Ask Your House Representative to Cosponsor H.R. 5081 - Broadband for First Responders Act of 2010; Urge Your U.S. Senators & President Obama to Support D Block Allocation to Public Safety
What do you need to do? |
Why do you need to act? |
Who else supports this effort? |
What is being done? |
What can you do? |
Where do you go if you need help and more information? |
What do you do after you Contact Congress and the White House?
What do you need to do?
APCO International implores you to CALL, EMAIL, and WRITE to your U.S. House Representative today to strongly urge him/her to cosponsor H.R. 5081 - Broadband for First Responders Act of 2010 NOW! Please call, write and email your two U.S. Senators and urge them to introduce a companion to HR5081 in the U.S. Senate. Finally, contact the White House and urge President Obama to formally support HR5081, and ask his Administration to support D block allocation to public safety.
Why do you need to act?
Congressman Peter King (NY 3 - R) and Congresswoman Yvette Clarke (NY 11 - D) recently introduced the Broadband for First Responders Act of 2010 (H.R. 5081) in the United States House of Representatives. This bipartisan legislation would mandate that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) allocate the 10 MHz of Spectrum, known as the D Block, to public safety for the creation of a national public safety interoperable mobile broadband network.
This is a top legislative priority for APCO and the entire public safety and state and local government community. APCO believes the new mobile broadband network will improve our nation's public safety and homeland security, and it will provide our first responders with new interoperable communications technologies that are so long overdue and urgently needed. Additionally, the network will enable our local, tribal, state and federal public safety agencies to provide more cost effective services to the communities served, while producing millions of dollars in long-term cost savings through more efficient delivery of next generation technologies.
Who else supports this effort?
APCO is joined by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), the Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCC), the Major County Sheriffs' Association (MCSA), the Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association (Metro Chiefs), the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA) and the National Sheriffs' Association (NSA) as part of the Public Safety Consensus Group in advocating for the introduction of this legislation. Additionally, the National Governors Association (NGA), the National Association of Counties (NACo), the National League of Cities (NLC), the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM), the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), the Council of State Governments (CSG), the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), the National Criminal Justice Association (NCJA), and the International Association of Emergency Management (IAEM) have all formally come out in support of the Public Safety Consensus Group and are urging Congress to pass H.R. 5081. The Public Safety Consensus Group has also received the active support of several leading public safety manufacturers and services providers including Alcatel Lucent, AT&T, Harris, Motorola, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, and Verizon Wireless.
What is being done?
All of our partners have begun their own grassroots campaign, so your Mayor, County Commissioner, Police Chief, Fire Chief, and Sheriff are being urged to contact their U.S. Senators and House Members to support D block allocation to public safety. Since they are supporting us, we need to support them by reinforcing the message!
What can you do?
Download a sample letter you can send to your U.S. Representative(s). Additionally, download talking points on H.R. 5081 that you can use when you call your U.S. House of Representatives. More information is at www.d-block.net.
Where do you go if you need help and more information?
If you need help contacting your Congressman and US Senators, call APCO's government relations office at 571-312-4400. They can assist you on how to work with your member of Congress. Additional information about how to do grassroots lobbying is available by clicking here.
What do you do after you Contact Congress and the White House?
After you have emailed, faxed and called your U.S. House of Representative, your U.S. Senators and the White House, tell us what you learned by sending your letter, email and any other comments to dblock@apcomail.org. Let us know if your congressional delegation needs additional information, and where they stand on cosponsoring H.R. 5081, supporting a companion bill in the U.S. Senate for D block to public safety.
