**STATEMENT OF**

**COMMISSIONER MICHAEL J. COPPS**

 

 *Re:      Recommendations of the Independent Panel Reviewing the Impact
of Hurricane Katrina on Communications Networks*, EB Docket No. 06-119
and WC Docket No. 06-63.

 

            Hurricane season begins anew tomorrow.  News programs are
filled with predictions of how many and how intense this year's storms
may be; stories about the extent of preparations that are being made to
cope with the disruptions that might once again befall New Orleans, the
Gulf Coast and other hurricane-prone areas of the country; and stories
chronicling the thus-far disappointing reconstruction of the areas hit
so hard by Hurricane Katrina.  Our nation was a nation scarred by the
images of suffering and destruction that were broadcast into our homes
in the days and weeks following Katrina and also Hurricane Rita.  I
visited the Gulf Coast with Chairman Martin and other communications
leaders in the days following the catastrophe, and I know that I will
never forget the searing images of devastation we witnessed there. 

 

            The region's suffering was severely compounded by the almost
total failure of public safety and commercial communications networks. 
For a week or more, more often than not, 911 calls went unanswered,
broadcast stations were dark, public safety radio systems were seriously
compromised, wireless phones were inoperable, and wireline phones had no
dial tone.  Most painful of all was that a significant portion of this
failure was unnecessary and could have been prevented, or at least
seriously ameliorated, by better pre-disaster planning and more
coordinated public sector-private sector teamwork.  I say this not to
point fingers, but to point up our local, regional and national
shortfalls in public safety and disaster preparedness.  Part of our
problem today, as a country, is our failure to come to grips with how
much work remains to be done to build effective public safety
communications.  It is huge, it is expensive and it is totally
necessary.

 

            The Gulf Coast tragedy presented us with a solemn duty to
sift through the shortfalls, in both the private and the public sectors;
to grasp the harsh lessons that needed to be learned; and to enhance our
preparedness for the next major cataclysm.  As I hope we are all aware,
there ***will*** be a next one---certainly other natural disasters or,
even more terrifying if that is possible, more terrorist attacks. 

 

            The FCC undertook an active role in the days following the
big storm.  The Commission team, under Chairman Martin's leadership,
worked around the clock, for days and weeks, to restore communications
and provide assistance all along the Gulf Coast.  Communications
industries likewise worked long and hard to restore critical services
and we owe them a large measure of gratitude, too.  Subsequently an
Independent Panel was established under former NTIA Administrator Nancy
Victory to review thoroughly what had happened, what systems had worked
and which had not, and to provide recommendations for the road ahead. 
Today, after putting these recommendations out for comment, the
Commission takes a step forward.

 

But it is only that---another step forward.  This is not a Report and
Order that brings a proceeding to a close.  It is an incremental step
against the backdrop of a challenge that will continue to stalk us and
might even get worse in coming years as climate changes suggest more
frequent and more intense storms and disruptions across much of the
country.  There is so much left undone and so much yet to do. 

 

I consider it a positive step that today's item announces two new
regulations for carriers who fall under the Commission's jurisdiction. 
First, following the suggestion of the National Emergency Number
Association (NENA), all carriers of a certain size must now ensure the
availability of emergency/backup power in all their central offices. 
Second, they must file with the Commission an analysis of the
redundancy, resiliency, and dependability of their 911 facilities. 

 

            These requirements will help improve the nation's readiness
for the next disaster and I appreciate my colleagues' willingness to
make these measures mandatory. Their adoption represents recognition by
this Commission that we cannot rely exclusively on the workings of the
free market and the sometimes-too-sanguine assurances of industry when
it comes to assuring public safety.  I am pleased that we seem to be on
the cusp of realizing that a more proactive approach may be necessary.
 As Justice Frankfurter once observed, "Wisdom too often never comes,
and so one ought not to reject it merely because it comes late."[^1]  It
is important that the Commission is taking this up.

 

             But I also think that record that was developed was too
heavily skewed by the belief---I think the pernicious belief---that the
FCC either ***will*** ***not*** or ***should*** ***not*** take a lead
role in mandating network resiliency standards.  I simply cannot accept
this view.  The nation's experience with 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina
indicates to me that industry best practices and voluntary best efforts
are not by themselves always going to get the job done.  You don't have
to take my word for it.  The comments filed in this docket by St.
Tammany Parish, one of the Louisiana areas most devastated by Hurricane
Katrina, put it well:  "Regarding the question of whether to 'rely on
voluntary consensus or other measures for enhancing readiness and
promoting more effective response efforts' we encourage the Commission
to actively pursue positive results to the extent permitted.  Voluntary
consensus measures, while well intended, have fallen short many times." 
 

 

            I can't put it any better than that.  The individual
citizens who bore the brunt of Katrina's fury and the PSAPs who tried to
cope with it certainly understand that some things need to be done, and
done soon, and done on a mandatory basis if they are not going to be
voluntarily implemented.  These are the times when the Commission needs
to step in and make it happen.  Otherwise an effective system of public
safety will never be achieved.  So I hope that our willingness today to
implement mandatory actions will be the beginning of a broader and more
general reorientation of our approach to public safety issues.  I am
pleased we are beginning down this road and I hope we stay on it.  I
also hope and trust that the private sector realizes the public trust it
has been given to aid in the protection of our citizens.  The private
sector played a critical role in the aftermath of Katrina and Rita, and
still does, as it rebuilds the network infrastructure in that devastated
region.  The industry's continuing involvement in these efforts is
essential if government and industry together are going to be successful
next time. Our nation's citizens deserve, and expect, no less. Public
safety is not something nice to have---it is a national imperative and
the first obligation of all of us in this room as public servants.

 

Another role that I suggested for the Commission was to act as a
clearinghouse for ideas that can better prepare organizations of all
sizes for the next disaster.  I am talking here about the hundreds of
thousands of public safety agencies, hospitals, nursing homes,
charities, small businesses, and other organizations that lack the
resources to come up with self-generated, custom-built and fully-tested
disaster readiness plans.  Why should each of these groups have to start
from scratch and re-invent the public safety wheel?  Wouldn't it be far
better if they could come to the FCC to learn about what has worked for
other organizations and what hasn't?  After all, learning that your
disaster plan doesn't work in the middle of a disaster is emphatically
***not*** the right time to make that discovery.  The technologies and
protocols that organizations rely upon in a crisis need to work every
time.

 

           Today's item instructs the Commission's new Public Safety and
Homeland Security Bureau---under its new Bureau Chief, Derek Poarch---to
take the lead role in building such a clearinghouse.  As I have noted
many times before, this is where the Commission should have gone six
years ago, right after 9/11.  I commend Chairman Martin's willingness to
take a leadership role in this critically important area and I applaud
his efforts to initiate processes that will hopefully put this agency in
the forefront of communications readiness planning, exactly where it
belongs. 

 

            As with all public safety initiatives, the proof will be in
the pudding.  In the weeks and months ahead, our new Bureau and Chief
are tasked with developing readiness checklists for each industry
sector; awareness programs on alternative technologies such as satellite
and paging systems, Wi-Fi, and WiMAX; and outreach programs for
emergency medical and other communities.  It will require significant
resources to realize these and many other objectives, such as developing
and publicizing a first-rate website that communicates the Commission's
latest learning on how to prepare for disasters. Commission outreach is
so central to all this and I am pleased that the Bureau will issue
regular reports detailing our outreach activities.  I, for one, will be
monitoring these reports closely to assure myself that the Bureau is
doing everything that it can to reach those who can benefit from the
FCC's research, experience and programs.  I urge Chief Poarch to be
aggressive in this task---to become a tireless advocate and proselytizer
on this issue.  It was never my idea that we would settle for rebuilding
a communications system that was taken down by Katrina---a terrible
storm, to be sure, but far less devastating than a direct hit from a
Category 5 hurricane would have been.  The good citizens of New Orleans
and the Gulf Coast have a right to expect, and should settle for no
less, than the best and most up-to-date communications systems that our
country can provide.

 

            So I vote to approve this item as a step along the way, but
just a step, holding out the prospect of continuing commitment to see
the job through and to deploy the full decision-making authority of this
Commission to make it happen.  Thanks to the Bureau, all the commenters,
our hard-working bureau and staffs, and my colleagues for their efforts
here.

[^1]: *Henslee v. Union Planters Nat. Bank & Trust Co.*, 335 U.S. 595,
    600 (1949) (Frankfurter, J., dissenting).