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                                       STATEMENT OF
              COMMISSIONER KATHLEEN Q. ABERNATHY

            Re:  Review of Emergency Alert System (EB Docket 
No. 04-296)


In the world we live in today, telecommunications is the vital 
link that keeps us in touch with each other and with what is 
going on around us.  Unfortunately, the world we live in today 
has come to be a very dangerous place.   Therefore, it is 
critically important for telecommunications to serve as a 
reliable instant messenger of news and information that we and 
our families need to protect ourselves in sudden emergencies.

The Order and Further Notice we adopt today help assure that 
kind of reliability.  By expanding the Commission's Emergency 
Alert System requirements to the new generation of digital 
communications services that American families increasingly 
rely on  --  digital broadcast radio and TV, digital cable, 
and direct-to-home satellite TV and radio services  --  the 
Order advances the goal of getting lifesaving information out 
to  those who need it.   And the Further Notice looks to added 
ways of guaranteeing that no American lacks access to 
emergency information, that all technologies are appropriately 
tasked to help safeguard our people, and that any state 
governor wishing to do so can activate EAS warnings for 
disasters impacting  people in one or more states.  

These are excellent outcomes, and I thank the Chairman and the 
staff who worked so diligently to develop this item and 
present it to us today.  I also express thanks to those in the 
telecommunications industry who came forward proactively with 
proposals on how other technologies can contribute to a 
seamless digital emergency alert system.  These issues are 
discussed in the Further Notice and I look forward to 
receiving public comment on them.

Given the complexity of telecom regulation, many of the items 
the Commission votes on have to be broken down and translated 
to understand the good things expected to come from them.  
This item isn't one of them:  its benefits will be real and 
tangible, helping to protect our safety and well-being when we 
are most in peril.  For this reason, I fully support it and 
vote to approve it.