Washington, D.C., – Members of Congress and public safety organizations have launched the bipartisan, bicameral Congressional E9-1-1 Caucus to provide a consensus-building forum to elevate issues surrounding 9-1-1 services and implement an agenda that strengthens our country’s ability to better respond and communicate in times of local and national emergencies.
The Congressional E9-1-1 Caucus was formed as a joint initiative of its four co-chairs, Senators Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) and Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Reps. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) and John Shimkus (R-Ill.) to educate lawmakers, constituents and communities about the importance of citizen activated emergency response systems.
The goals of the caucus include:
- Ubiquitous deployment of enhanced 9-1-1 services and systems. Enhanced 9-1-1 automatically provides a call-back number and location of the caller;
- Advancing 9-1-1 as the emergency number for use by the public;
- Promoting the education of Members of Congress and their staffs about 9-1-1;
- Working with 9-1-1 leaders in Members’ congressional districts and states;
- Promoting citizen-activated emergency response systems;
- Ensuring 9-1-1 systems, networks and operators are properly funded; and
- Elevating emergency communications issues within all branches of government at the federal, state and local levels.
“In the past few years we have seen the critical need for improving safety in our country,” said Senator Burns. “Implementation of a seamless and effective wireless emergency communications network is imperative for getting our country where it needs to be. Both big cities and small communities must be on the same playing field and we must make sure first responders in all communities have the ability to communicate in real time, and get where they need to be during an emergency. In a state like Montana with so much rural space it’s important to make sure everyone, whether near a city or not, can get the emergency response they need.”
Senator Clinton, concerned about the deployment of Phase II wireless technology, said, “When an emergency occurs, Americans put all of their trust and faith in three numbers: 9-1-1. Millions of Americans and New Yorkers purchase cell phones for this reason alone. While our communications technology changes almost overnight, our state and local response centers are still operating in the 20th century. Many of our Public Safety Answering Points still lack the resources, equipment, and technology to respond to 9-1-1 calls made by a cell phone.”
“Since 1996, when I first introduced legislation to require location-based technology to save lives, the work to make E9-1-1 accessible for everyone in America is still with us,” said Representative Eshoo. “With over 140 million cell phone users in the U.S. alone, E9-1-1 technology must be implemented immediately because any delay can mean the difference between life and death. I’m very pleased to join my colleagues to ensure that this technology is fully deployed so that our public safety officials will have the best possible information to save lives.”
Representative Shimkus said “As a main sponsor of the ‘Wireless Communications and Public Safety Law’ enacted in 1999, I have followed this important issue closely for many years. While a great deal of progress has been made, much more cooperation is needed in order to successfully complete the implementation of E9-1-1 in all areas. This caucus will serve as a platform to shine light on the technical and operational challenges that need attention.”
Because public-private partnerships are necessary to solve problems surrounding 9-1-1 issues, the caucus will create an advisory committee that includes a diverse group of associations, public interest and non-profit organizations and industry representatives.
The E9-1-1 Caucus will support public policy forums; Congressional tours of Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs); technology demonstrations, roundtable discussions; briefings and tutorials; media events; and education programs.
In addition to co-chairing the caucus, Senator Burns has scheduled a hearing on 9-1-1 issues for March 5.
