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Prepared Remarks of
Chairman Julius Genachowski
Federal Communications Commission
Public Safety Press Conference:
FCC’s Preparedness for a Major Public Emergency 
September 8, 2009
Good morning. I’d like to thank everybody for coming.  In particular, I want to 
thank Craig Fugate, Administrator of FEMA, Chris Essid, Director of the DHS Office of 
Emergency Communications and Dr. Kevin Yeskey, Deputy Assistant Secretary for 
Preparedness and Response at HHS.  I know first thing in the morning the day after a holiday 
may not be ideal timing.  But as the theme of today’s event reminds us, timing isn’t always our 
option – no telling when duty may call.  
While the timing of this event may not be ideal, it is certainly appropriate.  This is a 
sobering week in our country’s history.  We mark the 8th anniversary of the horrific attacks of 
9/11, which forever changed the way we think about emergency preparedness.  We also just 
marked the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which revealed that still more work needed to be 
done. But you don’t need to look back to understand the importance of our government’s 
emergency preparedness and communications.  Just look at the paper.  In recent weeks, 
California has been ravaged by forest fires.  And we face the possibility of an H1N1 pandemic 
that could affect virtually every aspect of our lives and test many of our communications 
systems.
We all bring our own experiences to these issues.  They are certainly not abstract for me. 
Like many others, I was in Manhattan not far from the World Trade Center on 9/11, and family 
members were even closer to Ground Zero.  And this might surprise some of you, but earlier in 
my life I worked as a certified EMT on an ambulance further north in Manhattan; and also taught 
CPR.  These experiences underscored for me the real threats and dangers we face; they left me 
humbled by the incredibly challenging and vitally important work our first responders do every 
day; and they made crystal clear to me the importance of communications in times of crisis.  
They are part of the reason that public safety is one of my top priorities.
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One thing we have learned from past emergencies is that an effective response requires 
effective communications, as well as strong collaboration with the public safety community, our 
federal, state, tribal and local partners, and the communications industry. The FCC has an 
important role to play in responding to public safety emergencies, and in helping ensure that our 
communications infrastructure serves its critical role in times of crisis.  The FCC’s mission 
during a public emergency is to ensure continuous operations and reconstitution of critical 
communications systems and services.   
In short, the FCC has essential work to do to make sure that communications are part of 
the solution, not the problem.   The Commission’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau 
leads that effort – but it is agency-wide, with important roles played by the Office of Managing 
Director, our Enforcement Bureau and in fact every bureau and office at the agency.
Two of my earliest actions as FCC Chairman centered on public safety. First, on my first 
full day in the job, I directed the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau to conduct 
a 30-day, top-to-bottom review of the agency’s state of readiness.  Second, I enlisted Admiral 
Jamie Barnett to lead the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau and the review. Admiral 
Barnett brings to the FCC 32 years of distinguished leadership and service in the Navy, and he 
understands deeply the importance of collaboration, preparation and foresight in emergency 
response. 
Today, I am pleased to release the report on the findings of our Bureau’s Public Safety 
review.  Admiral Barnett will discuss the details, but I want to outline briefly the four key areas 
for improvement highlighted by the Public Safety Bureau’s report.
The first is outreach and collaboration. The report emphasizes the importance of 
maintaining strong partnerships with federal, state, and local governments, the public safety 
community, and providers of communications services. This outreach is important to identify in 
advance the communications needs of key stakeholders like hospitals and other strategic 
institutions.  I’m pleased to report the FCC has recently created new working groups with both 
FEMA and HHS. 
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The second is emergency operations and alerts.  The Public Safety Bureau’s report 
recommends ways to ensure that, during emergencies, the FCC is able to maintain operations, 
respond proactively to public safety communications needs, and communicate accurate and 
timely information to the public. These efforts will help maintain continuity of operations and 
make sure citizens and first responders can get the alerts they need, when they need them.    
The third is network analysis. In addition to helping ensure that our first responders have 
the communications tools they needs, the FCC has an important role to play in preserving the 
security of our communications networks.  We have launched a new project with FEMA to 
rapidly determine which public safety communications systems require immediate assistance 
during emergencies.  We have also created a new working group that will focus on ways to 
strengthen our efforts on cybersecurity, one of the most serious economic and national security 
challenges we face as a nation.
And finally, education and training. It’s one thing to have an emergency response plan, 
but it’s meaningless if you can’t execute it. The Public Safety Bureau report contains a number 
of recommendations for improving the FCC’s ongoing education and training programs to help 
ensure effective execution by agency personnel of the roles they play in times of crisis. 
Overall, while confirming that the FCC is ready to respond to communications 
emergencies, the report also reminds us that the agency must work every day in a changing 
world to maximize its readiness, to ensure that the agency is prepared to meet its vital mission in 
the digital age, and to work toward helping our country’s first responders deploy 21st century 
technologies in the essential work they do.   In some cases this may require updating and 
investing in resources and expertise at the agency.  This is something Admiral Barnett has 
already started working on.  
In closing, I want to take this opportunity to commend Admiral Barnett, his team, and all 
the people at the FCC who have worked on this report. In particular, I wanted to recognize the 
Public Safety Bureau staff who burned the midnight oil, including: Ken Moran, Joe Casey, Allan 
Manuel, Jane Kelly, Ken Burnley, Todd Mitchell, and Trey Forgety. Thank you very much for 
your hard and excellent work.