Prepared Remarks of Commissioner Mignon L. Clyburn
FCC Field Hearing on Superstorm Sandy
New York City, New York
February 5, 2013
To our distinguished panelists and to our audience, good morning.  Thank you, Regional 
Administrator Pease, for your opening remarks, and on behalf of the Federal Communications 
Commission I wish to express my gratitude, to the General Services Administration and others
responsible for making it possible to hold this critical forum.  
At the FCC, we are afforded the incredible privilege of having a front row seat to some 
amazing developments in information technology.  And I can say without any doubt that we have 
a lot to feel optimistic about when it comes to what the communications industry can 
accomplish.  
But when we are hit with major weather events like Superstorm Sandy, we are humbled 
and reminded that despite all of these great advances, we still, as a nation, remain quite 
vulnerable.
Our thoughts and prayers remain with all who suffered the loss of loved ones and the loss 
of property during Sandy.  I commend the efforts of first responders, as well as ordinary citizens 
who demonstrated unprecedented charity towards their neighbors and communities.  
I was in Moncks Corner, SC in September of 1999.  During Hurricane Hugo, I was 
balled-up in a dark corner near other family members who escaped from Charleston, listening to 
the first trees I ever loved being broken like toothpicks.  I sat in fear as my grandmother’s tin 
roofs from the barn, smoke house and parts of the house were being pulled away by what at the 
time felt like the huge, heartless hand of a giant.
So while the extent of Sandy’s power and destruction was an unprecedented event for this 
region, most of us have felt the tragedy brought by natural disasters firsthand.  We may not be 
able to prevent them from occurring, but what we can and must do is improve our ability to 
respond.  
Throughout Sandy, we heard several reports about how federal, state, and local 
governments, as well as industry, were engaged in extensive coordination to restore important 
services and infrastructure to communities.  I understand that the New Jersey Broadcasters’ 
Association was very instrumental in working with FEMA and the FCC to help broadcast 
stations stay on the air.  These stations were vital to providing information to communities.  
And as communications regulators, we must do all within our power to prepare our wired 
and wireless communications networks, 9-1-1 systems, and other infrastructure for future 
unexpected events.
I applaud Chairman Genachowski for his hands-on approach and for recognizing and 
declaring early on that this Commission would come to New York, New Jersey, and other parts 
of the nation to learn about the challenges we face when it comes to the reliability of 
communications networks.  I look forward to our panelists’ testimonies and recommendations on 
these and related policy areas.  Thank you.