Don't Break Up the T-Band Act of 2020

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 451, the Don't Break Up the T-Band Act, as amended by the Energy and Commerce Committee to include provisions from Republican Leader Walden's FIRST RESPONDER Act.

Today's legislation will allow first responders to retain access to a critical band of spectrum as they continue to make plans to transition mission-critical voice functions to the FirstNet Network.

The bill also takes a strong stand against States that divert vital resources away from maintaining and upgrading their 911 systems by creating strong safeguards to help prevent diversion of fees collected for 911 operations.

Currently, States charge American consumers a monthly fee on their phone bills to support 911 services. Yet, some States do not use the money collected from this fee to support 911. Rather, they use it for other State priorities unrelated to providing critical 911 services or dispatching first responders during an emergency. In some cases, States siphon these funds directly into their general fund, and in other cases States use these fees for other public safety-type expenses that do not directly support 911 services. Those States are currently classified by the FCC as 911 fee diverters.

To clarify what is considered a diversion, and what is considered to support 911 services, the bill directs the FCC to clarify its rules of what obligations or expenditures are acceptable. These rules would be crafted with input from States to ensure that appropriate 911 uses are included.

Additionally, if a State has expenditures that don't fit squarely within the eligible uses determined by the Commission, but can provide documentation and receipts to show how those expenditures support public safety answering point functions and operations or the ability to dispatch emergency responders, then the States ought to have an opportunity to challenge the acceptable nature of those expenses, and this bill provides for that as well.

For the States that are truly bad actors, I think we can all agree that those States should be held accountable for their shameful practice of diverting 911 fees for programs completely unrelated to 911 services. Misleading the public on something this important to public safety is unacceptable.

To that end, this bill sets up a strike force of State law enforcement officers, public safety officials, and others to consider potential criminal penalties to end fee diversion at its source. This strike force would also study jurisdictional, budgetary, and other barriers to ending diversion.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Mr. Engel and Chairman Pallone for working with us to add this important language to the bill. I would also like to thank FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly, for his work on the issue. He has been a steadfast champion on trying to address this issue and hold States accountable to the fullest extent of the law.

Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this legislation by my colleagues, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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