Butterfield And Lujan Highlight Fcc Decision To Transmit Emergency Alerts In Spanish

Statement

Representatives G. K. Butterfield (D-NC) and Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) applauded today the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decision requiring that participating carriers transmit wireless emergency alerts in Spanish as well as English.

"With extreme weather events due to climate change on the rise, it is paramount that all people in the United States have equal access to lifesaving emergency alerts," said Butterfield. "I commend the FCC for making these lifesaving notifications more accessible to more people."

"This is an important step, and critical not only for states like New Mexico with a large population of Spanish speakers, but for the whole country." Luján said. "I am pleased by the FCC's actions today, and look forward to continuing to work with them to ensure that Emergency Alerts can reach Americans in dire situations, wherever they live, in whatever language they speak, and whatever the emergency."

Last fall, Representatives Butterfield and Luján led a letter signed by all 13 Democrats on the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, calling for the FCC "to make sure that emergency alerts are available to all Americans--regardless of what language they speak."

For the first time, the FCC will now require the transmission of these lifesaving alerts in a language other than English. This change marks a huge victory both for public safety and for the 37 million Spanish speakers living in the United States, according to 2011 Census Bureau data.

Nevertheless, more work remains to be done. The Commission in this order now asks important questions about expanding these emergency alerts to even more languages, something originally called for by the members in their November 2015 letter to the FCC.

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