Klobuchar Announces Committee Passage of Bipartisan Public Safety Communications Bill

Press Release

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar announced that bipartisan legislation to strengthen the public safety network for first responders passed out of the Senate Commerce Committee today. The SPECTRUM Act would provide emergency responders with a nationwide interoperable wireless broadband network and includes a Klobuchar amendment that would commission two studies that would help implement Next Generation 9-1-1 technology.

"Our first responders and emergency workers are vital to our safety, and we owe it to them to ensure they have the technology and resources they need to do their job," Klobuchar said. "This legislation will move us closer to Next Generation 9-1-1 technology and help implement a nationwide wireless network that will allow our first responders to clearly communicate when disaster strikes and focus on doing what they do best--saving lives and keeping our communities safe."

The SPECTRUM Act would allow for state-of-the-art technology that would help first responders in both rural and urban communities at no cost to taxpayers. The legislation would set aside additional spectrum for first responders to build a nationwide wireless broadband network. This network would allow first responders to communicate seamlessly during a time of crisis.

The bill includes an amendment authored by Klobuchar that would jump-start Next Generation 9-1-1 development and implementation. Currently, 9-1-1 networks are stuck with the same infrastructure and capabilities that they having been working with for decades. Next Generation 9-1-1 is a response system based on high-speed digital wireless networks, and would enable call centers to send and receive texts, photos, video, and email in real time. The Klobuchar amendment would commission two studies to help implement this system.

Specifically, the studies would:

* Examine the costs of implementing and deploying a nationwide Next Generation 9-1-1 network, so that Congress and state and local governments can begin planning how to fund the program.

* Direct the Federal Communications Commission to look at the current regulatory and legal system for 9-1-1 networks and analyze laws and regulations at the federal, state, and local levels to determine what reforms are needed to spur cost-effective deployment and use of Next Generation 9-1-1 technologies.

Klobuchar is a member of both the Senate Commerce and Judiciary Committees and a co-chair of the NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus. Klobuchar and U.S. Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) are working on bipartisan legislation, the Next Generation 9-1-1 Preservation Act, that would reauthorize the federal 9-1-1 Coordination Office to manage the transition to a Next Generation 9-1-1 emergency response system based on high-speed digital wireless networks.

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