HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.
![handle is hein.cbhear/fdsysbdfm0001 and id is 1 raw text is: AUTHENTICATED
U.S. GOVERNMENT
INFORMATION
GPO
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2022
U.S. SENATE,
SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS,
Washington, DC.
NONDEPARTMENTAL WITNESSES
[The following testimony was received by the Subcommittee on
Homeland Security for inclusion in the record. The submitted ma-
terial relates to the fiscal year 2022 budget request for programs
within the subcommittee's jurisdiction.]
PREPARED STATEMENT OF AMERICA'S PUBLIC TELEVISION STATIONS (APTS) AND THE
PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE (PBS)
Regarding funding to create a new program at FEMA to support public
broadcasting's public safety infrastructure:
THE NEXT GENERATION WARNING SYSTEM
As this subcommittee considers the FY 2022 Homeland Security Appropriations
Bill, America's Public Television Stations (APTS), representing the nation's 354 lo-
cally operated, locally controlled public television stations, and PBS urge the sub-
committee to provide $20 million for the Next Generation Warning System (NGWS)
within FEMA's Federal Assistance grants.
This new competitive grant program would maintain and enhance public broad-
casting stations' current work to provide alert, warning and interoperable commu-
nications, in partnership with federal, state and local law enforcement and first re-
sponder agencies, and would enable the incorporation of emerging technology in
those life-saving activities.
PUBLIC TELEVISION'S ROLE IN PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS
Public broadcasting has long played a critical role in supporting local, regional
and national first responders and the public safety and homeland security commu-
nity. While you may be familiar with the tones and notices that accompany testing
of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) during radio and television broadcasts, you
may not realize the other important services that local public television and radio
stations, which together reach nearly 99 percent of the American population, pro-
vide:
-Public television, through the PBS Warning Alert Response Network (WARN),
provides critical distribution infrastructure for the nation's Wireless Emergency
Alert (WEA) system, a unique public-private partnership between FEMA, the
FCC, and industry established by Congress in 2006 for sending locally-targeted
and nationwide emergency messages.
In 2020, during the first 10 months of the pandemic, over 500 COVID-19 alerts
were sent to millions of mobile devices using the WEA system. In addition to
public television stations providing a diverse redundant path for these and all
WEA messages, PBS has developed an application called Eyes on IPAWS that
provides data analytics and a live feed of WEAs directly from local public tele-
vision stations, without relying on internet access. This tool was piloted by Cali-
fornia's Office of Emergency Services and is now available to any agency.
-Many public television and radio stations, equipped with back-up communica-
tions equipment and power generators, cooperate with FEMA to serve as their
(1)](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.cbhear/fdsysbdfm0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)