STATEMENT OF 
COMMISSIONER MICHAEL J. COPPS
Re:  The Commercial Mobile Alert System, First Report and Order, PS Docket No. 07-287
Today’s Order creates a framework for delivering emergency alerts to American mobile 
phones, as required by the Warning Alert Response Network (WARN) Act.  Extending the 
nation’s emergency alert system to mobile phones is an enormous step forward.  Now Americans 
will be able to receive warnings about dangerous weather and other imminent threats (including 
man-made threats like a terrorist attack) in their immediate area, even if they are not near a 
television set or radio and even if their electrical power is down.  This is good news for all of 
us—especially in these dangerous times.
I also think it is significant that today’s Order arises out of cooperation—through a 
process established by the WARN Act—among public safety representatives; government at the 
state, local and federal level; federally-recognized Indian tribes; industry; and national 
organizations representing those with special needs.  For the most part, the work of the 
Commercial Mobile Service Alert Advisory Committee (established by the WARN Act) has 
been a model of how difficult and important decisions can be reached, and consensus forged, 
even among diverse stakeholders.  
The many experts who dedicated their time and energy to this important effort have made 
today’s decision far more informed, and responsive to technical realities, than it otherwise would 
be.  I thank them for their service, and I hope that this spirit of cooperation and shared dedication 
to improving public safety can serve as a model for other public safety issues before the 
Commission.  To be sure, there will be times when the agency cannot forge consensus and must 
act based on the best available evidence before it—because doing so is sometimes necessary to 
protect the American public.  But the fact remains that the Commission and industry are both 
capable of reaching better outcomes when we work cooperatively, and I hope we can do so more 
often in the months and years ahead.
Unfortunately, there is one final issue that remains unresolved by today’s Order—an 
issue that, if left uncorrected, threatens to vitiate it entirely.  So far, no federal agency has 
stepped up to fulfill the unified aggregator/gateway role that virtually all stakeholders agree is 
necessary for our mobile alert system to work properly.  Indeed, if no agency assumes this role, 
the rules we enact today will never become effective and Americans will never receive the 
protection of emergency alerts delivered to their mobile phones.
The unwillingness of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to fulfill this 
role is especially disheartening because FEMA representatives were intimately involved in 
developing the idea of a unified Federal gateway/aggregator.  In fact, not until long after the die 
was cast, did FEMA suggest that it would be unable for statutory and other reasons to perform 
this key function.  Specifically, it was less than two months ago—after the advisory committee 
had made its recommendation and after FEMA’s representative had voted in favor of the unified 
Federal gateway/aggregator scheme—before FEMA raised any objection to assuming this 
responsibility.
So now we are left without a firm candidate for a position that is essential to getting this 
system off the ground.  In light of FEMA’s recent and unexpected interpretation of its statutory 
authority, the Commission’s only remaining option is to work with its fellow agencies and the 
Congress to find a federal entity (whether FEMA, another branch of the Department of 
Homeland Security, or some other government agency) that can fulfill this function.  
I certainly wish it had not come to this.  Indeed, I would not be shy about suggesting that 
the FCC take on this function itself—except that our agency (unlike FEMA, the Department of 
Justice, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency) does not currently have experience 
with originating emergency alerts; has not received appropriations for operating an emergency 
alert system (as FEMA has); and does not have statutory authority to borrow money against the 
DTV Transition Fund to implement the WARN Act (as the Departments of Homeland Security 
and Commerce have).  
The time may come when the FCC must consider whether to begin the task of creating 
this infrastructure here at our own agency, and I will not hesitate to head down this road if it 
looks like the fastest and most effective way to bring mobile emergency alerts to the American 
people.  But for now the most fruitful path appears to be working with the Congress and our 
fellow federal agencies to see if an institution with experience originating emergency alerts is 
willing and able to assume this role for the CMAS system.  I hope—for all of our sakes—that
one will be.