SEPARATE STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER KEVIN J. MARTIN In re: The 4.9 GHz Band Transferred from Federal Government Use, Second Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (WT Docket No. 00- 32)(adopted February 14, 2002). Recent events serve as an important reminder of just how critical public safety and national security operations are to the welfare of our society. The Commission must do its part to ensure that the communications requirements for such operations are satisfied. I have enjoyed working with the public safety community on these challenging issues. I am very pleased to approve this allocation and public safety designation, which reflects this Commission's dedication to promoting safety of life and property by supporting such operations. It is important for the Commission to ensure sufficient spectrum for the public safety community, which requires spectrum that will be readily available in times of emergencies. It is also important for the Commission to facilitate interoperability, as well as multiple types of uses. This is particularly true during crisis situations and for incident scene management. The allocation here of an additional 50 MHz of spectrum for the public safety community will help to further both of these goals. Members of the public safety community have also emphasized the importance of this band for emerging broadband technologies like wireless local area networks to coordinate incident scene and command center personnel. I look forward to seeing these and other sophisticated applications, such as high speed on-site file transfers and specialized headsets equipped with video cameras and environmental sensors, being used to assist such operations. This spectrum and these types of uses will help enable emergency response service providers, such as law enforcement personnel, fire fighters, SWAT teams, bomb squads, emergency medical providers, and others whose livelihoods revolve around protecting our owns lives and property, better carry out their missions. I look forward to reviewing comments regarding the service rules portion of this proceeding, and to a continuing dialogue regarding how the Commission can best advance and support national security and public safety missions.