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STATEMENT OF 
COMMISSIONER JONATHAN S. ADELSTEIN
Re: Review of the Emergency Alert System, EB Docket No. 04-296, Second Report 
and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FCC 07-109).
I support today’s Report and Order mindful of two essential facts.  First, one of 
the central purposes for the very creation of the FCC is to promote the safety of life and 
property of all – and I mean all – Americans, without discrimination on the basis of race, 
color, religion, national origin, or sex.  And second, the Atlantic hurricane season 
officially begins tomorrow, June 1st.  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration’s 2007 Atlantic hurricane season outlook indicates a very high 75 percent
chance of an above-normal hurricane season, a 20 percent chance of a near-normal 
season, and only a five percent chance of a below-normal season. Taken together, this 
means that the Commission should not be bashful about using its authority to execute our 
public safety mandate because it is just a matter of time before we experience another 
emergency and people’s lives literally depend upon our actions. 
Today’s Report and Order primarily addresses the requirements for broadcast, 
cable and satellite entities participating in the Emergency Alert System (EAS) to receive 
and disseminate federal and state messages using Common Alerting Protocol or CAP –
the next-generation EAS messaging protocol – six months after FEMA formally adopts 
the new protocol. In First Report and Order, we expanded the EAS rules to include 
digital broadcast and cable TV, digital audio broadcasting, satellite radio, and direct 
broadcast satellite services.  Today’s Second Report and Order takes the modest step to 
include wireline video providers in EAS, irrespective of their regulatory classification as 
video or information service providers.  We also specifically permit the transmission of 
state-level EAS alerts and warnings that are originated by state governors. 
While these are all modest steps, they are nevertheless important to ensure that the 
current and next generation EAS network facilitates prompt and accurate delivery of 
national, state and local messages to ensure the safety and security of the American 
people during natural or man-made disasters.  The Commission has an important role in 
prescribing rules that establish technical standards for EAS, procedures for participating 
entities, and EAS testing protocol. 
CAP will enable us develop a more secure, reliable, interoperable and integrated 
multi-platform EAS network that better serves the needs of the originating source, public 
safety, EAS participating entities and, perhaps more importantly, the targeted 
communities who may be in the path of danger. Even more hopeful is the potential for 
CAP to develop a digital alert system which would better serve the needs of people with 
disabilities.  For instance, CAP-formatted messages could provide the same alert in text, 
aural, and video formats.  EAS message originators and participants should remember 
that everyone deserves the same information.  Therefore, the exact transcription of an 
audio alert should be the standard once CAP is adopted. 
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I am, however, disappointed that this Report does not resolve EAS and general 
emergency information access concerns of non-English speaking and multi-lingual 
communities. But at least today’s item and the Further Notice provide a framework for 
the Commission, for the first time, to assemble all stakeholders – broadcasters, state 
officials, FCC Public Safety staff and representatives of non-English speaking 
communities.  According to the Census Bureau, there are over 14 million U.S. 
households in which people speak a language other than English. One in five people over 
age five speaks a language other than English. Access to multi-lingual emergency 
information should have been a priority issue fully addressed and resolved in today’s 
item.  I am hopeful that, once and for all, the Commission will pay serious attention to 
this important concern.
It is worth remembering, though, that Commission could impose countless 
mandates and requirements, but the effectiveness of EAS still rests on the good-faith of 
all participating entities and governmental agencies involved in our national, state and 
local alert system.  Accordingly, collaboration, communication and cooperation must be 
routine – not a single event. I strongly encourage the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland 
Security Bureau to remain sincerely engaged, and to encourage collaboration among all 
stakeholders to develop policies, plans, and procedures to address the emergency 
readiness needs of all communities. 
Thus far, I am heartened by the efforts of the National Association of 
Broadcasters and the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council for acting on my 
request to begin talking about a multi-lingual EAS solution in advance of the meetings 
that the Bureau is required to facilitate in the coming weeks.  It is my firm belief that 
these leaders, who are trying to reach agreement in good-faith, should be able to find 
common ground on an issue of this importance.