II 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2820

To ensure the availability of certain spectrum for public safety entities by 

amending the Communications Act of 1934 to establish January 1, 

2009, as the date by which the transition to digital television shall 

be completed, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 21, 2004

Mr. MCCAIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL

To ensure the availability of certain spectrum for public 

safety entities by amending the Communications Act of 

1934 to establish January 1, 2009, as the date by which 

the transition to digital television shall be completed, 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Spectrum Availability for Emergency-Response and Law6 Enforcement To Improve Vital Emergency Services Act’’ 

7 or the ‘‘SAVE LIVES Act’’. 
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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

2 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Setting a specific date for the availability of spectrum for public safety 

organizations and creating a deadline for the transition to digital television. 

Sec. 4. Studies of communications capabilities and needs. 

Sec. 5. Statutory authority for the Department of Homeland Security’s 

‘‘SAFECOM’’ program. 

Sec. 6. Grant program to provide enhanced interoperability of communications 

for first responders. 

Sec. 7. Digital transition public safety communications grant and consumer assistance fund. 

Sec. 8. Digital transition program. 

Sec. 9. Label requirement for analog television sets. 

Sec. 10. Report on consumer education program requirements. 

Sec. 11. FCC to issue decision in certain proceedings. 

Sec. 12. Definitions.

3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

4 The Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) In its final report, the 9–11 Commission ad6 vocated that Congress pass legislation providing for 

7 the expedited and increased assignment of radio 

8 spectrum for public safety purposes. The 9–11 Com9 mission stated that this spectrum was necessary to 

10 improve communications between local, State and 

11 Federal public safety organizations and public safety 

12 organizations operating in neighboring jurisdictions 

13 that may respond to an emergency in unison. 

14 (2) Specifically, the 9–11 Commission report 

15 stated ‘‘The inability to communicate was a critical 

16 element at the World Trade Center, Pentagon and 

17 Somerset County, Pennsylvania, crash sites, where 
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1 multiple agencies and multiple jurisdictions re2 sponded. The occurrence of this problem at three 

3 very different sites is strong evidence that compat4 ible and adequate communications among public 

5 safety organizations at the local, State, and Federal 

6 levels remains an important problem.’’. 

7 (3) In the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, the 

8 Congress directed the FCC to allocate spectrum cur9 rently being used by television broadcasters to public 

10 safety agencies to use for emergency communica11 tions. This spectrum has specific characteristics that 

12 make it an outstanding choice for emergency com13 munications because signals sent over these fre14 quencies are able to penetrate walls and travel great 

15 distances, and can assist multiple jurisdictions in de16 ploying interoperable communications systems. 

17 (4) This spectrum will not be fully available to 

18 public safety agencies until the completion of the 

19 digital television transition. The need for this spec20 trum is greater than ever. The Nation cannot risk 

21 further loss of life due to public safety agencies’ first 

22 responders’ inability to communicate effectively in 

23 the event of another terrorist act or other crisis, 

24 such as a hurricane, tornado, flood, or earthquake. 
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1 (5) In the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, Con2 gress set a date of December 31, 2006, for the ter3 mination of the digital television transition. Under 

4 current law, however, the deadline will be extended 

5 if fewer than 85 percent of the television households 

6 in a market are able to continue receiving local tele7 vision broadcast signals. 

8 (6) Federal Communications Commission 

9 Chairman Michael K. Powell testified at a hearing 

10 before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transpor11 tation Committee on September 8, 2004, that, ab12 sent government action, this extension may allow the 

13 digital television transition to continue for ‘‘decades’’ 

14 or ‘‘multiples of decades’’. 

15 (7) The Nation’s public safety and welfare can16 not be put off for ‘‘decades’’ or ‘‘multiples of dec17 ades’’. The Federal government should ensure that 

18 this spectrum is available for use by public safety or19 ganizations by January 1, 2009. 

20 (8) Any plan to end the digital television transi21 tion would be incomplete if it did not ensure that 

22 consumers would be able to continue to enjoy over23 the-air broadcast television with minimal disruption. 

24 If broadcasters air only a digital signal, some con25 sumers may be unable to view digital transmissions 
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1 using their analog-only television set. Local broad2 casters are truly an important part of our homeland 

3 security and often an important communications ve4 hicle in the event of a national emergency. There5 fore, consumers who rely on over-the-air television, 

6 particularly those of limited economic means, should 

7 be assisted. 

8 (9) The New America Foundation has testified 

9 before Congress that the cost to assist these 17.4 

10 million exclusively over-the-air households to con11 tinue to view television is less than $1 billion dollars 

12 for equipment, which equates to roughly 3 percent 

13 of the Federal revenue likely from the auction of the 

14 analog television spectrum. 

15 (10) Specifically, the New America Foundation 

16 has estimated that the Federal Government’s auc17 tion of this spectrum could yield $30-to-$40 billion 

18 in revenue to the Treasury. Chairman Powell stated 

19 at the September 8, 2004, hearing that ‘‘estimates

20 of the value of that spectrum run anywhere from 

21 $30 billion to $70 billion’’. 

22 (11) Additionally, there will be societal benefits 

23 with the return of the analog broadcast spectrum. 

24 Former FCC Chairman Reed F. Hundt, at an April 

25 28, 2004, hearing before the Senate Commerce, 
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1 Science, and Transportation Committee, testified 

2 that this spectrum ‘‘should be the fit and proper 

3 home of wireless broadband’’. Mr. Hundt continued, 

4 ‘‘Quite literally, [with this spectrum] the more mil5 lions of people in rural America will be able to afford 

6 Big Broadband Internet access, the more hundreds 

7 of millions of people in the world will be able to af8 ford joining the Internet community.’’. 

9 (12) Due to the benefits that would flow to the 

10 Nation’s citizens from the Federal Government re11 claiming this analog television spectrum—including 

12 the safety of our Nation’s first responders and those 

13 protected by first responders, additional revenues to 

14 the Federal treasury, millions of new jobs in the 

15 telecommunications sector of the economy, and in16 creased wireless broadband availability to our Na17 tion’s rural citizens—Congress finds it necessary to 

18 set January 1, 2009, as a firm date for the return 

19 of this analog television spectrum. 
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1 SEC. 3. SETTING A SPECIFIC DATE FOR THE AVAILABILITY 

2 OF SPECTRUM FOR PUBLIC SAFETY ORGANI3 ZATIONS AND CREATING A DEADLINE FOR 

4 THE TRANSITION TO DIGITAL TELEVISION. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 309(j)(14) of the Commu6 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)(14)) is amend7 ed—

8 (1) by striking ‘‘2006.’’ in subparagraph (A) 

9 and inserting ‘‘2008.’’; 

10 (2) by striking subparagraph (B) and redesig11 nating subparagraphs (C) and (D) as subparagraphs 

12 (B) and (C); 

13 (3) by striking ‘‘subparagraph (A) or (B),’’ in 

14 subparagraph (B), as redesignated, and inserting 

15 ‘‘subparagraph (A),’’; and 

16 (4) by striking ‘‘subparagraph (C)(i),’’ in sub17 paragraph (C), as redesignated, and inserting ‘‘sub18 paragraph (B)(i),’’. 

19 (b) CERTAIN COMMERCIAL USE SPECTRUM.—The 

20 Commission shall assign the spectrum described in section 

21 337(a)(2) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

22 337(a)(2)) allocated for commercial use by competitive 

23 bidding pursuant to section 309(j) of that Act (47 U.S.C. 

24 309(j)) no later than 1 year after the Commission trans25 mits the report required by section 4(a) to the Congress. 
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1 SEC. 4. STUDIES OF COMMUNICATIONS CAPABILITIES AND 

2 NEEDS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission, in consultation 

4 with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall conduct 

5 a study to assess strategies that may be used to meet pub6 lic safety communications needs, including—

7 (1) the short-term and long-term need for addi8 tional spectrum allocation for Federal, State, and 

9 local first responders, including an additional alloca10 tion of spectrum in the 700 megaHertz band; 

11 (2) the need for a nationwide interoperable 

12 broadband mobile communications network; 

13 (3) the ability of public safety entities to utilize 

14 wireless broadband applications; and 

15 (4) the communications capabilities of first re16 ceivers such as hospitals and health care workers, 

17 and current efforts to promote communications co18 ordination and training among the first responders 

19 and the first receivers. 

20 (b) REALLOCATION STUDY.—The Commission shall 

21 conduct a study to assess the advisability of reallocating 

22 any amount of spectrum in the 700 megaHertz band for 

23 unlicensed broadband uses. In the study, the Commission 

24 shall consider all other possible users of this spectrum, in25 cluding public safety. 
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1 (c) REPORT.—The Commission shall report the re2 sults of the studies, together with any recommendations 

3 it may have, to the Senate Committee on Commerce, 

4 Science, and Transportation and the House of Represent5 atives Committee on Energy and Commerce within 1 year 

6 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

7 SEC. 5. STATUTORY AUTHORITY FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF 

8 HOMELAND SECURITY’S ‘‘SAFECOM’’ PRO9 GRAM. 

10 Section 302 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 

11 (6 U.S.C. 182) is amended—

12 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before 

13 ‘‘The’’; and 

14 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(b) SAFECOM AUTHORIZED.—

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out subsection 

17 (a), the Under Secretary shall establish a program 

18 to address the interoperability of communications 

19 devices used by Federal, State, tribal, and local first 

20 responders, to be known as the Wireless Public Safe21 ty Interoperability Communications Program, or 

22 ‘SAFECOM’. The Under Secretary shall coordinate 

23 the program with the Director of the Department of 

24 Justice’s Office of Science and Technology and all 

25 other Federal programs engaging in communications 
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1 interoperability research, development, and funding 

2 activities to ensure that the program takes into ac3 count, and does not duplicate, those programs or ac4 tivities. 

5 ‘‘(2) COMPONENTS.—The program established 

6 under paragraph (1) shall be designed—

7 ‘‘(A) to provide research on the develop8 ment of a communications system architecture 

9 that would ensure the interoperability of com10 munications devices among Federal, State, trib11 al, and local officials that would enhance the 

12 potential for a coordinated response to a na13 tional emergency; 

14 ‘‘(B) to support the completion and pro15 mote the adoption of mutually compatible vol16 untary consensus standards developed by a 

17 standards development organization accredited 

18 by the American National Standards Institute 

19 to ensure such interoperability; and 

20 ‘‘(C) to provide for the development of a 

21 model strategic plan that could be used by any 

22 State or region in developing its communica23 tions interoperability plan.
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1 ‘‘(3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

2 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec3 retary to carry out this subsection—

4 ‘‘(A) $22,105,000 for fiscal year 2005; 

5 ‘‘(B) $22,768,000 for fiscal year 2006; 

6 ‘‘(C) $23,451,000 for fiscal year 2007; 

7 ‘‘(D) $24,155,000 for fiscal year 2008; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(E) $24,879,000 for fiscal year 2009. 

10 ‘‘(c) NATIONAL BASELINE STUDY OF PUBLIC SAFE11 TY COMMUNICATIONS INTEROPERABILITY.—By December 

12 31, 2005, the Under Secretary of Homeland Security for 

13 Science and Technology shall complete a study to develop 

14 a national baseline for communications interoperability 

15 and develop common grant guidance for all Federal grant 

16 programs that provide communications-related resources 

17 or assistance to State and local agencies, any Federal pro18 grams conducting demonstration projects, providing tech19 nical assistance, providing outreach services, providing 

20 standards development assistance, or conducting research 

21 and development with the public safety community with 

22 respect to wireless communications. The Under Secretary 

23 shall transmit a report to the Senate Committee on Com24 merce, Science, and Transportation and the House of Rep25 resentatives Committee on Energy and Commerce con-
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1 taining the Under Secretary’s findings, conclusions, and 

2 recommendations from the study.’’. 

3 SEC. 6. GRANT PROGRAM TO PROVIDE ENHANCED INTER4 OPERABILITY OF COMMUNICATIONS FOR 

5 FIRST RESPONDERS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu7 rity shall establish a program to help State, local, tribal, 

8 and regional first responders acquire and deploy interoper9 able communications equipment, purchase such equip10 ment, and train personnel in the use of such equipment. 

11 The Secretary, in cooperation with the heads of other Fed12 eral departments and agencies who administer programs 

13 that provide communications-related assistance programs 

14 to State, local, and tribal public safety organizations, shall 

15 develop and implement common standards to the greatest 

16 extent practicable.

17 (b) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible for assistance 

18 under the program, a State, local, tribal, or regional first 

19 responder agency shall submit an application, at such 

20 time, in such form, and containing such information as 

21 the Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Science 

22 and Technology may require, including—

23 (1) a detailed explanation of how assistance re24 ceived under the program would be used to improve 

25 local communications interoperability and ensure 
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1 interoperability with other appropriate Federal, 

2 State, local, tribal, and regional agencies in a re3 gional or national emergency; 

4 (2) assurance that the equipment and system 

5 would—

6 (A) not be incompatible with the commu7 nications architecture developed under section 

8 302(b)(2)(A) of the Homeland Security Act of 

9 2002; 

10 (B) would meet any voluntary consensus 

11 standards developed under section 302(b)(2)(B) 

12 of that Act; and 

13 (C) be consistent with the common grant 

14 guidance established under section 302(b)(3) of 

15 the Homeland Security Act of 2002. 

16 (c) GRANTS.—The Under Secretary shall review ap17 plications submitted under subsection (b). The Secretary, 

18 pursuant to an application approved by the Under Sec19 retary, may make the assistance provided under the pro20 gram available in the form of a single grant for a period 

21 of not more than 3 years. 
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1 SEC. 7. DIGITAL TRANSITION PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICA2 TIONS GRANT AND CONSUMER ASSISTANCE 

3 FUND. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established on the books 

5 of the Treasury a separate fund to be known as the ‘‘Dig6 ital Transition Consumer Assistance Fund’’, which shall 

7 be administered by the Secretary, in consultation with the 

8 Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and 

9 Information. 

10 (b) CREDITING OF RECEIPTS.—The Fund shall be 

11 credited with the amount specified in section 309(j)(8)(D) 

12 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

13 309(j)(8)(D)). 

14 (c) FUND AVAILABILITY.—

15 (1) APPROPRIATIONS.—

16 (A) CONSUMER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.—

17 There are appropriated to the Secretary from 

18 the Fund such sums, not to exceed 

19 $1,000,000,000, as are required to carry out 

20 the program established under section 8 of this 

21 Act. 

22 (B) PSO GRANT PROGRAM.—To the extent 

23 that amounts available in the Fund exceed the 

24 amount required to carry out that program, 

25 there are authorized to be appropriated to the 

26 Secretary of Homeland Security, such sums as 
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1 are required to carry out the program estab2 lished under section 6 of this Act, not to exceed 

3 an amount, determined by the Director of the 

4 Office of Management and Budget, on the basis 

5 of the findings of the National Baseline Inter6 operability study conducted by the SAFECOM 

7 Office of the Department of Homeland Secu8 rity. 

9 (2) REVERSION OF UNUSED FUNDS.—Any auc10 tion proceeds in the Fund that are remaining after 

11 the date on which the programs under section 6 and 

12 8 of this Act terminate, as determined by the Sec13 retary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of 

14 Commerce respectively, shall revert to and be depos15 ited in the general fund of the Treasury. 

16 (d) DEPOSIT OF AUCTION PROCEEDS.—Paragraph 

17 (8) of section 309(j) of the Communications Act of 1934 

18 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)) is amended—

19 (1) by inserting ‘‘or subparagraph (D)’’ in sub20 paragraph (A) after ‘‘subparagraph (B)’’; and 

21 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub22 paragraph: 

23 ‘‘(D) DISPOSITION OF CASH PROCEEDS

24 FROM AUCTION OF CHANNELS 52 THROUGH

25 69.—Cash proceeds attributable to the auction
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1 of any eligible frequencies between 698 and 806 

2 megaHertz on the electromagnetic spectrum 

3 conducted after the date of enactment of the 

4 SAVE LIVES Act shall be deposited in the 

5 Digital Transition Consumer Assistance Fund 

6 established under section 7 of that Act.’’. 

7 SEC. 8. DIGITAL TRANSITION PROGRAM. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 

9 with the Commission and the Director of the Office of 

10 Management and Budget, shall establish a program to as11 sist households—

12 (1) in the purchase or other acquisition of dig13 ital-to-analog converter devices that will enable tele14 vision sets that operate only with analog signal proc15 essing to continue to operate when receiving a dig16 ital signal; 

17 (2) in the payment of a one-time installation fee 

18 (not in excess of the industry average fee for the 

19 date, locale, and structure involved, as determined 

20 by the Secretary) for installing the equipment re21 quired for residential reception of services provided 

22 by a multichannel video programming distributor (as 

23 defined in section 602(13) of the Communications 

24 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 602(13)); or 
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1 (3) in the purchase of any other device that will 

2 enable the household to receive over-the-air digital 

3 television broadcast signals, but in an amount not in 

4 excess of the average per-household assistance pro5 vided under paragraphs (1) and (2). 

6 (b) PROGRAM CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall ensure 

7 that the program established under subsection (a)—

8 (1) becomes publicly available no later than 

9 January 1, 2008; 

10 (2) gives first priority to assisting lower income 

11 households (as determined by the Director of the 

12 Bureau of the Census for statistical reporting pur13 poses) who rely exclusively on over-the-air television 

14 broadcasts; 

15 (3) gives second priority to assisting other 

16 households who rely exclusively on over-the-air tele17 vision broadcasts; 

18 (4) is technologically neutral; and 

19 (5) is conducted at the lowest feasible adminis20 trative cost. 

21 SEC. 9. LABEL REQUIREMENT FOR ANALOG TELEVISION 

22 SETS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 303 of the Communica24 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 303) is amended by adding 

25 at the end the following: 
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1 ‘‘(z) Require that any apparatus described in para2 graph (s) sold or offered for sale in or affecting interstate 

3 commerce after September 30, 2005, that is incapable of 

4 receiving and displaying a digital television broadcast sig5 nal without the use of an external device that translates 

6 digital television broadcast signals into analog television 

7 broadcast signals have affixed to it and, if it is sold or 

8 offered for sale in a container, affixed to that container, 

9 a label that states that the apparatus will be incapable 

10 of displaying over-the-air television broadcast signals re11 ceived after December 31, 2008, without the purchase of 

12 additional equipment.’’. 

13 (b) SHIPMENT PROHIBITED.—Section 330 of the 

14 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 330) is amend15 ed—

16 (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub17 section (e); and 

18 (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(d) SHIPMENT OF UNLABELED OBSOLESCENT TEL21 EVISION SETS.—No person shall ship in interstate com22 merce or manufacture in the United States any apparatus 

23 described in section 303(s) of this Act except in accord24 ance with rules prescribed by the Commission under sec25 tion 303(z) of this Act.’’. 
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1 (c) POINT OF SALE WARNING.—The Commission, in 

2 consultation with the Federal Trade Commission, shall re3 quire the display at, or in close proximity to, any commer4 cial retail sales display of television sets described in sec5 tion 303(z) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

6 U.S.C. 303(z)) sold or offered for sale in or affecting 

7 interstate commerce after September 30, 2005, of a print8 ed notice that clearly and conspicuously states that the 

9 sets will be incapable of displaying over-the-air television 

10 broadcast signals received after December 31, 2008, with11 out the purchase or lease of additional equipment. 

12 SEC. 10. REPORT ON CONSUMER EDUCATION PROGRAM RE13 QUIREMENTS. 

14 Within 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, 

15 the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications 

16 and Information, after consultation with the Commission, 

17 shall transmit a report to the Senate Committee on Com18 merce, Science, and Transportation and the House of Rep19 resentatives Committee on Energy and Commerce con20 taining recommendations with respect to—

21 (1) an effective program to educate consumers 

22 about the transition to digital television broadcast 

23 signals and the impact of that transition on con24 sumers’ choices of equipment to receive such signals; 
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1 (2) the need, if any, for Federal funding for 

2 such a program; 

3 (3) the date of commencement and duration of 

4 such a program; and 

5 (4) what department or agency should have the 

6 lead responsibility for conducting such a program. 

7 SEC. 11. FCC TO ISSUE DECISION IN CERTAIN PRO8 CEEDINGS. 

9 The Commission shall issue a final decision before—

10 (1) January 1, 2005, in the Matter of Carriage 

11 of Digital Television Broadcast Signals; Amend12 ments to Part 76 of the Commission’s Rules, CS 

13 Docket No. 98-120; 

14 (2) January 1, 2005, in the Matter of Public 

15 Interest Obligations of TV Broadcast Licensees, MM 

16 Docket No. 99-360; and 

17 (3) January 1, 2006, in the Implementation of 

18 the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act of 

19 1999; Local Broadcast Signal Carriage Issues, CS 

20 Docket No. 00–96. 

21 SEC. 12. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this Act: 

23 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

24 means the Federal Communications Commission. 
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1 (2) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Dig2 ital Transition Consumer Assistance Fund estab3 lished by section 7. 

4 (3) SECRETARY.—Except where otherwise ex5 pressly provided, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the 

6 Secretary of Commerce.

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