FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 10, 2003

NEWS MEDIA CONTACT: David Fiske (202) 418-0513

Since September 11, the Federal Communications Commission has worked tirelessly to ensure that our policies maximize the many efforts being made to keep our nation safe.

Within weeks of the terrorist attacks, we created a Homeland Security Policy Council, comprised of senior managers from throughout the agency and charged with coordinating the Commission's Homeland Security initiatives both internally and externally. We rechartered the Network Reliability and Interoperability Council, one of our Federal Advisory Committees, to focus on Homeland Security. We created another Federal Advisory Committee, the Media Security and Reliability Council, to bring together representatives of the media industry for purposes of focusing on emergency communication and coordination plans.

And we made Homeland Security one of the five pillars of the Commission's Strategic Plan. Since then, each of the Commission's Bureaus and Offices has integrated a Homeland Security focus into its work and has ongoing and future projects that will enhance the security and reliability of the communications infrastructure or enhance emergency response through communications. Today we announce another important step in furthering the Commission's efforts to promote Homeland Security: the creation of an Office of Homeland Security in the Enforcement Bureau that will provide consolidated support for the Commission in meeting our Homeland Security and emergency preparedness responsibilities.

The current FCC Homeland Security action plan demonstrates the depth and breadth of projects we undertake to ensure that the FCC does its part on the Homeland Security front. I am proud of the work we have done in this critical area and look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure our continued success.