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 The  Importance  of  Telecom  in  Indian  Country  -  ITI  Activities  and  Outreach 
 Good  afternoon.  Thank  you  for  the  opportunity  to  join  you  for  this  historic  event. 
 Today,  we  recognize  the  importance  of  protecting  sacred  and  cultural  resources.  We  also 
 acknowledge  the  important  opportunities  that  telecommunications  services  can  bring  to 
 Indian  Country.  Telecommunications  is  a  powerful  tool  that  provides  opportunities  to 
 improve  learning,  rural  health  care,  public  safety,  and  the  operations  of  government. 
 Throughout  the  FCCs  visits  to  Indian  Country,  we  have  seen  how  dedicated  and 
 resourceful  Tribes  have  developed  innovative  applications  to  address  their  specific  needs. 
 Telecommunications  also  can  be  used  to  meet  important  homeland  security  and  public 
 safety  objectives,  and  to  connect  governments  and  communities. 
 Last  summer,  while  touring  the  Navajo  and  Hopi  reservations,  my  staff  learned 
 how  the  Tribes  are  working  together,  and  with  state  officials,  to  promote  the 
 interoperability  of  wireless  public  safety  communications  systems.  And  recently,  I 
 personally  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  how  the  Southern  California  Tribal  Chairmans 
 Association  has  deployed  innovative  wireless  technologies  to  connect  their  tribal 
 governments  and  members  through  its  virtual  Tribal  Digital  Village. 
 Innovative  telecommunications  products  and  services  appear  almost  daily    VoIP, 
 digital  TV,  smart  radio,  and  wireless  applications  just  to  name  a  few.  Indian  Country 
 must  be  a  part  of  this  technological  revolution.  Information  technology  and  access  to 
 telecommunications  as  a  means  of  economic  empowerment  is  essential  to  the  future 
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 growth  and  strengthening  of  tribal  life    bringing  significant  benefits  to  Tribal  financial, 
 social,  political,  healthcare  and  educational  systems. 
 The  FCC  is  committed  to  working  with  the  Tribes  to  bring  these  services  to 
 Indian  Country.  Through  the  FCCs  Indian  Telecommunications  Initiatives  (or  ITI), 
 the  FCC  seeks  to  foster  understanding,  cooperation  and  most  importantly,  trust.  Working 
 together    American  Indians  and  tribal  organizations,  the  telecommunications  industry 
 and  the  FCC    we  can  tackle  the  difficult  issue  of  increasing  access  to  critical 
 telecommunications  services,  and  improving  the  quality  of  life,  in  Indian  Country.  In  the 
 last  year,  we  have  engaged  in  more  consultation  on  FCC  regulatory  matters  and  spent 
 more  time  in  Indian  Country  than  ever  before.  I  am  pleased  to  say  that  we  are  seeing  the 
 benefits  of  these  efforts    through  greater  Tribal  input  and  collaboration. 
 Over  the  last  year,  Commissioners  and  FCC  staff  have  traveled  from  the  Alaska 
 villages  to  the  North  Plains  prairie,  from  the  Southwest  Canyons  and  Mesas  to  the 
 Plateaus  of  the  Northwest.  We  have  taken  the  FCC  on  the  road  to  Indian  Country  and  we 
 are  listening  and  learning  all  along  the  way. 
 The  Memorandum  of  Understanding 
 The  Memorandum  of  Understanding  (MoU)  that  President  George  and  I  will  be 
 signing  in  a  few  minutes  marks  a  significant  event  in  the  history  of  the  FCC,  and  its 
 growing  relationship  with  the  Tribes  of  this  great  nation.  In  the  seventy  year  history  of 
 the  FCC,  this  is  the  first  agreement  of  its  kind  that  the  Commission  has  entered  into  with 
 American  Indian  Tribes. 
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 The  MoU  was  developed  in  the  context  of  our  government-  to-  government 
 relationship  to  achieve  an  important  goal    to  protect  sacred  and  cultural  tribal  resources, 
 while  facilitating  the  deployment  of  wireless  and  broadcast  services  to  all  Americans. 
 Through  this  Memorandum  of  Understanding  we  recognize  the  importance  of  the  trust 
 relationship  we  share  and  collectively  affirm  that  there  is  strength  in  unity.  This  guiding 
 principle,  which  has  served  USET  so  well  since  its  inception  in  1968,  stands  as  an 
 important  lesson  for  the  Commission  as  well.  Working  together,  through  our  mutually 
 respectful  trust  relationship,  I  remain  confident  we  can  and  will  achieve  critical 
 objectives. 
 I  want  to  thank  Chairman  George  and  Vice  Chairman  Tullis,  and  the 
 distinguished  members  of  USETs  Cultural  and  Heritage  Committee,  for  their  leadership 
 in  this  effort.  I  also  want  to  thank  USET  Executive  Director  Tim  Martin  for  his  tireless 
 efforts  to  help  make  this  agreement  a  reality.  In  addition,  Id  like  to  acknowledge  my 
 staff  from  the  Consumer  &  Governmental  Affairs  and  Wireless  Telecommunications 
 Bureaus  for  their  ceaseless  and  hard  work.  I  hope  that  these  discussions  and  the 
 agreement  we  sign  here  today  is  just  the  beginning  of  a  long  and  fruitful  relationship 
 between  the  FCC  and  the  member  Tribes  of  USET. 
 NHPA  &  NEPA  Compliance  A  Critical  Issue  for  both  the  FCC  and  USET 
 The  Communications  Act  emphasizes  the  broad  purposes  behind  the  creation  of  a 
 federal  agency  to  regulate  communications:  to  ensure  that  everyone,  regardless  of  income 
 or  location,  has  access  to  basic  and  advanced  telecommunications  services,  which  today 
 are  no  longer  a  luxury,  but  a  necessity.  In  the  context  of  wireless  services,  this 
 necessarily  means  the  deployment  of  wireless  infrastructure  to  support  nationwide, 
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 ubiquitous  wireless  communications.  The  FCC  is  committed  to  making  this  nationwide 
 system  a  reality  in  Indian  Country  as  well. 
 At  the  same  time,  the  FCC  is  responsible  for  implementing  the  provisions  of  the 
 National  Historic  Preservation  Act  (NHPA),  the  seminal  law  for  protecting  properties  of 
 religious  and  cultural  importance  to  Tribes  listed  in  or  eligible  for  listing  in  the  National 
 Register  of  Historic  Places,  and  the  National  Environmental  Policy  Act  (NEPA),  the 
 basic  national  charter  for  protection  of  our  environment.  In  recognition  of  the  importance 
 of  deploying  communications  services  consistent  with  the  mandates  of  these  Acts,  I 
 directed  Commission  staff  to  develop  the  agencys  first  comprehensive  strategic  plan  to 
 improve  our  ability  to  protect  valuable  historic  and  environmental  resources,  while  at  the 
 same  time  accelerating  the  process  of  deploying  necessary  communications 
 infrastructure.  Although  the  Commissions  statutory  obligations  had  been  longstanding,  I 
 concluded  that  the  expanding  need  for  telecommunications  infrastructure  required  the 
 Commission  to  take  a  more  proactive  approach  to  these  issues.  Today,  I  am  pleased  to 
 announce  significant  progress  on  several  key  initiatives  of  that  plan. 
 First,  representatives  of  the  FCC,  the  Advisory  Council  on  Historic  Preservation, 
 the  National  Conference  of  State  Historic  Preservation  Officers  and  several  Tribes  have 
 met  over  the  past  year  and  a  half  to  create  a  draft  Nationwide  Programmatic  Agreement. 
 We  have  focused  on  streamlining  the  review  process  for  communications  facilities  in  a 
 manner  satisfactory  to  all  of  the  stakeholders.  We  initiated  a  rulemaking  seeking 
 comment  on  a  draft  Nationwide  Programmatic  Agreement  aimed  at  improving 
 compliance  with  the  review  process  while  at  the  same  time  advancing  and  preserving  the 
 goal  of  the  NHPA  to  protect  historic  properties,  including  historic  properties  to  which 
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 federally  recognized  Indian  Tribes  and  Native  Hawaiian  Organizations  attach  religious 
 and  cultural  significance.  In  this  process,  the  Commission  took  affirmative  steps  to 
 stimulate  and  invite  consultation  with  Tribes  to  ensure  that  their  concerns  were  a  part  of 
 the  decision-  making  process.  This  rulemaking  is  in  its  final  stages  and  has  benefited 
 greatly  from  the  consultation  and  comment  of  Tribes  and  tribal  organizations,  including 
 USET. 
 Second,  today,  the  Commission  is  announcing  the  launch  of  a  newly  developed 
 internet-  based  Tower  Construction  Notification  System.  The  system  is  aimed  at 
 providing  an  efficient  and  effective  means  by  which  the  tower  construction  industry  can 
 inform  tribal  and  other  cultural  preservation  representatives  of  proposed  tower 
 construction  sites.  The  Tower  Construction  Notification  System  provides  Tribes  an 
 opportunity  to  identify  particular  geographic  areas  of  cultural  sensitivity  in  a  secure 
 environment.  By  receiving  early  notification  of  proposed  construction,  situations  where 
 towers  are  constructed  prior  to  completion  of  the  Section  106  process  should  be  avoided, 
 ensuring  protection  of  religious  and  culturally  significant  tribal  historic  properties.  We 
 emphasize  to  users  of  the  Tower  Construction  Notification  System  that  the  system  is  a 
 tool  to  facilitate  Section  106  communications.  However,  I  must  stress  that  the  Tower 
 Construction  Notification  System  is  not  to  be  used  in  place  of  Section  106  consultation. 
 The  FCC  will  consult  on  a  government-  to-  government  basis  with  federally-  recognized 
 Tribes,  and  will  consult  directly  with  any  Tribes  or  National  Historic  Officers  upon 
 learning  of  such  a  request. 
 Tribes  will  be  able  to  access  the  proposed  tower  construction  system  as  of  today, 
 February  3.  During  the  following  30  days,  you  will  be  able  to  update  or  change  your 
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 contact  information  and  your  geographic  areas  of  interest  before  the  FCC  begins  to  send 
 notifications.  During  the  first  week  of  March,  2004,  the  Commission  will  send  out  its 
 first  electronic  and  regular  mail  notifications  for  any  proposed  tower  construction 
 notifications  that  were  received  since  February  3.  Only  State  Historic  Preservation 
 Officers,  Tribes  and  NHOs,  as  authorized  system  users,  will  have  access  to  the 
 information  relating  to  proposed  tower  construction  sites.  Once  again,  USET  played  a 
 leadership  role  in  the  development  of  this  system. 
 Today,  we  begin  a  comprehensive  outreach  campaign  to  educate  industry  and  all 
 562  federally  recognized  Tribes  about  the  tower  notification  system.  We  enlist  your 
 support  in  this  effort  and  encourage  you  to  use  the  system  fully  so  that  we  can  all  benefit. 
 Third  and  perhaps  most  importantly,  today  we  sign  the  historic  Memorandum  of 
 Understanding  I  mentioned  at  the  outset.  This  signing  is  the  culmination  of  our  joint 
 work  over  the  past  year.  It  commits  our  two  organizations  to  continue  to  work  to  finalize 
 a  set  of  Best  Practices  that  will  serve  as  guidance  to  the  FCC,  industry,  and  Tribes  on 
 how  to  work  together  in  the  Section  106  communications  facilities  siting  process. 
 These  best  practices  are  being  developed  in  the  truest  sense  of  the  government-  to-government 
 relationship    across  the  table  from  each  other,  shirt  sleeves  rolled  up  to 
 tackle  difficult  issues  in  a  mutually  respectful  manner.  A  willingness  to  listen  and  a  spirit 
 of  compromise  are  the  foundations  of  these  consultative  discussions.  As  a  result,  I  have 
 every  confidence  that  the  best  practices  we  agree  upon  will  offer  well-  crafted  and  unique 
 solutions  that  address  the  concerns  of  the  Tribes,  the  telecommunication  Industry  and  the 
 Commission. 
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 I  offer  my  highest  commendation  to  USET  for  its  outstanding  leadership  and  your 
 dedication  and  commitment  to  the  process.  It  is  indeed  my  honor  and  my  privilege  to 
 sign  this  document  on  behalf  of  the  FCC.  You  have  my  firm  and  unyielding  commitment 
 to  devote  the  staff  and  the  resources  of  the  Agency  to  completing  this  important  task. 
 Im  honored  to  be  with  you  and  honored  to  be  your  friend.  Thank  you. 
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