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 SEPARATE  STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSIONER  JONATHAN  S.  ADELSTEIN 
 Re:  Emergency  Alert  System,  Notice  of  Proposed  Rulemaking 
 I  am  pleased  we  launch  this  review  of  our  nation’s  increasingly  outdated  Emergency  Alert  System.  We  must  move  quickly  to  act  on  this  rulemaking  and  further 
 protect  the  lives  of  all  Americans. 
 Our  task  is  not  easy,  but  we  cannot  afford  to  wait.  The  public  warning  capability  of  communications  technologies  should  be  among  the  highest  priorities  of  this  agency. 
 This  will  take  hard  work  and  continued  coordination  with  the  Department  of  Homeland  Security  and  our  other  partners. 


 The  Cold-  War  era  EAS  system  is  an  imperfect  system  for  our  modern  society,  but  for  the  near  term  it  remains  one  of  the  best  options  we  have  to  deliver  emergency 
 messages  to  as  many  people  as  possible  as  quickly  as  possible.  The  Media  Security  and  Reliability  Council  and  the  Partnership  for  Public  Warning  have  suggested  ways  to 
 improve  EAS.  The  Commission  must  now  buckle  down  and  do  what  it  is  we  are  asking  state  and  local  officials  to  do  –  assess  vulnerabilities,  create  a  plan  for  better  service,  and 
 review  and  update  that  plan  as  communications  technologies  evolve. 
 The  American  public  expects  broadcasters  to  deliver  timely  local  and  national  emergency  and  public  safety  information.  For  example,  the  FCC’s  broadcast  localism 
 hearing  in  Rapid  City,  South  Dakota,  proved  how  vitally  important  disaster  warnings  are  for  rural  areas  of  the  country.  The  County’s  Emergency  Management  Director  testified 
 about  the  cooperation  and  collaboration  among  public  safety  officials  and  all  local  broadcasters  that  resulted  from  a  devastating  flood  and  led  to  a  voluntary  initiative  to 
 improve  public  safety  warnings  in  the  county.  But  not  all  broadcasters  and  state  and  local  governments  have  taken  this  step. 


 We  should  use  our  oversight  of  the  broadcast  and  other  communications  industries  to  ensure  more  consistency  at  the  state  and  local  level.  With  the  transition  of 
 television  and  radio  to  digital  broadcasting,  we  have  an  opportunity  to  improve  upon  the  EAS  system  to  communicate  emergency  and  public  safety  information  in  even  more 
 targeted  and  innovative  ways.  We  can  design  a  system  to  better  serve  all  stakeholders,  including  the  disability  community  and  the  nation’s  many  non-  English  speakers. 


 But  we  must  act  quickly.  In  conjunction  with  our  other  federal  partners,  the  American  public  counts  on  us  to  ensure  a  public  warning  system  second  to  none.  It  is 
 imperative  that  we  quickly  put  ideas  into  action  and  lead  our  country  to  an  even  higher  level  of  security. 
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