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 Federal  Communications  Commission  FCC  04-  189 
 STATEMENT  OF  CHAIRMAN  MICHAEL  K.  POWELL 
 Re:  Review  of  the  Emergency  Alert  System,  Notice  of  Proposed  Rulemaking 
 For  over  a  half  century,  the  United  States  has  had  in  place  a  national  warning  system  utilizing,  in  part,  our  Nation’s  broadcast  outlets.  From  the  CONELRAD,  established  in  1951  by  President  Truman 
 during  the  Korean  War  to  its  replacement,  the  Emergency  Broadcast  System,  established  in  1963  by  President  Kennedy  to  the  modern  day  Emergency  Alert  System  (EAS),  our  government  has  sought  to 
 employ  our  country’s  media  outlets  as  a  mechanism  for  warning  the  American  public  of  an  emergency. 
 A  lot  has  changed  since  1951.  As  the  primary  role  of  EAS  remains  a  national  public  warning  system,  increasingly  state  and  local  jurisdictions  have  used  its  capabilities  to  notify  their  citizens  of  local 
 emergencies,  including  natural  weather  disasters  and  in  saving  the  lives  of  many  abducted  children  through  the  Amber  Alert.  In  addition,  EAS  has  grown  from  its  predecessor’s  birth  on  AM  radio  to  FM 
 radio,  broadcast  television  and  wireline  and  wireless  cable  systems.  Of  course,  the  threats  to  our  homeland  have  also  changed  dramatically  over  the  last  fifty  years.  As  the  world  around  us  has  changed, 
 however,  the  import  of  the  EAS  as  a  tool  for  reaching  our  citizenry  during  time  of  need  remains  high. 
 We  are  proud  to  adopt  this  Notice  today,  as  a  result,  in  part,  of  the  recommendations  of  the  Media  Security  and  Reliability  Council  and  the  Partnership  for  Public  Warning  and  in  coordination  with  our 
 partners  at  the  Department  of  Homeland  Security  and  its  component,  FEMA  and  the  Department  of  Commerce  and  its  component,  the  National  Oceanic  and  Atmospheric  Administration’s  National  Weather 
 Service. 
 This  proceeding  will  provide  one  of  many  vehicles  by  which  we  collectively  explore  the  most  effective  mechanism  for  warning  the  American  public  of  an  emergency  and  the  role  of  EAS  as  we  move  further 
 into  our  digital  future.  I  commend  my  colleagues  here  at  the  Commission  and  our  partners  at  DHS,  FEMA,  DoC  and  NOAA  for  their  dedication  to  making  our  homeland  a  safer  place  for  our  citizens. 
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