In Testimony Before House Telecommunications Subcommittee, Lawson says passage of WARN Act will build upon ground-breaking partnership between APTS and DHS-FEMA

On July 20, 2006, John Lawson, President & CEO of the Association of Public Television Stations (APTS), testified at a hearing held by the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. Mr. Lawson told Members of Congress about the recently announced completion of Phase II of the pilot project on the Digital Emergency Alert System undertaken in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency. The project confirmed how the Department of Homeland Security can and disseminate public alerts and warnings during times of national crisis through the use of local public television’s digital television broadcasts.

At the hearing, Lawson also offered "our strong support for the creation of a national hazard alert system under H.R. 5785, the Warning, Alert, and Response Network (WARN) Act. We commend Representative Shimkus, as well as the co-sponsors of the WARN Act, for their leadership in this vital area. The WARN Act is a pivotal piece of legislation, one that can save lives, ease suffering and speed recovery during future disasters."

The WARN Act meets some of the key communications challenges exposed during Hurricane Katrina by establishing a National Alert System capable of providing emergency alerts to the public on a national, regional, or local basis. Among other things, the WARN Act embraces public television digital transmitters as the backbone for the reception, relay, and retransmission of National Alert System messages.

Lawson said: "For Public Television, the creation of a national alert system is a component of a much larger mosaic of how digital technology can be deployed. We are utilizing DTV not only to improve the lives of all Americans, but even to save their lives in the event of a natural or man-made emergency. Public Television is proud to be at the leading edge of this effort, through the Digital Emergency Alert System."

Lawson concluded, "The Department of Homeland Security has made an investment in an infrastructure platform that would support regional and local emergency communications. The WARN Act builds upon that investment and extends its emergency communications capabilities, across multiple devices, to states and localities throughout the country. This critical piece of legislation will go a long way toward providing the type of comprehensive, integrated public safety communications framework that the American people need and deserve. If the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina has taught us anything, it is that we are all vulnerable in a time of crisis."