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 Opening  Remarks  of  FCC  Chairman  Kevin  J.  Martin  at  the  Federal  Communications  Commission’s 
 Independent  Panel  on  Hurricane  Katrina  January  30,  2006 


 (As  Prepared  for  Delivery) 
 Welcome  to  the  first  meeting  of  the  independent  panel  reviewing  the  impact  of  Hurricane  Katrina  on  communications  networks.  I  want  to  thank  everyone  for  taking  time  out  of  their  busy 
 schedules  to  volunteer  their  time  and  energy  to  this  important  task. 
 I’d  also  like  to  thank  my  colleagues  on  the  Commission  –  Commissioner  Copps,  Commissioner  Adelstein,  and  Commissioner  Tate  –  for  supporting  this  independent  panel.  They 
 have  all  been  very  supportive  of  these  efforts,  and  I  appreciate  their  help.  On  behalf  of  the  Commissioners,  I  also  would  like  to  thank  Nancy  Victory  for  agreeing  to  Chair  the  panel.  I 
 know  that  this  effort  will  benefit  from  her  knowledge  and  experience. 
 This  is  a  unique  endeavor.  Today,  for  the  first  time,  we’re  bringing  together  experts  from  all  sectors  of  the  communications  industry  –  wireline  and  wireless,  broadcast  and  cable,  satellite 
 and  terrestrial  service  providers,  and  equipment  providers  –  to  study  the  impact  of  a  disaster  and  develop  recommendations  to  improve  our  response  and  recovery  efforts  for  the  future.  The 
 Commission  has  had  great  success  bringing  together  industry  representatives  to  study  network  reliability,  security,  and  resiliency  issues  in  the  past,  and  we  hope  to  build  upon  this  success  by 
 bringing  all  these  communications  providers  together  in  one  comprehensive  forum. 
 This  independent  panel  is  unique  in  another  way,  too.  Not  only  does  it  bring  together  leading  experts  from  all  sectors  of  the  industry,  it  also  brings  public  safety  organizations  directly 
 into  the  heart  of  the  process.  Leading  public  safety  officials  will  be  working  side-  by-  side  with  industry  representatives  to  identify  the  lessons  learned  and  develop  recommendations  for 
 improvements.  Because  emergency  response  personnel  are  on  the  front  lines  during  times  of  crisis,  it  is  very  important  that  the  public  safety  community  has  an  opportunity  to  provide  its 
 unfiltered  views  and  to  contribute  to  developing  recommendations  for  improving  communications  in  the  future. 


 I  would  also  like  to  thank  the  representatives  from  the  NAACP  and  LULAC  for  their  participation  on  the  panel.  As  we  have  learned  from  the  recent  disasters,  community  based  input 
 is  critical  to  address  issues  of  emergency  preparedness  and  response. 
 Together,  these  experts  will  study  the  impact  of  Hurricane  Katrina  on  all  sectors  of  the  communications  industry,  including  public  safety  communications;  review  the  sufficiency  and 
 effectiveness  of  the  recovery  effort;  and  make  recommendations  to  the  Commission  on  ways  to  improve  disaster  preparedness,  network  reliability  and  resilience,  and  communications  among 
 emergency  responders. 
 The  awful  damage  caused  by  the  worst  natural  disaster  in  the  nation’s  history  underscored  the  importance  of  communications  networks  for  response,  relief,  and  recovery 
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 efforts.  The  work  of  the  experts  gathered  here  today  should  help  us  all  learn  from  this  terrible  experience  so  that  we  will  be  better  prepared  when  the  next  crisis  strikes. 
 Because  of  the  importance  of  this  work,  we  have  asked  that  the  independent  panel  submit  a  final  report  to  the  Commission  by  June.  Again,  I’d  like  to  thank  you  all  for  your  service  on  this 
 panel.  We  all  stand  ready  to  assist  the  panel  in  any  way  that  we  can,  and  we  look  forward  to  seeing  the  results  of  your  good  work  in  June. 


 Thank  you. 
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