I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5556 

To establish a unified national hazard alert system, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 8, 2006 

Mr. SHIMKUS (for himself, Mr. WYNN, Mrs. BONO, Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania, and Mr. MELANCON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to 

the Committee on Science, 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 a unified national hazard alert system, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Warning, Alert, and 

5 Response Network Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NATIONAL ALERT SYSTEM. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a vol8 untary National Alert System to provide a public commu9 nications system capable of alerting the public on a naVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:26 Jun 10, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5556.IH H5556

jcorcoran on PROD1PC62 with BILLS
2 

•HR 5556 IH

1 tional, regional, or local basis to emergency situations re2 quiring a public response. 

3 (b) FUNCTIONS.—The National Alert System— 

4 (1) will enable any Federal, State, tribal, or 

5 local government official with credentials issued by 

6 the National Alert Office under section 103 to alert 

7 the public to any imminent threat that presents a 

8 significant risk of injury or death to the public; 

9 (2) will be coordinated with and supplement ex10 isting Federal, State, tribal, and local emergency 

11 warning and alert systems; 

12 (3) will be flexible enough in its application to 

13 permit narrowly targeted alerts in circumstances in 

14 which only a small geographic area is exposed or po15 tentially exposed to the threat; and 

16 (4) will transmit alerts across the greatest pos17 sible variety of communications technologies, includ18 ing digital and analog broadcasts, cable and satellite 

19 television, satellite and terrestrial radio, wireless 

20 communications, wireline communications, and the 

21 Internet to reach the largest portion of the affected 

22 population. 

23 (c) CAPABILITIES.—The National Alert System— 

24 (1) shall incorporate multiple communications 

25 technologies and be designed to adapt to, and incorVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:26 Jun 10, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5556.IH H5556

jcorcoran on PROD1PC62 with BILLS
3 

•HR 5556 IH

1 porate, future technologies for communicating di2 rectly with the public; 

3 (2) may not interfere with existing alert, warn4 ing, priority access, or emergency communications 

5 systems employed by Federal, State, tribal, or local 

6 emergency response personnel and shall incorporate 

7 existing emergency alert technologies, including the 

8 NOAA All-Hazards Radio System, digital and ana9 log broadcast, cable, and satellite television and sat10 ellite and terrestrial radio; and 

11 (3) shall not be based upon any single tech12 nology or platform, but shall be designed to provide 

13 alerts to the largest portion of the affected popu14 lation feasible and improve the ability of remote 

15 areas to receive alerts. 

16 (d) RECEPTION OF ALERTS.—The National Alert 

17 System shall— 

18 (1) utilize multiple technologies for providing 

19 alerts to the public, including technologies that do 

20 not require members of the public to activate a par21 ticular device or use a particular technology to re22 ceive an alert provided via the National Alert Sys23 tem; and 

24 (2) provide redundant alert mechanisms where 

25 practicable so as to reach the greatest number of 


jcorcoran on PROD1PC62 with BILLS
4 

•HR 5556 IH

1 people regardless of whether they have access to, or 

2 utilize, any specific medium of communication or 

3 any particular device. 

4 SEC. 3. IMPLEMENTATION AND USE. 

5 (a) AUTHORITY TO ACCESS SYSTEM.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The National Alert Office 

7 shall establish a process for issuing credentials to 

8 Federal, State, tribal, or local government officials 

9 with responsibility for issuing safety warnings to the 

10 public that will enable them to access the National 

11 Alert System. 

12 (2) REQUESTS FOR CREDENTIALS.—Requests 

13 for credentials from Federal, State, tribal, and local 

14 government agencies shall be submitted to the Office 

15 by the head of the Federal department or agency, or 

16 the governor of the State or the elected leader of a 

17 Federally recognized Indian tribe, concerned, for re18 view and approval. 

19 (3) SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF CREDEN20 TIALS.—The Office shall— 

21 (A) establish eligibility criteria for issuing, 

22 renewing, and revoking access credentials; 

23 (B) limit credentials to appropriate geo24 graphic areas or political jurisdictions; and 


jcorcoran on PROD1PC62 with BILLS
5 

•HR 5556 IH

1 (C) ensure that the credentials permit use 

2 of the National Alert System only for alerts 

3 that are consistent with the jurisdiction, author4 ity, and basis for eligibility of the individual to 

5 whom the credentials are issued to use the Na6 tional Alert System. 

7 (4) PERIODIC TRAINING.—The Office shall— 

8 (A) establish a periodic training program 

9 for Federal, State, tribal, or local government 

10 officials with credentials to use the National 

11 Alert System; and 

12 (B) require such officials to undergo peri13 odic training under the program as a pre14 requisite for retaining their credentials to use 

15 the system. 

16 (b) ALLOWABLE ALERTS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any alert transmitted via 

18 the National Alert System, other than an alert de19 scribed in paragraph (3), shall meet 1 or more of 

20 the following requirements: 

21 (A) An alert shall notify the public of a 

22 hazardous situation that poses an imminent 

23 threat to the public health or safety. 

24 (B) An alert shall provide appropriate in25 structions for actions to be taken by individuals 


jcorcoran on PROD1PC62 with BILLS
6 

•HR 5556 IH

1 affected or potentially affected by such a situa2 tion. 

3 (C) An alert shall transmit public address4 es by Federal, State, tribal, or local officials 

5 when necessary. 

6 (D) An alert shall notify the public of 

7 when the hazardous situation has ended or has 

8 been brought under control. 

9 (2) EVENT ELIGIBILITY REGULATIONS.—The 

10 director of the National Alert Office, in consultation 

11 with the Working Group, shall by regulation speci12 fy— 

13 (A) the classes of events or situations for 

14 which the National Alert System may be used 

15 to alert the public; and 

16 (B) the content of the types of alerts that 

17 may be transmitted by or through use of the 

18 National Alert System, which may include— 

19 (i) notifications to the public of a haz20 ardous situation that poses an imminent 

21 threat to the public health or safety accom22 panied by appropriate instructions for ac23 tions to be taken by individuals affected or 

24 potentially affected by such a situation; 

25 and 


jcorcoran on PROD1PC62 with BILLS
7 

•HR 5556 IH

1 (ii) when technologically feasible pub2 lic addresses by Federal, State, tribal, or 

3 local officials if necessary. 

4 (c) ACCESS POINTS.—The National Alert System 

5 shall provide— 

6 (1) secure, widely dispersed multiple access 

7 points to Federal, State, or local government offi8 cials with credentials that will enable them to ini9 tiate alerts for transmission to the public via the 

10 National Alert System; and 

11 (2) system redundancies to ensure functionality 

12 in the event of partial system failures, power fail13 ures, or other interruptive events. 

14 (d) ELECTION TO CARRY SERVICE.— 

15 (1) AMENDMENT OF LICENSE.—Within 60 days 

16 after the date on which the National Alert Office 

17 adopts relevant technical standards based on rec18 ommendations of the Working Group, the Federal 

19 Communications Commission shall initiate a pro20 ceeding and subsequently issue an order— 

21 (A) to allow any licensee providing com22 mercial mobile service (as defined in section 

23 332(d)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934 

24 (47 U.S.C. 332(d)(1))) to transmit National 


jcorcoran on PROD1PC62 with BILLS
8 

•HR 5556 IH

1 Alert System alerts to all subscribers to, or 

2 users of, such service; and 

3 (B) to require any such licensee who elects 

4 under paragraph (2) not to participate in the 

5 transmission of National Alert System alerts, to 

6 provide clear and conspicuous notice at the 

7 point of sale of any devices with which its serv8 ice is included, that it will not transmit Na9 tional Alert System alerts via its service. 

10 (2) ELECTION TO CARRY SERVICE.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—Within 30 days after 

12 the Commission issues its order under para13 graph (1), each such licensee shall file an elec14 tion with the Commission with respect to 

15 whether or not it intends to participate in the 

16 transmission of National Alert System alerts. 

17 (B) PARTICIPATION.—If a licensee elects 

18 to participate in the transmission of National 

19 Alert System alerts, the licensee shall certify to 

20 the National Alert Office that it will participate 

21 in a manner consistent with the standards and 

22 protocols implemented by the National Alert 

23 Office. 

24 (C) ADVERTISING.—Nothing in this Act 

25 shall be construed to prevent a licensee from 


jcorcoran on PROD1PC62 with BILLS
9 

•HR 5556 IH

1 advertising that it participates in the trans2 mission of National Alert System alerts. 

3 (D) WITHDRAWAL FROM OR LATER ENTRY

4 INTO SYSTEM.—The Commission shall establish 

5 a procedure for— 

6 (i) participating licensees to withdraw 

7 from the National Alert System upon noti8 fication of its withdrawal to its existing 

9 subscribers; and 

10 (ii) licensees to enter the National 

11 Alert System at a date later than provided 

12 in subparagraph (A). 

13 (E) CONSUMER CHOICE TECHNOLOGY.— 

14 Any licensee electing to participate in the trans15 mission of National Alert System alerts may 

16 offer subscribers the capability of preventing 

17 the subscriber’s device from receiving alerts 

18 broadcast by the system other than an alert 

19 issued by the President. 

20 (e) DIGITAL TELEVISION TRANSMISSION TOWERS.— 

21 (1) RETRANSMISSION CAPABILITY.—Within 30 

22 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

23 Federal Communications Commission shall initiate a 

24 proceeding to require public broadcast television li25 censees and permittees to install necessary equipVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:26 Jun 10, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5556.IH H5556

jcorcoran on PROD1PC62 with BILLS
10 

•HR 5556 IH

1 ment and technologies on, or as part of, any broad2 cast television digital signal transmitter to enable 

3 the transmitter to serve as a backbone for the recep4 tion, relay, and retransmission of National Alert 

5 System alerts. 

6 (2) COMPENSATION.—The National Alert Office 

7 established by section 104 shall compensate any 

8 such licensee or permittee for costs incurred in com9 plying with the requirements imposed pursuant to 

10 paragraph (1). 

11 (f) FCC REGULATION OF COMPLIANCE.—Except as 

12 provided in subsections (d) and (e), the Federal Commu13 nications Commission shall have no regulatory authority 

14 under this Act except to regulate compliance with this Act 

15 by licensees and permittees regulated by the Commission 

16 under the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 

17 et seq.). 

18 (g) LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.—Any person that 

19 participates in the transmission of National Alert System 

20 alerts and that meets its obligations under this Act shall 

21 not be liable to any subscriber to, or user of, such person’s 

22 service or equipment— 

23 (1) for any act or omission related to or any 

24 harm resulting from the transmission of, or failure 


jcorcoran on PROD1PC62 with BILLS
11 

•HR 5556 IH

1 to transmit, a National Alert System alert to such 

2 subscriber or user; or 

3 (2) for the release to a government agency or 

4 entity, public safety, fire service, law enforcement of5 ficial, or emergency facility of subscriber information 

6 used in connection with delivering an alert. 

7 (h) TESTING.—The director shall establish testing 

8 criteria and guidelines for licensees that elect to partici9 pate in the transmission of National Alert System alerts. 

10 SEC. 4. NATIONAL ALERT OFFICE. 

11 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The National Alert Office is 

13 established within the National Telecommunications 

14 and Information Administration. 

15 (2) DIRECTOR.—The office shall be headed by 

16 a director with at least 5 years’ operational experi17 ence in the management and issuance of warnings 

18 and alerts, hazardous event management, or disaster 

19 planning. 

20 (3) STAFF.—The office shall have a staff with 

21 significant technical expertise in the communications 

22 industry. The director may request the detailing, 

23 with or without reimbursement, of staff from any 

24 appropriate Federal department or agency in order 

25 to ensure that the concerns of all such departments 


jcorcoran on PROD1PC62 with BILLS
12 

•HR 5556 IH

1 and agencies are incorporated into the daily oper2 ation of the National Alert System. 

3 (b) FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Office shall administer, 

5 operate, and manage the National Alert System. 

6 (2) IMPLEMENTATION OF WORKING GROUP

7 RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Office shall be respon8 sible for implementing the recommendations of the 

9 Working Group established by section 105 regard10 ing— 

11 (A) the technical transmission of alerts; 

12 (B) the incorporation of new technologies 

13 into the National Alert System; 

14 (C) the technical capabilities of the Na15 tional Alert System; and 

16 (D) any other matters that fall within the 

17 duties of the Working Group. 

18 (3) TRANSMISSION OF ALERTS.—In administering 

19 the National Alert System, the director of the National 

20 Alert Office shall ensure that— 

21 (A) the National Alert System is available to, 

22 and enables, only Federal, State, tribal, or local gov23 ernment officials with credentials issued by the Na24 tional Alert Office under section 103 to access and 

25 utilize the National Alert System; 


jcorcoran on PROD1PC62 with BILLS
13 

•HR 5556 IH

1 (B) the National Alert System is capable of 

2 providing geographically targeted alerts where such 

3 alerts are appropriate; 

4 (C) the legitimacy and authenticity of any prof5 fered alert is verified before it is transmitted; 

6 (D) each proffered alert complies with formats, 

7 protocols, and other requirements established by the 

8 Office to ensure the efficacy and usefulness of alerts 

9 transmitted via the National Alert System; 

10 (E) the security and integrity of a National 

11 Alert System alert from the point of origination to 

12 delivery is maintained; and 

13 (F) the security and integrity of the National 

14 Alert System is maintained and protected. 

15 (c) REPORTS.— 

16 (1) ANNUAL REPORTS.—The director shall sub17 mit an annual report to the Senate Committee on 

18 Commerce, Science, and Transportation, the House 

19 of Representatives Committee on Energy and Com20 merce, and the House of Representatives Committee 

21 on Science on the status of, and plans for, the Na22 tional Alert System. In the first annual report, the 

23 director shall report on— 


jcorcoran on PROD1PC62 with BILLS
14 

•HR 5556 IH

1 (A) the progress made toward operational 

2 activation of the alerting capabilities of the Na3 tional Alert System; and 

4 (B) the anticipated date on which the Na5 tional Alert System will be available for utiliza6 tion by Federal, State, and local officials. 

7 (2) 5-YEAR PLAN.—Within 1 year after the 

8 date of enactment of this Act and every 5 years 

9 thereafter, the director shall publish a 5-year plan 

10 that outlines future capabilities and communications 

11 platforms for the National Alert System. The plan 

12 shall serve as the long-term planning document for 

13 the Office. 

14 (d) GAO AUDITS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General 

16 shall audit the National Alert Office every 2 years 

17 after the date of enactment of this Act and transmit 

18 the findings thereof to the Senate Committee on 

19 Commerce, Science, and Transportation, the House 

20 of Representatives Committee on Energy and Com21 merce, and the House of Representatives Committee 

22 on Science. 

23 (2) RESPONSE REPORT.—If, as a result of the 

24 audit, the Comptroller General expresses concern 

25 about any matter addressed by the audit, the direcVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:26 Jun 10, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5556.IH H5556

jcorcoran on PROD1PC62 with BILLS
15 

•HR 5556 IH

1 tor of the National Alert Office shall transmit a re2 port to the Senate Committee on Commerce, 

3 Science, and Transportation, the House of Rep4 resentatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, 

5 and the House of Representatives Committee on 

6 Science describing what action, if any, the director 

7 is taking to respond to any such concern. 

8 SEC. 5. NATIONAL ALERT SYSTEM WORKING GROUP. 

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 60 days after 

10 the date of enactment of this Act, the director of the Na11 tional Alert Office shall establish a working group, to be 

12 known as the National Alert System Working Group. 

13 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

14 (1) APPOINTMENT; CHAIR.—The director shall 

15 appoint the members of the Working Group as soon 

16 as practicable after the date of enactment of this 

17 Act and shall serve as its chair. In appointing mem18 bers of the Working Group, the director shall ensure 

19 that the number of members appointed under para20 graph (5) provides appropriate and adequate rep21 resentation for all stakeholders and interested and 

22 affected parties. 

23 (2) FEDERAL AGENCY REPRESENTATIVES.— 

24 The director shall appoint appropriate personnel 

25 from the National Institute of Standards and TechVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:26 Jun 10, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5556.IH H5556

jcorcoran on PROD1PC62 with BILLS
16 

•HR 5556 IH

1 nology, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad2 ministration, the Federal Communications Commis3 sion, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 

4 the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the De5 partment of Justice to serve as members of the 

6 Working Group. The director may also appoint rep7 resentatives of other appropriate Federal agencies to 

8 serve as members of the Working Group. 

9 (3) STATE, LOCAL, AND TRIBAL GOVERNMENT

10 REPRESENTATIVES.—The director shall appoint rep11 resentatives of State, local, and tribal governments 

12 and representatives of emergency services personnel, 

13 selected from among individuals nominated by na14 tional organizations representing such governments 

15 and personnel, to serve as members of the Working 

16 Group. 

17 (4) SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS.—The director 

18 shall appoint individuals who have the requisite tech19 nical knowledge and expertise to assist the Working 

20 Group in the fulfillment of its duties, including rep21 resentatives of— 

22 (A) communications service providers; 

23 (B) vendors, developers, and manufactur24 ers of systems, facilities; equipment, and capaVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:11 Jun 11, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5556.IH H5556

jcorcoran on PROD1PC62 with BILLS
17 

•HR 5556 IH

1 bilities for the provision of communications 

2 services; 

3 (C) third-party service bureaus; 

4 (D) the national organization representing 

5 the licensees and permittees of noncommercial 

6 broadcast television stations; and 

7 (E) other individuals with technical exper8 tise that would enhance the National Alert Sys9 tem. 

10 (c) DUTIES OF THE WORKING GROUP.— 

11 (1) DEVELOPMENT OF SYSTEM-CRITICAL REC12 OMMENDATIONS.—Within 1 year after the date of 

13 enactment of this Act, the Working Group shall de14 velop and transmit to the National Alert Office rec15 ommendations for— 

16 (A) protocols, including formats, source or 

17 originator identification, threat severity, hazard 

18 description, and response requirements or rec19 ommendations, for alerts to be transmitted via 

20 the National Alert System that ensures that 

21 alerts are capable of being utilized across the 

22 broadest variety of communication technologies, 

23 at National, State, and local levels; 


jcorcoran on PROD1PC62 with BILLS
18 

•HR 5556 IH

1 (B) procedures for verifying, initiating, 

2 modifying, and canceling alerts transmitted via 

3 the National Alert System; 

4 (C) guidelines for the technical capabilities 

5 of the National Alert System; 

6 (D) guidelines for technical capability that 

7 provides for the priority transmission of Na8 tional Alert System alerts; 

9 (E) guidelines for other capabilities of the 

10 National Alert System as specified in this Act; 

11 and 

12 (F) standards for equipment and tech13 nologies used by the National Alert System. 

14 (2) INTEGRATION OF EMERGENCY AND NA15 TIONAL ALERT SYSTEMS.—The Working Group shall 

16 work with the operators of nuclear power plants and 

17 other critical infrastructure facilities to integrate 

18 emergency alert systems for those facilities with the 

19 National Alert System. 

20 (d) MEETINGS.— 

21 (1) INITIAL MEETING.—The initial meeting of 

22 the Working Group shall take place not later than 

23 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 


jcorcoran on PROD1PC62 with BILLS
19 

•HR 5556 IH

1 (2) OTHER MEETINGS.—After the initial meet2 ing, the Working Group shall meet at the call of the 

3 chair. 

4 (3) NOTICE; OPEN MEETINGS.—Any meetings 

5 held by the Working Group shall be duly noticed at 

6 least 14 days in advance and shall be open to the 

7 public. 

8 (e) RESOURCES.— 

9 (1) FEDERAL AGENCIES.—The Working Group 

10 shall have reasonable access to— 

11 (A) materials, resources, data, and other 

12 information from the National Institute of 

13 Standards and Technology, the Department of 

14 Commerce and its agencies, the Department of 

15 Homeland Security and its bureaus, and the 

16 Federal Communications Commission; and 

17 (B) the facilities of any such agency for 

18 purposes of conducting meetings. 

19 (2) GIFTS AND GRANTS.—The Working Group 

20 may accept, use, and dispose of gifts or grants of 

21 services or property, both real and personal, for pur22 poses of aiding or facilitating the work of the Work23 ing Group. Gifts or grants not used at the expiration 

24 of the Working Group shall be returned to the donor 

25 or grantor. 


jcorcoran on PROD1PC62 with BILLS
20 

•HR 5556 IH

1 (f) RULES.— 

2 (1) QUORUM.—One-third of the members of the 

3 Working Group shall constitute a quorum for con4 ducting business of the Working Group. 

5 (2) SUBCOMMITTEES.—To assist the Working 

6 Group in carrying out its functions, the chair may 

7 establish appropriate subcommittees composed of 

8 members of the Working Group and other subject 

9 matter experts as deemed necessary. 

10 (3) ADDITIONAL RULES.—The Working Group 

11 may adopt other rules as needed. 

12 (g) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT.—Neither 

13 the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) nor 

14 any rule, order, or regulation promulgated under that Act 

15 shall apply to the Working Group. 

16 SEC. 6. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The director shall establish an ex18 tramural research and development program to support 

19 the development of technology that will enable all existing 

20 and future providers of communications services and all 

21 existing and future communications devices to be utilized 

22 effectively with the National Alert System. 

23 (b) FUNCTIONS.—In carrying out subsection (a) the 

24 director shall— 


jcorcoran on PROD1PC62 with BILLS
21 

•HR 5556 IH

1 (1) fund research and development which may 

2 include academia, the private sector, and govern3 ment laboratories; and 

4 (2) ensure that the program addresses, at a 

5 minimum— 

6 (A) developing innovative technologies that 

7 will transmit geographically targeted emergency 

8 messages to the public; 

9 (B) enhancing participation in the national 

10 alert system; 

11 (C) understanding and improving public 

12 response to warnings; and 

13 (D) enhancing the ability of local commu14 nities to integrate the National Alert System 

15 into their overall operations management. 

16 (c) USE OF EXISTING PROGRAMS AND RE17 SOURCES.—In developing the program, the director shall 

18 utilize existing programs and expertise of the Department 

19 of Commerce, including the National Institute of Stand20 ards and Technology. 

21 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this Act: 

23 (1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘director’’ means 

24 the director of the National Alert Office. 


jcorcoran on PROD1PC62 with BILLS
22 

•HR 5556 IH

1 (2) OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Office’’ means the 

2 National Alert Office established by section 4. 

3 (3) NATIONAL ALERT SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘Na4 tional Alert System’’ means the National Alert Sys5 tem established by section 2. 

6 (4) WORKING GROUP.—The term ‘‘Working 

7 Group’’ means the National Alert System Working 

8 Group on the established under section 5. 

9 SEC. 8. FUNDING. 

10 (a) FUNDING.—Funding for this Act shall be pro11 vided from the Digital Transition and Public Safety Fund 

12 in accordance with section 3010 of the Deficit Reduction 

13 Act of 2005. 

14 (b) CREDIT.—The Assistant Secretary for Commu15 nications and Information of the Department of Com16 merce may borrow from the Treasury beginning on Octo17 ber 1, 2006, such sums as may be necessary, but not to 

18 exceed $106,000,000, to implement this section. The As19 sistant Secretary shall reimburse the Treasury, without in20 terest, as funds are deposited into the Digital Television 

21 Transition and Public Safety Fund. 

Æ 


jcorcoran on PROD1PC62 with BILLS