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 Federal  Communications  Commission  FCC  06-  35 
 STATEMENT  OF  CHAIRMAN  KEVIN  J.  MARTIN 


 Re:  Establishment  of  the  Public  Safety  and  Homeland  Security  Bureau  and  Other  Organizational  Changes 
 I  am  proud  to  support  today’s  vote  to  establish  a  Public  Safety  and  Homeland  Security  Bureau  at  the  Commission. 
 The  events  on  September  11  th  ,  2001  and  last  year’s  Hurricane  season  underscored  our  dependence  on  our  national  telecommunications  infrastructure.  During  times  of  emergency,  it  is  critical  that  the  needs  of  the 
 public  safety  community  are  met. 
 Today  the  Commission  takes  the  significant  step  of  consolidating  its  public  safety,  national  security,  and  disaster  management  policy  making,  planning,  and  outreach  activities  into  a  single  Bureau  –  the  Public 
 Safety  and  Homeland  Security  Bureau.  This  Bureau  will  provide  a  single  central  hub  for  the  development  of  policies  and  rules  to  promote  reliable  communications  for  public  safety,  national  security,  and  disaster 
 management.  The  Bureau  will  be  tasked  to  expend  all  of  its  talent  and  resources  to  make  sure  that  the  Commission  does  its  part  to  support  reliable  emergency  communications  and  address  the  needs  of  first 
 responders,  law  enforcement,  and  emergency  response  personnel. 
 One  of  the  Commission’s  strategic  goals  is  to  ensure  that  public  safety,  health,  defense,  and  emergency  personnel,  as  well  as  all  consumers  in  need,  have  reliable  communications  during  emergencies  and  crises. 
 The  Commission  must  work  to  strengthen  and  ensure  the  nation’s  critical  communications  infrastructure’s  continued  reliability,  interoperability,  redundancy,  and  rapid  restoration. 


 The  Commission  has  a  record  of  acting  to  ensure  public  safety  priorities  are  met.  For  example,  last  May,  the  Commission  took  action  to  extend  emergency  access  requirements  to  new  technologies.  Anyone  who 
 dials  911  has  a  reasonable  expectation  that  he  or  she  will  be  connected  to  an  emergency  operator;  this  expectation  exists  whether  that  person  is  dialing  911  from  a  traditional  wireline  phone,  a  wireless  phone, 
 or  a  VoIP  phone. 
 The  new  Public  Safety  and  Homeland  Security  Bureau  will  enhance  the  Commission’s  ability  to  continue  ensuring  public  safety  priorities  are  met  and  that  consumers  have  access  to  reliable  communications 
 during  emergencies  and  crises.  The  new  Bureau’s  coordinated  efforts  with  the  public  safety  community,  other  governmental  agencies,  and  industry  should  also  promote  reliability,  interoperability,  redundancy, 
 and  rapid  restorability  of  the  nation’s  critical  communications  infrastructure.  I  look  forward  to  working  with  the  staff  of  the  new  Bureau  and  my  colleagues  on  the  Commission  as  together  we  work  to  achieve 
 our  public  safety  and  homeland  security  goals. 
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