Following the release of a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), Representatives Lee Zeldin (R-NY-1), Eliot Engel (D-NY-16), Peter King (R-NY-2), and Al Green (D-TX-09) recently urged the advancement of a bill that would preserve the T-Band spectrum for use by emergency services.
H.R. 491, the Don’t Break up the T-Band Act, would repeal the provision of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, which requires the sale of the T-Band spectrum. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is currently required to reallocate and auction the T-Band spectrum by 2021.
The T-Band is a portion of spectrum used in 11 heavily populated metropolitan areas covering more than 90 million Americans, to support critical public safety communications and provide regional interoperability among first responders.
The lawmakers noted that public safety agencies have spent numerous years and hundreds of millions of dollars of federal, state and local funds to plan and build out T-Band networks and that many public safety entities have nowhere else to move.
“Our first responders bravely and selflessly put their lives on the line each and every day to protect our communities, and our first priority must be ensuring they have the resources they need to safely and effectively do their jobs,” Zeldin said. “From hurricanes to fires, in the most dire situations, the T-band spectrum provides critical communication between first responders. Even when cell phones, internet, and electricity cease to function, T-band is the last line of defense, and selling off this spectrum would not only be a disservice to our nation’s first responders and the millions of Americans they serve, but to our nation’s taxpayers. I thank my colleagues from both sides of the aisle for their efforts to ensure our first responders have the tools they need and look forward to getting this important victory over the finish line.”
The GAO reported the FCC’s finding that relocating users from the T-Band spectrum would cost $5 billion to $6 billion and recommended that Congress consider legislation that would allow the continued use of the spectrum.
“This report reiterates what my colleagues and I have been saying about selling the T-band spectrum: it would not only make things more difficult and less reliable for our first-responders, it would also cost an arm and a leg,” Engel said. “There really is no compelling reason to do this, but Congressional action is still needed to prevent it from happening. Thus, I authored the ‘Don’t Break Up the T-Band Act’ last Congress and I’m proud to have reintroduced it this Congress with bipartisan support from Reps. Zeldin, King, and Green. Following the GAO report, the House should move quickly to pass our bill.”