Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman John D. Dingell (D-MI15) participated in an Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology hearing on public safety and spectrum legislation.
“I commend my Republican and Democratic colleagues on the Committee for making sincere efforts to public safety’s needs and tackle the country’s growing demand for wireless spectrum,” said Dingell. “Both proposals are worthy of the Committee’s fullest attention, as we need to provide our country’s first responders with the critical resources they require to do their jobs effectively and save lives. We must remember that these bills are about public safety, not plugging holes in the Nation’s leaky finances.”
Congressman Dingell, along with Congressman Gene Green (D-TX29), has also introduced enhanced public safety and spectrum legislation as a companion bill to Senators Jay Rockefeller and Kay Bailey Hutchison’s bipartisan measure, S. 911.
“I am proud to work with my friend, Gene Green, to introduce legislation that provides for public safety’s critical needs and ensures that free over-the-air broadcasting is not threatened,” said Dingell. “H.R. 2482, if enacted, will accomplish these goals and, in so doing, better protect American lives and consumer choice. I urge all of my colleagues in the House to support this bill and its passage.”
The Dingell-Green bill, H.R. 2482, reallocates the D-Block free of charge to public safety and permits a voluntary incentive auction of spectrum subject to strict protections for broadcasters in order to ensure the auction is truly voluntary and fair. H.R. 2482 has been endorsed publicly by the Public Safety Alliance, the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International, the National Sheriffs Association, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Communications Workers of America, the National Association of Broadcasters, the Texas Association of Broadcasters, and the Michigan Association of Broadcasters.
