Pallone’s SANDy Act Passes House of Representatives (Video)

WASHINGTON, DC – Last night, the Securing Access to Networks in Disasters Act – or the SANDy Act, passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 389-2. Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-6), the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, introduced the legislation last year to help ensure the resiliency of the nation’s communications networks during emergencies. During and after Sandy there was a major breakdown of communications networks, including cellular and home telephones, television, and internet services. This created a dangerous barrier to emergency response and recovery for residents and towns.

“I am proud that the SANDy Act can now help first responders, businesses and private citizens communicate during disasters,” said Pallone. “In New Jersey, we learned firsthand during Hurricane Sandy the importance of communications during an emergency. Broadcasters and cable providers give us the critical information we need to stay out of harm’s way. Making a call for help is difficult when the power is out, and when the cell towers are also down, it can be nearly impossible. We must do everything we can to be better prepared for the next time disaster strikes”

Before the bill passed the Energy and Commerce Committee earlier this month, Pallone and CTIA, together with wireless providers AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular and Verizon announced an agreement that wireless providers will share information and advance wireless network resiliency before, during and after disasters and emergencies.

APCO International, the world's largest nonprofit organization dedicated to the enhancement of public safety communications, has voiced its support for the legislation stating that “it contains a number of provisions that would be helpful to 9-1-1 Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) facing future large-scale disasters, and would generally lead to improvements in emergency communications in such situations.”

Since he became the top Democrat on the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, Pallone has redoubled his efforts to make sure that never happens again. As part of his effort, Pallone held a Superstorm Sandy Field Forum with local officials, industry leaders and senior FirstNet representatives to take a critical look at lessons learned and progress made with public safety telecommunications since the hurricane. Pallone used those lessons to craft the bill and improve the resiliency of our communications systems.

In addition the SANDy Act would:

· Make sure all communication providers—radio, TV, and phone—can fix outages faster, even across state lines.

· Begin a process to provide 911 services over Wi-Fi hotspots during emergencies.

Pallone spoke on the House floor urging passage of the bill yesterday. The text of his remarks can be found below and the video can be found here.

I rise in support of H.R. 3998, the Securing Access to Networks in Disasters – or SANDy – Act.

Super Storm Sandy had a dramatic effect on my district back in New Jersey. We saw firsthand the importance of communications networks during an emergency.

Broadcast and cable networks provide critical information to help us stay out of harm’s way. And telecommunications networks are what makes sure we can call for help and keep track of our loved ones.

Unfortunately, when Hurricane Sandy ripped through the Northeast, we could not rely on several of these systems when we needed them most. For instance, nearly one in four cell towers were knocked out. In some of the hardest hit areas of my state, as many as half of the towers went down – many of them stayed down for weeks.

That is why I have spent the past several years figuring out what went right and what went wrong. We learned about issues that have plagued our networks for at least a decade—not just during Sandy, but during Hurricane Katrina and other major disasters as well.

The SANDy Act will take another step towards making that right.

Specifically, the SANDy Act would recognize the important role that wireline and mobile telephone, Internet, radio and television broadcasting, and cable and satellite services, play during emergencies.

These communications providers need priority access to help them repair and maintain their communications equipment during disasters.

But this bill is part of a larger effort to keep us safe in emergencies. As part of the lead up to today, I worked with the nation’s largest wireless carriers and the Federal Communications Commission to pull together a voluntary framework to ensure the industry complies with the wireless provisions that were originally set forth in the SANDy Act.

Most important, the framework makes sure that if one network goes down, its customers can access another network that is still operational. Everyone should be able to call for help as long as any signal is available.

This agreement will save lives during major emergencies in the future. I would like to thank the wireless carriers and the FCC for working with me to craft this comprehensive agreement.

Having these networks operational can mean the difference between life and death during an event like Super Storm Sandy.

I urge all Members to support H.R. 3998, and hope that once it passes the House today, that the Senate will soon take up the measure and send it to the President.

I yield back.