and
                    (B) an inadequate level of interagency 
                collaboration.
            (17) Project SAFECOM lacks the statutory authority and 
        dedicated resources necessary to coordinate Federal programs or 
        accomplish other tasks required to make the achievement of 
        interoperability a national priority, and a realistic goal for 
        the Nation.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are to--
            (1) require the Department of Homeland Security to provide 
        effective leadership, coordination, and technical assistance 
        for the purposes of enhancing communications interoperability, 
        and to establish and implement a strategy to ensure the 
        achievement of communications interoperability for public 
        safety agencies throughout the United States;
            (2) authorize appropriations for interoperable 
        communications grants to State and local governments and public 
        safety agencies; and
            (3) support the effective acquisition, installation, and 
        maintenance of short-term and long-term interoperable 
        communications equipment for homeland security at all levels of 
        government.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE OFFICE OF WIRELESS PUBLIC SAFETY 
              INTEROPERABLE COMMUNICATIONS.

    (a) Amendment.--The Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101 et 
seq.) is amended by adding after section 313 the following:

``SEC. 314. OFFICE OF WIRELESS PUBLIC SAFETY INTEROPERABLE 
              COMMUNICATIONS.

    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section, the following definitions 
shall apply:
            ``(1) Communications interoperability.--The term 
        `communications interoperability' means the ability of public 
        safety service and support providers, including emergency 
        response providers, to communicate with other responding 
        agencies and Federal agencies if necessary, through information 
        technology systems and radio communications systems, and to 
        exchange voice, data, or video with one another on demand, in 
        real time, as necessary.
            ``(2) Director.--The term `Director' means the Director of 
        Wireless Public Safety Interoperable Communications.
            ``(3) Office.--The term `Office' means the Office of 
        Wireless Public Safety Interoperable Communications established 
        under subsection (c).
            ``(4) Public safety agencies.--The term `public safety 
        agencies' includes emergency response providers and any other 
        persons that the Secretary determines must communicate 
        effectively with one another to respond to emergencies.
    ``(b) Sense of Congress Regarding Project SAFECOM.--It is the Sense 
of Congress that--
            ``(1) after more than 2 years, Project SAFECOM has made 
        very limited progress in addressing its overall objective of 
        achieving communications interoperability among entities at all 
        levels of government;
            ``(2) a principal impediment to progress has been the 
        failure to effectively collaborate with, and to obtain 
        consistent funding from, other Federal agencies involved with 
        SAFECOM; and
            ``(3) in order to accelerate progress in achieving 
        communications interoperability among entities at all levels of 
        government, all Federal funding and program management to 
        achieve this goal should reside within the Department of 
        Homeland Security.
    ``(c) Establishment.--
            ``(1) In general.--There is established the Office of 
        Wireless Public Safety Interoperable Communications within the 
        Directorate of Science and Technology, which shall be headed by 
        a Director of Wireless Public Safety Interoperable 
        Communications appointed by the Secretary.
            ``(2) Administration.--The Secretary shall provide the 
        Office with the resources and staff necessary to carry out the 
        purposes of this section, including sufficient staff to provide 
        support to each State. Support under this paragraph shall 
        include outreach, coordination, and technical assistance.
            ``(3) Duties.--
                    ``(A) Technical assistance.--
                            ``(i) Assistance through director.--The 
                        Secretary, acting through the Director, shall--
                                    ``(I) provide leadership and 
                                coordination among all other Federal 
                                agencies that provide funding, 
                                research, technology development, or 
                                other support for communications 
                                interoperability;
                                    ``(II) accelerate, in consultation 
                                with other nationally recognized 
                                standards organizations as appropriate, 
                                the development of national voluntary 
                                consensus standards for communications 
                                interoperability, including the Project 
                                25 standard, and establish a schedule 
                                of milestones to be achieved in 
                                developing such standards;
                                    ``(III) provide technical 
                                assistance to Federal, State, and local 
                                governments and public safety agencies 
                                on planning, interoperability 
                                architectures, acquisition strategies, 
                                and other functions necessary to 
                                achieve communications 
                                interoperability;
                                    ``(IV) participate in the review 
                                and final approval of funding for grant 
                                applications for the purposes of 
                                administering the grant program 
                                established under section 430(e); and
                                    ``(V) provide direct technical 
                                assistance to State and local 
                                governments and public safety agencies 
                                for the purposes of administering the 
                                grant program established under section 
                                430(e).
                            ``(ii) Assistance by director and under 
                        secretary for science and technology.--The 
                        Director, under the direction of the Under 
                        Secretary for Science and Technology, shall--
                                    ``(I) conduct and otherwise provide 
                                for research, development, testing, and 
                                evaluation for public safety 

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