Evaluating FirstNet: Performance, Accountability, and Reauthorization

[Gavel sounds.] Subcommittee will come to order. The chair recognizes himself for an opening statement. Good morning. Welcome to today's legislative hearing on the First Responder Network Authority, or FirstNet. FirstNet's authorization expires at the beginning of next year, and it's this committee's duty to reauthorize the program before it expires. In the process, we should examine FirstNet's activities since its creation 15 years ago and make any changes necessary to improve its performance. Future of public safety relies on safe resources like FirstNet. So thank you all for joining us to ensure that our country is taken care of in the times of need. During the horrific terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, first responders from different agencies found they could not communicate with each other because they used different radio systems and overloaded networks prevented communications from going through. In the aftermath of these attacks, Congress stood up the 9/11 Commission, which made recommendations to prepare for and guard against future attacks. One of those recommendations led to Congress establishing FirstNet, a nationwide broadband network specifically built for public safety. FirstNet was allocated 20 megahertz of spectrum and $7 billion to build out the network in all 50 states and the territories. In 2017, AT&T was selected to deploy the network. Shortly after, FirstNet began providing priority and preemption. During a crisis when there is increased network traffic, non-FirstNet AT&T subscribers will be removed from the priority list to ensure first responders can always make the call. On December 20, 2023, the FirstNet Authority verified the initial nationwide build-out of the network. However, the successful build-out of this network does not mean it has not faced challenges. Since 2014, the Department of Commerce Office of Inspector General has issued 21 reports regarding significant concerns about FirstNet and the deployment of the nationwide public safety broadband network, its operational response, and other administrative matters. Several of these reports highlight contract oversight shortcomings resulting in modified build-out objectives that jeopardize first responders' ability to do their job. Other reports indicate a failure of the network to adequately respond to a natural disaster and that a senior official at FirstNet interfered with the OIG's investigation and even retaliated against whistleblowers who cooperated with the OIG. This committee's work over the last several months has also identified a consistent and troubling finding. The ambiguous language regarding FirstNet's independence while simultaneously placing it directly within an executive branch agency has created confusion and strife for all parties involved when trying to manage this program. To ensure the long-term success of FirstNet, it is imperative there is a clear and consistent leadership. This leadership must be able to work hand-in-hand with the FirstNet board, not against it. I would like to emphasize that this draft legislation does not in any way remove the statutory requirement to have a board or their responsibilities to the First Responder Network Authority. The board is an incredibly valuable component of FirstNet and crucial for ensuring the experience and needs of first responders as well as the general public, not government bureaucrats, are reflected in the direction of the network. Additionally, we must ensure this network can evolve along with the technological landscape. Networks of 15 years ago are different than those of today and could be even more different 15 years from now. For the benefit of first responders, FirstNet should have the statutory flexibility to incorporate new network technologies to provide the most advanced service that public safety requires. I want to be clear. FirstNet has succeeded despite the challenges it's faced, and I would like to commend AT&T for building a nationwide safety communications network, making it a success and continuing to build it out and improve for the safety of others, and for being the only one to take it on in the first place. Congress is here to evaluate this program to ensure its long-term success for our first responders. Today is the first step in the reauthorization of this program. With FirstNet's statutory authority set to expire in 2027, it's time for Congress to assess FirstNet's progress and ensure that we provide a governing structure that sets up FirstNet to succeed into the future. Today we'll hear from our witnesses who are directly involved with FirstNet about the current state of the network and how the legislation before us will strengthen the First Responder Network Authority. I now recognize the ranking member, the gentlelady from California, for her opening statement.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Keeping the public safe is one of our most fundamental responsibilities as lawmakers. In moments of crisis, people expect help to arrive quickly, but our public safety professionals can't do their jobs if they don't receive the call for help or if their lines of communications fail. That's why Congress created the FirstNet Authority, a nationwide broadband network specifically for first responders. Disasters don't wait for perfect conditions. Wildfires, floods, severe storms, and large-scale emergencies can overwhelm local systems in seconds. In those moments, our first responders need priority service, strong coverage, and a network that holds up under pressure. Back home in California, we're hearing that FirstNet is making a difference on the ground. Cal OES, our state emergency management office, has highlighted the tremendous value they've seen from FirstNet. But they also emphasize the job is not finished. Even with the progress so far, too many communities in rural California still can't count on reliable coverage. That matters because one of the core goals of FirstNet was to extend reliable service to the places the market too often leaves behind. As we consider reauthorization, we should be asking how we strengthen incentives and accountability so that build-out reaches the hard places, not just the easy ones. At the same time, it's important to recognize what this program has accomplished. FirstNet is a strong example of what can happen when Congress identifies a real need and builds a durable framework to meet it. At first, some questioned whether a nationwide public safety network was feasible. Some questioned whether it was good business. But Congress took on that challenge because public safety is too important for us just to stand by. Since then, FirstNet has spurred modern public safety connectivity. It showed that serving first responders can be both a public good and a sustainable business model. Our job today is to take the lessons of nearly 15 years and make FirstNet even better. That starts with fixing its shortcomings, especially in transparency and accountability. Congress and the public need clear visibility into FirstNet's performance, spending, and whether commitments are being met. We also have a responsibility to help this system evolve. Public safety needs are not one size fits all. Some public safety agencies in my district rely on FirstNet. Some use other providers, and some use a mix because they can't afford a single point of failure. But no matter what network a responder is on, they should be able to connect instantly with partners on the ground, even when conditions are at their worst. We should look for ways to enable innovation, spur competition, and meet local needs while maintaining interoperability and reliable reliability nationwide. At the end of the day, this reauthorization is about listening to our first responders and making sure they have the tools they need and do their job safely and effectively. If we get this right, we can build on what's already working, fix what isn't, and ensure FirstNet keeps delivering for communities big and small, urban and rural, for decades to come. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses and how this draft bill balances these priorities and what changes are needed. Thank you, and I yield back.

Thank you. I now recognize the chairman of the full committee, the gentleman from Kentucky, for five minutes for his opening statement.

Thank you. Thank you, Chairman Hudson. Thanks for bringing us all together on this important work, and thanks for the ranking member Matsui for working on this as well. I look forward to hearing more about FirstNet responder network authority and the impact the legislation before us will have. It's been almost 15 years since Congress created the First Responder Network Authority. Born in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, this network is critical for first responders to have a communications network that works and when they need it most. It is important that this committee evaluates the progress FirstNet has made since its inception and make necessary changes to improve it. The committee's oversight work on this issue has indicated ongoing challenges with the FirstNet structure, and the Department of Commerce Office of Inspector General has indicated problems with transparency and accountability. The legislation before us today makes those reforms to improve transparency, accountability, and leadership, but also to ensure the longevity and continued development and success of this network as technology evolves. This bill keeps important aspects of FirstNet, such as the board, which provides valuable expertise of this network to ensure continued success of the program. Last year, I had the opportunity to meet with the Fern Creek fire chief and the local and other local first responders in my district to talk about FirstNet operations and disaster preparedness. We talked about reliable access to communications for our for our first responders and our communities, especially during emergencies like the devastating tornadoes and floods that struck the Commonwealth in recent years. The creation of the First Responder Network Authority led the way in innovation for a dedicated communication service for first responders, where today there are now competing services for first responder communications. This healthy competition will drive further market innovation to provide the best services dedicated to public safety. However, we must ensure the different users of these services can communicate and are interoperable with each other. Regardless of which service provider a first responder uses, it is critical that their communication tools work reliably in the moments of the greatest need. Thank you again for having this, Chairman Hudson. Thanks for all our witnesses for being here. We look forward to hearing from you. Your participation is important, and I will yield back.

Thank you. I now recognize the gentleman from New Jersey, the ranking member, for five minutes for his opening statement.

Thank you, Chairman Hudson. The subcommittee has worked hard in recent months to advance bipartisan efforts to improve public safety communications, and I'm glad to see that we're continuing today as we discuss legislation to reauthorize the First Responder Network Authority. Since its creation following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, FirstNet has delivered unprecedented connectivity to law enforcement, fire services, emergency medical services, and many other public safety personnel who serve our communities every day. And prior to those attacks, the market for priority and preemptive services for first responders did not really exist. The Government Emergency Telecommunications Service, or GETS, has been around for some time, and more recently, the Nationwide Wireless Priority Service, or WPS. Yet nothing comes close to the mobile capabilities and exclusivity that are available to first responders today and offered by three different nationwide providers who compete fiercely for public safety's business. Now, some of my colleagues might not want to believe it, but government intervention and investment by Congress in 2012 actually opened the door to more competition while raising the bar for public safety communication services. And as we look to reauthorize the First Responder Network Authority, it's important that we recognize that many of the conditions that existed when it was created in 2012 have changed significantly in 14 years. We also have the benefit of examination and analysis from the Commerce Department's Office of Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office. They both identified issues that have led FirstNet to fall short of its mission at times to serve first responders, and some of those problems are structural while others have been addressed on an ongoing basis by the FirstNet Authority as they've arisen. In any case, the text in the discussion draft before us today represents a good faith effort to address concerns that have been raised with the committee over the years. It's also clear that the FirstNet service remains overwhelmingly popular with the vast majority of public safety organizations. Ultimately, the user experience and functionality from the perspective of first responders and public safety subscribers is the most important metric for us to consider, and I'm committed to ensuring that we do no harm to the service in the course of this effort. I'm aware of the passion and interest this issue has across a broad range of stakeholders. I have appreciated hearing the perspectives of our friends in public safety, representatives of federal, state, and local governments, and wireless industry stakeholders who offer these services, and I look forward to continuing those conversations this year as we work through the regular order process to achieve consensus that can pass both the House and Senate and be signed into law by the year's end. So let me thank Representatives McClellan and Dunn for their leadership in this effort that's absolutely critical to keeping first responders connected when when it matters most. And yield back the remainder of my I actually I want to yield the remainder of my time to Representative McClellan.

Thank you, Ranking Member Pallone, and Chairman Hudson and Ranking Member Matsui for holding this critically important hearing. This past week, most of the country was inundated by Winter Storm Fern, which canceled nearly 2,000 flights, left hundreds of thousands without power, and resulted in more than 50 deaths, three of them in Virginia. I would like to thank the witnesses and our first responders for their work and continued investments in FirstNet that have made have been made throughout the nation, the Commonwealth, and the Fourth District. Born out of the tragic events of September 11, FirstNet is essential to assuring our public safety community has the reliable, interoperable tools and resources necessary to respond to our most severe emergencies. This is critically important as we see more and more severe natural disasters like Winter Storm Fern and the mega-hurricanes that we have seen. However, FirstNet as FirstNet approaches the end of its current authorization, it is clear that the program is operating without sufficient up-to-date oversight and accountability measures in place. Reauthorization is not simply about extending the program. It's about strengthening governance, reinforcing transparency, and ensuring that Congress retains appropriate visibility into how the nationwide public safety broadband network operates. I'm glad to work with my colleague from Florida, Mr. Dunn, on this legislation, and I look forward to continuing our bipartisan efforts to strengthen FirstNet so it can continue to serve first responders and the communities that depend on them. Thank you, and I yield back.

Gentlelady yields back. The gentleman yields back. Thank you. We have now concluded with member opening statements. The chair reminds members that pursuant to the committee rules, all members' opening statements will be made part of the record. We'd like to thank our witnesses for being here today to testify before this subcommittee. Our witnesses will have five minutes to provide an opening statement, which will be followed by a round of questions from the members. The witnesses here before us today are Sheriff Michael Adkinson, acting board chair of the First Responder Network Authority and sheriff of Walton County, Florida; Michael Dame, associate administrator, Office of Public Safety Communications at NTIA; and Scott Agnew, president of FirstNet and public safety mobility at AT&T. Thank you all for being here. Sheriff Adkinson, you are recognized for five minutes for an opening statement.

Thank you, Chair Hudson, Chair Guthrie, Ranking Member Matsui, Ranking Member Pallone. As previously stated, my name is Mike Adkinson. I am the acting board chair of the FirstNet Authority. By way of my day job, I am a sheriff in Walton County, Florida. Uniquely, I represent professional fire rescue, emergency services, and air medical as well as 911 communications center. 25 years ago, you've heard it, this nation faced challenges. I remember getting up that morning, putting on a police officer uniform for the Tallahassee Police Department and saying, "What is going on? What is happening?" The reality of it is that this Congress, along with public safety's input, made a decision that I think fundamentally improved the well-being of the citizens of the United States and the first responders they serve, which is you built a purpose-built network to ensure that first responders could communicate during times of emergency. I will tell you that I think it is a generational infrastructure success. I've been on the board about a year and a half, along with six new board members, and we have marveled at what has been accomplished. And I will tell you that I'm proud of the work that the Congress has done and the First Responder Network has done. But my job is to be honest and to be a good steward of the public's trust and the responsibility that you've given us. I am well aware of the Inspector General's reports. We became aware of them right after we came into office, the new board members. It was our first thought and responsibility is to lean into this. You're not going to hear me make excuses for that. I'm not in the business of excuses. As I told the executive director and as the board said to the executive director and staff members, we're in the business of getting things done. And so what that means is there will be accountability, there will be transparency, you will work with the Office of the Inspector General, and we will resolve these issues. Period. Full stop. Then whoever should be held accountable should be held accountable. That is the reality of where we're at, and I'm not going to beleaguer that point, but I think it speaks for itself. I think that there is an opportunity now to do some things that make a difference. If FirstNet has been successful, I believe it will continue to be successful. There are some things I think we can do to make it better. Let me give you an example. As I briefly mentioned, six of us came on board at one time. That's an incredibly difficult way to maintain continuity of government when you have six new people who have no previous history on that board itself. We would ask that you consider staggering these terms to three years. By the way, that was in the original legislation. It just did not contemplate reoccurring. That you grant the Secretary of the Department of Commerce the ability to continue to stagger these terms. That's just good governance. We'd also say this, that this should be a public safety mindset on this board. And to that end, we would ask that you make a minimum five seats designated for public safety disciplines. We think that's important, and that is actually, I think, the intent we're asking that you codify it into law, and it's important. And lastly, I'll say this. There are too many captains on the ship. The reality of this is if you're going to if you're going to give hold me accountable, please give me the authority to make decisions. And I think that's crucial. We have a good working relationship with NTIA. We're going to continue to do that. But it's not about individuals. It's about systems. And anytime that you have a single solution optimization, you have system fragility. You have to make sure this thing is written down, that it's done correctly, that it is clear to everyone involved about how we're going to do some things. I think that's crucially important. I'm going to go back and say this again. Nothing about what I just said takes away from what I think is a phenomenal generational improve I liken it to the Eisenhower Interstate System. Everybody can drive on it. It is the service of the people. Some people, some local government, some private industry may build private roads. That's fine. That's good. Our job is to make sure it works, that we're good stewards of the public's money, and we do what we do in the light of the sunshine, as we say in Florida, Representative Castor, as you well know. This is the way we should be doing business. I'll hold myself fully accountable. As I sit at the chair of the day, you can have my resignation if you do not believe that I'm doing this appropriately. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Dame, you're recognized for five minutes for your opening statement.

Good morning. Chairman Hudson, Ranking Member Matsui, Chairman Guthrie, Ranking Member Pallone, and members of the subcommittee. My name is Mike Dame. I'm the associate administrator for public safety communications within the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. I have served at NTIA for 13 years with a total of 29 years of federal service. My portfolio includes NTIA's statutory and delegated responsibilities related to the FirstNet Authority and next-generation 911 activities. I'm honored to appear today to provide testimony regarding the reauthorization of FirstNet. 14 years ago, this committee pioneered and Congress passed landmark legislation with the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, which established the First Responder Network Authority. It provided first responders with a much-needed nationwide interoperable public safety broadband network. For decades prior to FirstNet, there were far too many instances of major communications failures that cost lives or impeded emergency response. Before Congress created FirstNet, first responders lacked dedicated access to spectrum and the ability to connect regardless of congestion. Public safety users instead relied on commercial telecommunications networks that treated them no differently than everyday consumer traffic. FirstNet has achieved incredible milestones in 14 short years to serve the needs of public safety by awarding a contract to a nationwide telecommunications carrier, completing its initial build-out of the Band 14 network comprised of over 60,000 cell sites, and now serving tens of thousands of public safety agencies as subscribers and millions of device connections. Despite these major accomplishments, rigorous oversight of the FirstNet Authority and the multi-billion dollar contract is critical to protect first responders and taxpayer dollars. The Department of Commerce Office of Inspector General has performed significant review and evaluation of the FirstNet Authority. The overarching theme across all of these Inspector General audits is a need for stronger and more systemic contract oversight. As Congress looks to reauthorize FirstNet, NTIA stands ready to support the committee with key reforms to the law based on lessons learned from the past 14 years. For example, I have witnessed how the FirstNet Authority's statutorily created dotted line of independence has been a source of confusion and misunderstanding since 2012. Recent OIG reviews and my own experience illustrate how FirstNet's unclear lines of authority blur responsibility and create friction between FirstNet management, the board, and NTIA. Legislation should reform the structure of the FirstNet Authority by making it an NTIA line office similar to NTIA's other existing line offices. To be clear, I know that some public safety groups and stakeholders have expressed concerns with this proposed change. But this reform would strengthen FirstNet's mission by enabling clear oversight and more efficient stewardship of resources in service of first responders. All of these savings will be redirected into the network to benefit public safety. That said, I recognize that during a time of crisis, public safety must act quickly. Stakeholders have expressed fears about bureaucrats second-guessing decisions or delaying action. That of course would be unacceptable. And NTIA appreciates the draft text's call to clarify what activities would need prior approval from NTIA. However, other arguments against the removal of FirstNet Authority independence appear to either misunderstand or misstate the current lines of authority and blur the roles of FirstNet Authority staff and the FirstNet board. Importantly, placing the authority clearly into NTIA would have no impact whatsoever on the roles and responsibilities of the FirstNet board. In fact, NTIA believes that the forms being contemplated by this committee would further strengthen the board by staggering the board terms, driving continuity, and statutorily adding additional public safety seats. It is often said that FirstNet is a public safety network built for, by, and by public safety. That is because of the expertise embedded in both the FirstNet board and the Public Safety Advisory Committee. NTIA has no interest in supplanting that expertise. Instead, we rely on it every day. I strongly believe that we all share the same goal: enhancing the public safety network for the benefit of public safety. And I am confident that working together in good faith, we can get to a place where we can achieve that goal and set public safety up for success for the next 10 years. I appreciate the thoughtful draft the committee has shared with the public. I look forward to discussing these ideas today. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. Mr. Agnew, you're recognized for five minutes for an opening statement.

Chairman Hudson, Ranking Member Matsui, Chairman Guthrie, Ranking Member Pallone, and members of this subcommittee. Thank you for the opportunity to appear for you today. My name is Scott Agnew, and I serve as president of FirstNet and public sector mobility at AT&T. I'm responsible for ensuring AT&T fulfills its federal obligation to deploy, operate, and continuously evolve the FirstNet network for America's first responders. AT&T strongly supports reauthorization of FirstNet, and we support doing so well in advance of early 2027. Thank you for your leadership and commitment to public safety and for taking the crucial first steps of releasing draft bipartisan legislation. We look forward to working with you to ensure FirstNet continues to deliver for the vital first responder community. FirstNet represents one of the most successful public-private partnerships in modern infrastructure policy. In 2017, AT&T was the only major carrier to answer Congress's call and enter the competitive bidding process. Ultimately, AT&T was selected over other bidders to build, operate this nationwide public safety network. The network was completed on time and on budget in March of 2023, and it continues to expand and provide new life-saving services. Since 2017, we have built out an interoperable network that covers nearly 3 million square miles, making it hundreds of thousands of square miles larger on average than commercial networks. This is a critical advantage for rural, tribal, and remote communities. Today, despite other marketplace options, more first responders choose FirstNet than any other network. This historic build was initially funded by the enacting statute's allocation of $6.5 billion from auction proceeds, an auction in which AT&T spent more than $18 billion. Going forward, the statute requires permanent self-funding for operations and expansion, which is achieved solely by AT&T's sustainability payments and additional capital contributions from AT&T. Indeed, AT&T has demonstrated unparalleled commitment by investing more than $14 billion of its own capital since the beginning of the FirstNet partnership and expects to invest approximately $40 billion of its own capital to build, operate FirstNet over the life of the contract. The hallmark features of FirstNet are its dedicated network core and its always-on priority and preemption across Band 14 and all of AT&T's 5G and LTE commercial spectrum. That means public safety can communicate when other networks are congested, like during planned events such as the Super Bowl in Louisiana or natural disasters like hurricanes in North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, as well as floodings in Texas or wildland fires in California. As designed by Congress, the network will evolve based on direct feedback from public safety. Because of self-sustaining funding, the program has plans to invest more than $8 billion over the next decade to evolve the network using public safety feedback. This includes delivering a physically separate ...integrated 5G core, providing public safety grade direct-to-device satellite connectivity, and FirstNet Fusion, the first mission-critical communications platform that will enable unprecedented interoperability across agencies, carriers, and technologies. The true measure of FirstNet is performance during crisis. During Hurricanes Helene and Milton, FirstNet supported more than 260 emergency requests across multiple states, restoring coverage and sustaining public safety communications when commercial networks were strained or unavailable. And during the assassination attempt of the President in Butler, Pennsylvania, FirstNet performed exactly as designed. While commercial networks experienced congestion, FirstNet delivered in uninterrupted service. During these and other mutual aid events, FirstNet is the trusted partner that ensures reliable and interoperable communications. These are not isolated examples. They are result of a network built specifically for and by public safety. Congress made a bold and necessary decision when it created FirstNet. The vision is now reality, and it is working. AT&T appreciates the committee's bipartisan attention to reauthorizing FirstNet. Thank you for the opportunity to testify. I look forward to your questions.

Thank you. We'll now begin questioning, and I recognize myself for five minutes. Sheriff Adkinson, in your opening statement, you mentioned there's a lack of clarity about defined roles throughout this program and that, quote, "when everyone is responsible, no one is accountable," end quote. Can you speak a little more about what you mean by that, and can you give an example of some of the problems you've encountered?

Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Let me give you some very specific examples. The legislation did not contemplate an executive director. It left that open to interpretation. As such, we as the board are special governmental employees, whereas the executive director in this case is a senior manager. Frankly, could have been a private employee, could have contracted, could have been a political appointee. There are multiple iterations of that. But the reality is those folks are hired, vetted, hired, rated, disciplined by NTIA, right? And should be in consultation with the board. But I have personally witnessed when the board has given a directive that was not followed by the executive director. That is beyond problematic. Again, I am sitting up here answering for the accountability of someone else, and I lack... so am I telling you or am I asking you? And those are two fundamentally different... in my business, we say know your authority. The first thing you do is you know your authority. It's two fundamentally different things. It is my belief that that causes a situation where there is unsure whether or not well, I will go to NTIA, or I don't report to NTIA. No, no, I don't report to the board. We need to eliminate that. It needs to be, from my standpoint, it needs to be clear that the board has the ability to hold someone accountable, at least the executive director, from a standpoint that, again, if the board says don't do this, this is a decision of this board, I am not familiar with any other board in this kind of situation that does not have that level of oversight. Keep in mind, I'll say again, you have three cabinet-level officials that are represented on the FirstNet Authority board. So there is direct oversight on the board, as well as we serve at the will and pleasure of the Secretary of Commerce. That's and the Inspector General is on top of that. So that's pretty direct oversight of the board. It's in the authority and the mechanism itself that I think we need to address that part of it.

That's very helpful. Thank you. Mr. Dame, this draft legislation moves FirstNet directly under the leadership of NTIA. Some critics have claimed this would increase bureaucratic delays and diminish effectiveness of the network for public safety. Are these claims accurate? And if not, can you explain how clarifying leadership roles would benefit this program?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. NTIA has no interest in getting involved in the day-to-day operations of FirstNet Authority or its contractor, AT&T. In fact, we will always rely on the expertise and public safety input of the board and the Public Safety Advisory Committee. Those strategic decisions made by the board need to be implemented by the staff at the FirstNet Authority. Where NTIA and the Department of Commerce can excel is to support the implementation of those strategic decisions and provide performance accountability as it's being implemented and after the fact.

That makes sense. Mr. Agnew, Hurricane Helene hit my home state of North Carolina, destroying a significant amount of telecommunications infrastructure. As you noted in your testimony, can you talk about the first 48 hours after an event like this and what first actions does FirstNet take to restore service?

First, we were significantly prepared to engage with the state in a planning event because we knew the hurricane was coming and staged all across the states and the surrounding states to be prepared. As I mentioned, we responded to 260 requests from public safety, specific to your state, 125 requests. Partnering, embedding with public safety, prioritizing where those deployables or mobile sites need to go. And then post-event, evaluating with public safety our response times and what incremental investments we need to make. And we fundamentally, post-Helene and Milton, made significant investments in our network disaster recovery capabilities for public safety so we can be prepared for the next event.

Appreciate that. As my time seems to be expiring, as I've said before, if I don't hold myself accountable, Sheriff, I can't hold the rest of the committee accountable. So I'll ask unanimous consent to insert in the record the documents included on the staff hearing documents list. And we'll now recognize ranking member of the committee, gentlelady from California, Ms. Matsui, for five minutes to ask her questions.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. FirstNet now connects more than 1,800 agencies and organizations across California, helping first responders communicate when every second counts. But too many communities still face cellular dead zones, especially in rural areas like the California Delta. And the FirstNet coverage maps don't always match what responders see on the ground. As we work to reauthorize FirstNet, we must make sure rural communities are fully covered and not left behind. Mr. Agnew, what is AT&T committing to build next to help first responders reach the hardest to serve areas? And how much of that plan is new ground infrastructure like towers versus satellite-enabled coverage? And how will you prove that coverage exists where first responders actually work?

Thank you, Congresswoman. We have an excellent relationship with Cal Fire, Cal OES as you mentioned, and California Highway Patrol and other jurisdictions in the state of California, and we continuously receive feedback. We build our network based off of public safety feedback. But here's the advantage of this public-private partnership. AT&T builds out its corporate network as we determine, but because of all-band priority and our investment, public safety benefits from that. And then of course there's the incremental FirstNet investment that has, and as I mentioned, there's $8 billion happening investing over the next 10 years. That $8 billion is going to build approximately 3,000 to 4,000 new towers, purpose-built towers based off the feedback of public safety. There's been two workshops in your state, and there will continue to be, in Sacramento and San Diego, where public safety can tell the FirstNet Authority exactly where those sites get built. And so we're building those sites for public safety, not because of profit or return on investment. And this is what's special and unique about the program.

Okay. Thank you very much. Mr. Dame, as Congress looks at reauthorizing FirstNet, how should we strengthen incentives and accountability for expanding coverage into rural and hard-to-serve areas? What specific metrics and reporting should Congress require to verify progress year over year?

Thank you, Ranking Member. I think NTIA believes strongly, and the FirstNet Authority has been investing in only those areas where it is not for additional coverage, where it's not commercially profitable. That makes most sense. The market's going to solve the problems where it is commercially profitable. But public safety needs connectivity in those areas where there's not currently coverage. So FirstNet has been very good in its enhanced coverage to add in rural, tribal lands, remote areas. It's been very focused on that. In terms of the metrics, I believe the availability of the network and also the performance of the network would be the metrics that Congress should be looking at. We've all been at the edge of a cell site and you have difficulty with throughput. We need to make sure that first responders don't encounter that same problem because they do life-saving work. It's not the same as when you and I are on a call or pushing data up or down.

Sure. Thank you. FirstNet reauthorization is our chance to do two things at the same time: keep FirstNet nimble and built around public safety input, while also strengthening oversight and accountability. Sheriff Adkinson, you call for Congress to clarify the chain of command amongst NTIA, FirstNet board, and FirstNet Authority. Which decisions must remain fast and internal, and which are appropriate for NTIA approval because of long-standing challenges with contract oversight and performance?

So I think, thank you, Ranking Member. I think there's a couple of things to consider. One, when it comes to the indication of where sites, towers, or technology, I think that is a public safety driven metric. That should be decided by public safety, where towers should go, what advances in technology. And by way of example, I don't think any of us in here were talking about the internet of things 10 years ago. You know, and I think one of my firefighters would tell you now, or one of my deputy sheriffs would say, there's a body camera, there's a Taser cam, there's an in-car, there's a rocket in the car, you know, or there's fire trucks, there's a lot... so all of these are things we didn't even contemplate a decade ago. Those are the kind of decisions that should solely be indicated and driven forward by the board because that is your public safety expertise. And I don't think, I can say I don't think Mr. Dame would want to make a decision on where what body camera, you know, data throughput we would be using. So I think those are uniquely with the advice of public safety, the input from the PSAC committee, where the board should stand out and make these decisions. What we say is there has to be an accountability factor to make sure that what is the actual will, again, of this board is actually carried out. I think that's critical.

Well, thank you very much, and I have to follow my chairman's lead and not overrun here. I can go back.

Thank you. I now recognize the chairman of the full committee, Mr. Guthrie, for five minutes for your questions.

Thank you, Chair. Thanks for yielding, Mr. Hudson. So thank you. So first with Sheriff Adkinson, kind of follow on what you were just saying back here, what you were just saying. So the statutory limitations of the FirstNet network consists of network core and radio access network. So talking about how we didn't even discuss internet of things a decade ago, how would appropriately expanding the definition of the network allow it to evolve with technological advancements?

Thank you for that question, Chair Guthrie. I should add by way of just full disclosure, if I could have been qualified as a network engineer, I wouldn't have been a cop. So the reality of it is that a lot of this stuff is emerging. We know that Moore's Law gives us about 18 months prior to obsolescence. And in that, we need the flexibility to engage what emerging technologies are coming. Artificial intelligence is going to change the way we mandate and the way we deliver these services. And I think the board needs to be able to drive that, where we can leverage technology to make these things better. But crucially, if nothing else comes across, let me say this: coverage is king. Because before we need to do one thing well before we try to do 10 other things. And so I think that's also... nothing about what I say should take away from the desire to continue expanding that. And we're not abandoning LMR, land mobile radio. That is a redundancy that's absolutely critical to what we do. But specific to your question, we need the ability to engage new technology and invest in things that support coverage enhancement and the quality of the service we're delivering.

Thank you. And so getting into the coverage and so important. So Mr. Agnew, I know 2024 we had the AT&T outage. FirstNet customers were notified of the outage three hours after it occurred, and the draft discussion is mandating 30 minutes of confirmed. Is that a reasonable timeline that you believe your company could comply with? And what other tools does AT&T provide FirstNet users to better understand outages?

Thank you for that question, and thank you for your support of this public safety priority, Congressman. Yes, we do think it's reasonable. We provide our first responders with what we call a network status tool that provides updates so they can know exactly what's going on. It was the world's first where they can view on a map the performance of their network and if there's any impacts so they can plan accordingly as well as when it's going to be repaired. It's truly unprecedented transparency in public safety's network. So in short, Congressman, we do support the 30-minute notification.

Okay, that's good. And so Mr. Dame, I'll give you kind of a blanket question, but so what will happen if this first responder network is not reauthorized?

Thank you, Chairman Guthrie. So I think we would run into a significant problem with first, there's we need the certainty that the network would be reauthorized to make the network continue. But if it were not reauthorized by February 22, 2027, I believe you would not have an entity called the FirstNet Authority any longer, and the FCC would have to pull back the Band 14 license, which is the foundation of the contract with AT&T.

Okay. So Mr. Agnew, what how would that affect you?

Well, we have a 25-year contract with the government. We would continue to operate that contract and make a commitment. But to Mr. Dame's point, the spectrum would be in question. And so that is the importance of really reauthorizing FirstNet because to protect public safety spectrum so it can be on the network.

Okay, thanks. And Sheriff, would you just kind of just for us since this is 15 years old, can you have just like your highlight incident of wow, if we didn't have FirstNet in this instance, I know you've had hurricanes, you've had other things, my good friend from Florida tells me that here. Could you just kind of highlight a specific instance if we hadn't had FirstNet this would have been a bigger disaster than we wouldn't be able to communicate?

I can give you several, but I'm going to stick with one, which was Hurricane Michael in 2019, as Representative Dunn knows very well. The ability to put deployable assets to bring cellular service back online was critical. It was something I personally witnessed. Previous to this, I was at Hurricane Katrina in 2005. I saw what happened when there is a fundamental collapse of communication. So yes, the short version is this is critical to the way we do business. My own agency went down and had to rely on FirstNet to dispatch calls.

Well, thank you. I appreciate that, and my time has expired. I have five seconds, but I'll yield those back. Thank you.

I appreciate that, Chairman. Now recognize the ranking member of the full committee, Mr. Pallone, for five minutes to ask your questions.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Obviously, FirstNet is essential for first responders, and we have to ensure that continues to be the case. Having said that, there's no shortage of evidence indicating a pattern of questionable decision-making by the First Responder Network Authority leadership. For instance, decisions to weaken contract requirements to allow milestone payments to be dispersed to the authority's contractor raise serious questions about the value of the authority's independence, especially if that independence does not produce the best outcomes for public safety and users. So let me ask a couple questions of the Sheriff. Do you believe, as I do, that a more direct line of authority between NTIA and the FirstNet Authority would help increase accountability in some of the instances covered across the Inspector General reports?

I think that there are a couple of things here that I want to address, and I'm going to bifurcate this. First, when a decision by the board is not carried out by the executive director, you need to fire the executive director, right? And if the board is not carrying that out, you need to fire the board members. And so that's where I fall, where I come down first. Second part of that, it is in everyone's best interest for us to work well and closely with NTIA. I believe that's important for any level, any branch of government. But I start with accountability on this issue, and I think that is where there's a fundamental breakdown. If you're going to have accountability, you have to have authority to make decisions. And if they didn't do it, then that's who should be held accountable. But I do believe in the cooperation and relationship with NTIA.

All right. Now, you know, I think I believe Congress can maintain the important role of the FirstNet board and still preserve the FirstNet Authority's autonomy, if you will, which is important to act with speed and precision, but then also tighten up some loose ends to ensure investments are put to the best possible use. So again, Sheriff, do you agree that we can achieve all these goals in this legislation? And what should the committee keep in mind as we think about these roles and responsibilities working well together towards a shared goal? And again, that's the role of the FirstNet board, the operational autonomy, and tightening up some of these loose ends that keep coming up.

So I told him I would give him authorship credit, but Mr. Dame said something the other day that I really liked, which is this idea of an elegant solution. The reality of it is that public safety has to drive where these investments go. I don't see it functioning otherwise. I see it being problematic. I think there should be a close working relationship with NTIA. I think there are opportunities for this Congress to address lack of continuity in the way we have come on board and the way we're doing business. So for sure, I think that is something that matters. I don't think any of these things should work in a vacuum. But when it comes to making decisions on the financial placement of towers, things like that, resides with the board and should maintain that in a public safety mindset. And it's my belief that when it comes to at least someone that the board can have some direct say and control over should be the executive director.

Okay. Now, much of the conversation about reauthorizing FirstNet has rightly focused on the goal of interoperability. Interoperability for first responders coming from different departments or agencies at various levels of government. So I was going to ask Mr. Agnew if you could talk about the work being done on the Fusion application and how it could address some cross-network barriers that exist for push-to-talk and other mission-critical capabilities. You got about a minute.

Thank you, Congressman Pallone, and thank you for your support of the FirstNet program since inception. The network is inherently interoperable today. That's the foundation as you laid out in the initial act. From integration and interoperability with legacy land mobile radio or walkie-talkie solutions, FirstNet Fusion is going to make that even easier. Cross-carrier, cross-technology, cross-network. It puts it in the cloud. It makes it more affordable, it makes it more scalable, it makes it easier to implement. It just makes it easier for public safety to use the technology. It's coming in the next few months, and we're going to continue to advance next-generation interoperability.

And you're talking about the Fusion, the Fusion application.

That's right.

All right. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I thank the ranking member for yielding. And now that I have the chair, I'm going to call on myself for my line of questioning. I want to thank the witnesses for being here today. I learned two years ago just how important the ability to communicate during an emergency or natural disaster can be when Hurricane Helene tore through my district. I'll never forget the first press conference with the governor and the state director, and the first question the state director got was, where can people find out where we have shelter, food, and water? And he said, go to our website. We had no internet. I realized then Congress has got to do something. Since its inception, FirstNet has been an important resource for law enforcement and first responders in times like this, and considering its reauthorization gives us an opportunity to examine its effectiveness and transparency. Mr. Agnew, I know FirstNet works as quickly as possible to restore connectivity, but can you walk me through how we are going to prevent these interruptions in the future and maybe use satellites and other redundancy so emergency responders can communicate effectively following a major disaster?

Thank you, Congressman, for that question. So first you start with the foundationally strong, hardened network dedicated core to have the highest reliability network you can. But then you have to add layers on top of that. FirstNet, as you mentioned, with the response operations group, have dedicated deployables or mobile cell sites that public safety can call out at any moment's notice so if there is a challenge, it can be rectified quickly. We also provide equipment, first of its kind, first in this world, high-power user equipment, also known as MegaRange. Six times more powerful than a cell phone so it could extend farther coverage. Using that technology, and you mentioned satellite. It's going to be important. That's the next layer of being able to provide coverage either on white space or particularly if coverage has been compromised. We partner with many satellite companies, Inmarsat, AST, and Starlink. We've partnered specifically on direct-to-cellular capability with AST to deliver FirstNet service, as I like to say, in the sky. And so to provide that hard redundancy. So think of FirstNet network as a layered network.

Good. Thank you. Mr. Dame, can you describe the current governance structure of the FirstNet Authority and how NTIA ensures its board's actions align with statutory requirements and public safety promises and priorities?

Thank you, Vice Chairman. Under the current law, unfortunately, it's confusing as to the different reporting lines as it's been discussed and in our various statements. But we defer very closely to the board in making strategic decisions about technology roadmaps, budget decisions, reinvestments. And they receive that input themselves from the Public Safety Advisory Committee and across all the public safety groups and stakeholders. And we're going to continue, as the draft bill suggests, to ensure that strategic decisions continue to occur if Congress decides to reauthorize FirstNet and include the draft bill provisions.

Thank you. Mr. Agnew, most of us are familiar with how government contracts work, but as I understand it, AT&T's contract with FirstNet Authority is somewhat unique. Can you walk us through and explain how you support the provision in this bill to submit the contract to Congress upon request?

NTIA has made that available to the House E&C, and we'll make it available. So we fully support the transparency, we fully support the oversight, and we'll continue to do so.

Good. Thank you. Well, Sheriff, I don't want to leave you out. Do you have everything you need to deal with disasters, and what does Congress need to do to fix that?

You know, I want to say this in a manner that's somewhat makes sense. It's not the perfection. We don't have perfection yet, right? But there's the there's a beauty in the effort of perfection, and what I mean by that is we're getting there. I think Congress has been incredibly supportive. I think the fee-based system has worked well from that. We continue to continue to grow, but there's a lot of work that needs to be done for this to be done correctly and ongoing work. But appreciate the congressional support.

Yes, sir. Well, thank you, and I thank the witnesses again. And now I yield my time, and I call on Representative Soto for his line of questioning.

Thank you so much, Chairman. During hurricanes, flooding, fires, even recent freezes, if you could believe it, in Central Florida, reliable communication is critical for our brave first responders to save lives. Congress stepped up, creating FirstNet with spectrum sale proceeds, and we had an audacious goal, which is ensuring every community, no matter how rural, urban, or otherwise, has access to dependable communications. Every American deserves that protection. I contacted some of our local Central Florida agencies and see that both Osceola Emergency Management Department, City of Kissimmee, City of St. Cloud, Osceola Sheriff's Office, several cities in Polk County as well as Polk County Sheriff utilize these services. And hearing from my local emergency management director in Osceola, Bill Litton, he said, "Yes, emergency management uses FirstNet for our cell phone providers. We have had good experience with the service and the resources from FirstNet that they can provide our county pre- and post-disaster." And he noted that last year FirstNet has added two additional towers in the area to improve reliability in service areas. We also heard from Polk County that the overall feedback has been positive. Biggest improvement noted has been in areas where LTE boosters have been installed with better coverage and performance reported in those locations. We also got a great feedback from Hurricane Milton as well with more than 30 FirstNet emergency support requests from public safety in Florida. Sheriff Adkinson, thanks for being here. I know you talked a little bit about Hurricane Michael already. You know, a day after Hurricane Michael, I had texted Dr. Dundas to see how he was doing, and he got that text four months later. And was like, "Why are you texting me now?" You said your own internal network had gone down. Why do you think FirstNet held up during Hurricane Michael while a lot of the civilian and local law enforcement networks went down, knowing that Hurricane Michael went from a Cat 1 to a Cat 5 in one day? Why did FirstNet you think hold up?

I think it was a question of volume of resources, right? The ability to put deployable assets to bring cellular service back online was critical. It was something I personally witnessed. Listen, any system can fail. The ability to respond immediately and to have the assets, I think was critical in being successful there. That's why, you know, I think as we were, as you said, looking for members of our local government as well as every other citizen at Hurricane Michael trying to assist, we were able to get these deployables in to make a difference and to boost that cell signal. So at the end of the day, it's I think it's just an economy of scale that makes the most system. It's the redundancy, it's the resiliency of the system. The analogy for me, again, is still the Eisenhower interstate system. There may be better roads, but you can count on the interstate being there.

Mr. Agnew, you know, you mentioned some pretty big investment goals, $14 billion invested so far, $40 billion in total. Can you walk me through a little more on what that entails? New towers, I know is a key part, satellite redundancy. Can you give us a more clear picture of some of those investments?

I think you're exactly right. It's going to be investment significant in coverage. Rural areas, underserved areas, tribal areas. Just alone in your district, 35 sites have been invested in. You had one site last year. You've got more coming. You've got three more coming this year. Keep them coming. Based off the feedback... we have hurricanes in Central Florida. ...our first responders. Hardening of the network, generators, continuing to expand as Sheriff mentioned, deployables or mobile satellites, cell sites that need to respond quickly. We have to be prepared for every disaster. We've signed up for this oversight. No provider has this oversight. We have to answer the call and we've got to continuously improve. So that investment is going to go as well as the core. So it's significant technical investment to make sure public safety can communicate in the worst possible times.

And that's why that reauthorization before expiration is so critical, right? So you all can continue these investments uninterrupted in areas like ours where we get natural disasters on occasion.

Absolutely.

Thanks. Yield back.

I thank the gentleman for yielding. And now I call on Mr. Bilirakis from Florida.

Thank you very much. Appreciate it very much. Thank you. As a former member of the Homeland Security Committee, ensuring first responders have the necessary tools and resources they need to respond to emergencies has been a high priority of mine since coming to Congress. In fact, I chaired a hearing on this very topic in 2012 in the subcommittee of Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Communications. I know well how fragmented and clumsy public safety communications were 14 years ago. From that hearing, FirstNet was ultimately born and I think it's been very successful. Sheriff Adkinson, can you talk about the relationship that the FirstNet Authority Board has with FirstNet Executive Director? And what is the process if there is a disagreement between the two of them? I think that's very important.

Just a point of clarification. The relationship between what two entities? I missed that.

Okay. So again, the process. Can you talk about the relationship that the FirstNet Authority Board has with the FirstNet Executive Director? And what is the process if there's a disagreement between them?

Sure. Just as a point of clarification again is that the Executive Director is vetted, hired, rated by the NTIA. Now, that should be in consultation with the board. And so we always encourage that to happen as well. And no reflection on the current Executive Director, but I think when you'll go back and look at it, that has been at the heart of what some of these issues are, if you look at these OIG reports, is the relationship between or the inability to hold accountable. So I just think it's critical for us to have that authority to do that. They are technically an NTIA employee as I understand it under the law. They're a select senior management employee. They are not an employee of the board or the Executive Director is not an employee of the FirstNet Authority Board.

Okay. So if there's a disagreement, who prevails?

NTIA. I mean, they're ultimately with I mean, we would have to reach out to NTIA and say that we had an issue or a disagreement with them, which would put them, by the way, at a very unique position because they don't supervise him per se every day. So if he decided, for instance, again, if he said, "I won't carry out this order, executive order, or vote of the board," the situation would be I would have to call and ask for NTIA's assistance to make him comply with the request of the board. So I'm asking, not telling, at that point.

Okay. Thank you. Mr. Agnew, can you walk me through the AT&T decided again why they decided to take the risk to create this network, especially in light of the fact that previous state-run systems didn't work out?

Yeah. AT&T has a history of working with public safety. We helped develop 911 in the late '60s. We invest and we are the market leader in public safety answering points. It was natural. It was natural because when you invest in public safety, they invest in you back. Now, we had a tremendous amount of risk. We did not know if states would all opt in. There was no mandate to adopt this network, so we didn't know public safety would come. And we are signing up for a huge contract with a tremendous amount of oversight that's unprecedented where we have to meet 36 requirements, thousands of reports that can continue to evolve. So there was a tremendous amount of risk. But we thought if we invest and partner with public safety, that we can run a good business. And while I was nervous when we launched the network in September of 2017, we got our first subscriber from Fairfax County, Virginia, second subscriber from Casper, Wyoming. We realized it would work. And now we're here with a very successful network that public safety relies on every day.

We appreciate that. Okay. Again, a follow-up question for Mr. Agnew. Can you briefly explain the current public safety communications marketplace and how it has changed in the past 14 years? And what problem has FirstNet solved? And what are areas that still need to be addressed?

Yeah. I'll be brief. FirstNet was the catalyst. Public safety was an underserved community that was ignored. It was just offered best-effort service. FirstNet puts public safety at the top. FirstNet is needed and to continue on because you need that catalyst for the next decades to come to make sure public safety is paid attention to.

All right. Thank you. I yield back, Mr. Chairman. Appreciate it.

I thank the gentleman for yielding. And now I call on Representative Clarke for her line of questioning.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Good morning. Let me thank Chairman Guthrie, Ranking Member Pallone, Ranking Member Matsui for holding this hearing. And thank you to our panel witnesses for joining us today. Let me also extend my gratitude to Congresswoman McClellan and Congressman Dunn for their work in putting together a good faith bipartisan bill to reauthorize this critical public safety program. As a New Yorker and a former member of the New York City Council who took office in January of 2002, mere months after the devastating attacks of September 11, this issue is truly personal for me. I know all too well the importance of strong public safety communications networks. Our first responders on the front lines in responding to terrorist attacks, hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes, and other natural disasters, we owe it to them to provide a reliable communications network free from interference in times of crisis when they are putting their lives on the line to save others. The firefighters, police, and other first responders to the 9/11 attacks dealt with communications failures that undermined their ability to coordinate rescue and recovery efforts in a way that must never happen again. From that great tragedy and the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, the First Responder Network Authority was born. Since its launch in 2017, FirstNet has been adopted in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and six territories. Billions have been spent building out the network to cover nearly three million square miles, and first responders across the country now use the network to enhance communication and leverage data capabilities. The success of FirstNet has also sparked competition in the market, inspiring other carriers such as T-Mobile and Verizon to create their own products that are now successfully serving public safety subscribers. This has been a win-win for industry and the public safety community at large. While no government program is perfect, it's clear that FirstNet has been wildly successful and it is critical that we move forward with legislation that preserves FirstNet's authority to operate beyond the upcoming sunset date. As with any program, proper oversight is critical to ensuring accountability, and I am confident that this committee can find a path forward that allows us in Congress to move with haste towards the reauthorization necessary to provide certainty to the public safety community while also ensuring that any concerns raised by the Office of the Inspector General and Government Accountability Office are also addressed adequately. My question is to you, Sheriff Adkinson. In your view, does FirstNet Authority currently have sufficient personnel resources to implement the corrective actions or improvements identified in recent Inspector General reports?

I think we would be well served to increase our field operations in regard to outreach at the local agencies, right? Because we ultimately have to rely on our public safety professionals to say, "Is this working? Where are their shortcomings?" So I think there's opportunity to increase there. I like the idea of adding things like a strategic office to be looking forward to the future to understand what we need to be doing. So there are a couple of areas where I think it's appropriate to expand. But there may be appropriate areas to contract as well too. One does not necessarily mean adding others. But I do believe from an area of accountability, we're not served well if we're not out meeting with the men and women of public safety all across the country. And I would point out when we make decisions on let's just say we were going to expand to a tribal area, that's not commercially viable for AT&T in sometimes. But I'm not in the business of worrying what's commercially viable for them. I'm in the business of making sure this gets done and serves the citizen. That's what the board is about. So I think we're working that way.

Very well. Can you explain why it is so important for the board of FirstNet to have a role free from outside interference? And what does that mean specifically for reinvestment and public safety representation? Do you believe the board can continue to do its work while also working collaboratively with the NTIA for the benefit of first responders?

First of all, I fundamentally believe that there is no reason that anyone can't work collaboratively inside. We all have the same bosses, right? At the end of the day, that's the citizens we serve and we're stewards of the citizens' trust and money. And I realize these are fee-based, but let me be clear, it is the public's money in my opinion and we have that responsibility. I think we can work collaboratively toward that. I think what's crucial is that no interference be made in the way funds are expended to enhance public safety. That would be problematic. I haven't actually heard that suggested, so I want to be clear. But that would be problematic for me. I think it'd be problematic for public safety at large. And but that hasn't happened and I don't believe that that will happen. If it did, I think that would be something the board would have an absolute moral responsibility to stand up and say so.

Thank you. I have run out of time. I yield back, Mr. Chairman.

I thank the gentlelady for yielding. And now I call on Dr. Dunn for your questions. Five minutes.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. And Sheriff Adkinson, thank you for being here today. I know it's hard to leave Florida, it's so beautiful. I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan bill, the First Responder Network Reauthorization Act. And I thank Representative Jennifer McClellan for her co-lead on this. Jennifer, thank you. This is a great bill. When Congress created the First Responder Network Authority, there was a clear mandate to have public safety preemptive network that be used exclusively for first responders on the ground. Interestingly, this also includes members of Congress and even the Senate. Our nation's heroes and public servants who are the first to respond and the first people to put their lives on the line to protect Americans need robust communications. It was a very clear mandate to give our local communities the resources they need to respond to tragedies. And what we've seen since 2017 when the contract was awarded has been a tremendous success story. We've also learned some lessons that our job in Congress as enforcers and oversight of the program is critical. And that includes contract transparency and maintaining accountability at all levels. And I thank Chairman Sheriff Adkinson for emphasizing that. FirstNet is imperative to Florida Panhandle before, during, and after disasters. Our district knows all too well the effects of hurricanes and tropical storms on our communities. We've been hit by four major hurricanes in the last eight years. We're still rebuilding and recovering from Hurricane Michael. Mr. Agnew, first question. FirstNet was directed to provide nationwide interoperability. Briefly, what steps have you taken to solve the interoperability issue to ensure agencies using other carriers can still communicate during emergencies?

Thank you, Congressman, and thank you for your support of this legislation. FirstNet is interoperable. Let me be clear. It was designed to be interoperable from the ground up. Data, voice, text message, you can work amongst commercial carriers. The next phase of interoperability is ensuring that land mobile radios or walkie-talkies, those legacy radio systems, are interoperable. And so that is when I had mentioned earlier FirstNet Fusion is going to allow for that to be more seamless and easier to use.

So I'd like to think that we've solved the confusion of interoperability here. I mean, interoperability means everybody can operate on it, right? I didn't think we needed a dictionary on that. Sheriff Adkinson, Chairman Adkinson, thank you for your service. You stated as board chair the roles and responsibilities of NTIA, the board, and the authority are not well defined in statute. When everybody's held responsible, nobody is responsible. All right. So and Mr. Dame, you had a similar statement as well. Sheriff, in your opinion, how should Congress clarify this statute? Mr. Dame, I want you to answer afterwards.

So you know, that's tyranny of the commons, right? It becomes everybody's responsibility when it's no one's. You know, when we first came on the board, there was some reticence to give board the board members access to information that we believed was fundamentally necessary to do that. Now, we were able to ultimately achieve that. But there should be no hesitation when it comes to an Executive Director when a board asks for information, i.e. the contract, i.e. discussions about where what agencies are on this. The only acceptable answer is yes. And so when it's not, we've got a problem. And so I believe fundamentally that if you are, again, if I'm going to sit at this table and answer for the conduct of that, then I should have the authority to make decisions on who that person is and whether or not they are performing their job.

Thank you for that. Mr. Dame, briefly, we're running out of time.

Yep. NTIA agrees with what Sheriff Adkinson is describing in that the board is of paramount importance along with the Public Safety Advisory Committee. They should still be making strategic decisions about reinvestments and strategic roadmaps. And NTIA can help with implementation and performance accountability.

Well, I'd like to think this bill will help you with that. And in the last few seconds we have, are there local, federal, or permitting requirements that have inhibited FirstNet's tower deployment in rural areas? Mr. Dame.

I think you might want to get Mr. Agnew's input on that, sir.

Mr. Agnew.

Yes. Allowing changing permitting to make public safety towers to be built more quickly would help the public safety network.

All right. Well, please keep us informed. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. My time's expired and I yield back.

I thank the gentleman for yielding. And now I would call on Representative Ruiz for your line of questioning.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I represent California's 25th District, which includes desert, rural communities, tribal lands, agricultural regions, and some of the country's most extreme weather, extreme heat conditions in the southeast corner of California. In the Coachella and Imperial Valley, summer temperatures routinely exceed 110 degrees Fahrenheit for days, even weeks, and at times reach up to 130, straining power and communication systems. Frequent dust storms, sometimes multiple times a month, reduce visibility and damage critical equipment with little warning. First responders operate far from major infrastructure during wildfires, dust storms, power shutoffs, and prolonged extreme heat that pushes both people and systems to their limits. For these communities, reliable emergency communications are not a convenience, they're lifesaving. That is why reauthorizing the First Responder Network Authority or FirstNet is so important. FirstNet ensures that when everything else fails, first responders can still communicate. This bill recognizes that FirstNet is no longer an experiment but critical national infrastructure that must be governed, monitored, and strengthened. I appreciate that it reauthorizes FirstNet through 2037, providing long-term stability while focusing on reliability, transparency, and equity. And reliability is my first concern. Extreme heat and frequent dust storms place constant stress on communication systems, power outages last longer, equipment fails more often, and response times stretch. So Mr. Agnew, in areas like mine facing extreme heat, dust storms, and wildfires, how does FirstNet keep service running during extended power outages and equipment strain?

Thank you for that question. We continue to harden the site, generators, using our deployable program when there is a problem that comes out. We are...

How long does it take to send You said deployable. How long does it take to send generators and how near how close are those generators to the southeast corner of California?

We can get the specific locations to your district of how far, but we stage our generators, stage our deployables within an access to get with quick to first responders quickly. We have requirements to execute that per the contract to meet delivery of those.

Okay. This bill takes important steps by requiring regular business continuity and disaster recovery plans subject to federal approval. But this matters because failures during wildfires, dust storms, or outages put lives at risk. We know and we need to know how quickly FirstNet recovers and whether service is available for rural and tribal communities, not just big cities. So transparency is my next concern. Responders need real-time, accurate information. This bill's outage notification and status tool requirements are a meaningful improvement, but transparency only works if the information is timely and accessible during an active emergency. Mr. Agnew, again, when an outage occurs, how quickly does that information reach first responders in the field, not just agency leadership?

Right. So we're working continuing to evolve that communication steps. As we mentioned, the network status tool provides information in near real-time. So leadership and individuals in public safety can make decisions quickly. Ensuring that communication gets down to the working level, we're continuing to work with public safety. There's an opportunity for users to actually sign up on notifications via text and via email. And so it's a continuous educational process that we have to do. But we acknowledge more communication. The tools are there, though. It's already been built.

Sheriff Adkinson, are outage notification reaching first responders quickly enough?

I don't think it's ever quick enough unless it's instantaneous, right? We seek again, we go back, we seek for the perfection. But I think it's getting there very, very quickly. Is there room for improvement? I think there's always room for improvement. Instantaneous would be the only acceptable answer. Everything else requires improvement.

And so what accountability measures exist if outage notifications are delayed or incomplete?

So a couple of things. One, we are typically able to notify fairly quickly. When I say fairly quickly, I mean in a matter of 10 to 15 minutes based on, you know, what the availability and what the area of outage is. But I would add to that that we as a board are starting to develop key performance indexes that we wanted to put in place as measurables so that AT&T can give us direct response into things that we think are important past what's been done in the past. So this is part of this idea of we need more accountability, more metrics to show. That's something the board's going to do. We're already looking at that and I think that's critically important to make sure we're getting our money's worth out of it.

Thank you. I yield back.

I thank the gentleman for yielding. And now I call on Representative Pfluger from the great state of Texas for your questions.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Appreciate the witnesses for being here and a very important conversation that we're having. It's obviously important to Texas after the the flooding of last July and that's, you know, one of the many examples I think we can point to of why FirstNet is so critically important. And my perspective will come kind of from the not just the Energy and Commerce lane but also from the Homeland Security perspective as well. So I'll start with Mr. Agnew and thank you for being here. I want to talk about just assessing who's on the network, assessing which local and state partners have access and, you know, if we wanted to know which folks in our area were currently accessed, how does that work and what if if we don't have all the information, then what do we need to do either via statute or some other means to know that information?

We appreciate that question and continue to work we continue to work with first responders to to allow us to communicate who's on the network. We understand it's so important from a mutual aid perspective to sign mutual aid is when one county goes to another county to support. And we are working with the authority for a process to more seamlessly get the approvals from each of the public safety agencies to say, "Yes, you can use my name." Right now, we're there are restrictions for our ability to do that through the FCC proprietary network information information. But we are working collaboratively with the authority to make sure that'll happen. It's so important for public safety to know that they're on the network. So we see the value in it.

Do you think that's something in the reauthorization that we need to add to to the statute provisions, which is kind of a transparency piece of of who's on?

Because I think because both AT&T and the FirstNet Authority are in agreement that this needs to be done, I don't think it's necessary to add it in, but it's something that we're working on.

Okay. Yeah. We'll we'll continue to look at that because I think that's key in, you know, just knowing who's on the net, who's, you know, as a fighter pilot, it's like who's on? And who are we talking to and who's not on, more importantly. So thank you for that. I represent AST in Midland, Texas, and proud of the work that they're doing to deliver, you know, another domain of connectivity. And I think that that layer helps in remote areas, especially like we experienced during the flooding. I think the Senate held a hearing and the relationship with AT&T and AST was was raised last week. So would love to hear, you know, in any details that you're willing to talk to us about where that relationship and how it relates to FirstNet and, you know, another layer of connectivity.

Thank you for that question, Congressman. The beauty of this public-private partnership is when AT&T makes an investment, a FirstNet user takes advantage of it. And so the investment that actually is being made in AST is AT&T. Now, my group works back with AT&T and we ensure that anything that's deployed from AT&T meets the needs of first responders. So when AST goes up, when it fully launches, it will be for first responders a version. It will have priority, preemption. We talk about push-to-talk mission-critical. It'll go well beyond texting. And we're excited. We're going to open at the end of this month, we're going to open up customers signing up for trials specific to public safety and it's going to launch first with public safety customers, specifically FirstNet customers. And we're more than happy to talk to any member in detail about specifically what the service will offer.

That's fantastic. It's a another domain, especially in rural America, that will help provide that that connectivity. So Sheriff, thank you for your service. I was stationed at Tyndall Air Force Base just to the east of you for many years. And want to talk about a couple of things. The relationship between the FirstNet CEO, the board, and NTIA. My understanding is that the the board and the chair provide recommendations and strategic guidance by to the CEO, but those are not necessarily binding. And in practice, this could mean that the CEO doesn't necessarily have to follow some of the recommendations. Is that accurate? And then as your time as board chair, have there been instances where recommendations maybe didn't necessarily get to the goal line?

I think because the position of chief executive or the position of Executive Director wasn't originally contemplated and it left that ambiguity that the Executive Director can and quite frankly in the past has, again, directly went against the what was the will of the board. I'll be specific. There was a multi-million dollar task order of which we said, and I want to be clear, not the current Executive Director, but to that we said we as the board, based on an executive order from the President of the United States that we considered to be binding to FirstNet, should not have been signed. That was against the will of the board. Whatever rationale, whatever reason that was, it just didn't work for us.

Thank you. My time has expired. AT&T, thank you for taking the initiative on this and fielding something that is super important. I yield back.

I thank the gentleman for yielding. And now I call on Representative Peters for your questions.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. In Congress, we have the responsibility to enable our first responders to make the best decisions to keep our community safe through national disasters and other emergency events. The First Responder Network Authority was created in 2012 to oversee the nationwide public safety broadband network in support of this goal. First responders like San Diego Police Department, San Diego Fire-Rescue in my district use the FirstNet network, which provides them with coverage throughout the region as well as a guarantee of priority and preemption services in the case of heavy congestion and use. In addition to using FirstNet services in case of disasters, San Diego's first responders also use FirstNet deployable assets for planned events that strain our local network. Last summer, first responders in San Diego had the opportunity to meet with FirstNet representatives to discuss ongoing concerns and opportunities for improvement like dead zones and areas with poor connection. Sheriff Adkinson, I want to just say first to you and to everyone, thank you for for that engagement. How do you engage with and respond to coverage concerns from the first responders on the ground? And Sheriff, are there any particular themes you hear out of those meetings?

Thank you for that question. It's actually a very relevant question because the authority has carried out coverage and enhancement workshops across the country. We're just wrapping some of those up now where we meet with the the members of that community and say, "Where are your shortcomings?" And then we get a priority list from them that says, "This is where we believe we need assistance, where things need to be improved." It's a big list. It's a big country.

Do you see particular major themes come across that?

For sure. I think there's two things that come almost automatically. Obviously, your rural areas are underserved and that's part of our emphasis. The other thing is when we're talking about inside of buildings and things of that nature where we have infrastructure problems that we need to straighten that we need to strengthen that. So those two things are pretty unanimous that, you know, where we have these difficult terrains. ...or the buildings themselves sometimes become problematic. But that's how we identify. We have to meet with these people to identify it.

Great. Thank you. So my district is not rural, it's mostly urban and suburban. We have fewer issues with coverage. We have more struggles with capacity. There's communities that lack coverage leaving public safety community without the tools to coordinate and communicate with others in times of emergency, so it might be difficult to balance those needs. But I wonder what insight can you give me on how you make your reinvestment decisions? How do you balance capacity, the ability to serve the quantity versus coverage?

We rely very heavily on our Public Safety Advocacy Committee and what the local there in those communities say. So again, the issue is always going to be we're looking at what New Hampshire needs, we look at what California needs, we look at what Michigan needs, and then try to make the best educated decision to say this is the priority list. But that's almost fundamentally based on where the most immediate needs are at and there are a lot of competing needs. To your point in a city, I've spent a lot of time in Florida's capital in Tallahassee and there were times that we were struggling inside the Department of Law Enforcement's building. Well, Department of Law Enforcement needs to be able to speak on FirstNet, right? They're on it. So we got in there and we got this resolved.

Right.

But it's a modern building in a modern city, so it's very difficult. We just try to prioritize based on what is the most pressing need.

Are those decisions made regionally?

Pardon?

Region by region?

They're made by state and then the board at the advice with the PSAC, the Public Safety Advocacy Committee, kind of forms a team and said, okay, this is the way we're going to do it. But it doesn't necessarily, it could all be in one particular area if that was the most pressing need.

I have a sense of how we would respond to the coverage issues in the rural areas, but maybe I could follow up with you on what about buildings? What are the kinds of things we should look forward to hearing about in terms of trying to solve coverage and accessibility within buildings?

Absolutely critical. As I said, we were struggling with coverage inside the Department of Law Enforcement building. We recently resolved the Louisiana State Police's problem at their training ground. And we have to be aware of it. We have to know that's going on and then try to prioritize that. But buildings, we just did one in Tarrant County, Texas, the same thing, in a skyscraper we had this problem. So these are things that is really of equal footing, we think, traditional towers and satellites and things like that. Sometimes it's bidirectional antennas, sometimes it's strengthening. A lot of different avenues to get there.

Mr. Agnew, I'll give you an opportunity to respond to that as well.

Thank you for the question. In urban areas, Sheriff's right, in-building, but we've developed what we call Cell Booster Pros, FirstNet Band 14 capable devices. We've instituted about thousands of buildings, so during the coverage workshop, that process occurs. So it's not just your macro, it's your in-building, so we're deploying technologies to help that in-building area.

Thank you. It's an important program. Thank you all for your work. And I yield back.

Thank you. Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia, Mr. Griffith, for five minutes.

Thank you very much. I had similar questions to my colleague from California on the other side of that coin. I represent a large mountainous rural district. So Sheriff Adkinson, I'm coming to you and you touched on some of it in your opening and in your comments to Representative Peters. But my district is larger than nine states by landmass even though I'm in Virginia. Most people don't realize that Virginia is as big as it is. And I represent a big chunk of the mountains in Virginia and we don't even have cell coverage in all those areas depending on which way the mountain leans or where you happen to be on the road. You can have some significant holes in areas that people wouldn't realize. It hasn't happened lately, but even a few miles outside of Blacksburg in Virginia Tech, there were times not that long ago where people were like, yeah, we don't have signal, even though it's one of the most wired communities in Virginia. So when you're looking at all this and you've gone into it a little bit, but what is the criteria that you all use to select sites for FirstNet equipment?

I know there's a lot of problems and you've got a lot of different issues whether it's buildings or mountains. In Representative Peters' district it's the buildings, in mine it's the mountains. Amen. Yes, sir. You know, forgive me if I quote Rousseau on this, but don't let perfect be the enemy of better. What we're trying to do is say where can we solve the most impact as quickly as possible until we can get back and make it perfect, right, to continue to make it better. We just did some in the mountains recently and I, you might find this hard to believe, but Florida is a very flat state.

I've noticed that when visiting your beaches, sir.

I'm actually at the tallest point and it's about 160 feet, just so you know. But the reality, all joking aside, the reality of it is we try to prioritize where can we have the most impact and what modality is the best, right? So it may be the satellite, it may be the tower, it may be the booster, whichever that is. But there is an emphasis given on those places that do not have coverage first. So the problem is I give you coverage and you go, well, maybe it's not as good as it needs to be yet. But nobody from this authority or certainly this board should ever tell you to switch to FirstNet if it does not work sustainably for you. You'll never hear a board member say that. That is not our job to do that, is to support the American people.

Yeah, and I know you mentioned earlier in your county one of the hurricanes. When we got hit with Helene a year and a piece ago, a big section of my district was, I mean, law enforcement, everybody was out of touch with anybody else because we lost, for various reasons, we lost cell coverage across a big swath of my district. Right. So let's talk about these planned, you mentioned and several others have as well, you mentioned the planned coverage enhancement workshops. And I'd like to know what that entails and as a part of that, I'd like to know if you have any plans for Southside or Southwest Virginia, because all politics is local. What are you doing in my district?

I'm actually intimately familiar with that, Representative. No, the short version is yes, we listen to the representatives from your state to tell us where you think is the priority, where do you believe that it should be first, and what can most correct your problems fast. So you've had that coverage, I know for a fact you've had a coverage enhancement workshop in your state and we took those recommendations. I apologize, I'll have to get back with you on the specifics of that.

And I appreciate that. And here's the concern that happens, and I appreciate, I'll get to you in just a second. I appreciate that you've had something in the state. Here's the problem. I have counties in my district that are closer to seven other state capitals than they are to Richmond. So if you're not actually on my end of the state, you might not be getting the same picture because they sometimes, and they try their hardest, I'm not fussing, but sometimes they don't understand what's happening out in the mountainous areas because from Richmond to the end of my district is about 10, 10 and a half hours. So they're a lot closer to the capital of, as I said, seven or nine other states. Get back to me on that and then you wanted to say something, Mr. Agnew, I've got about 45 seconds.

And I'll be fast. Your district has been a major focus. You have 30 sites that have been built.

How many?

30 have been built. 14 of them were part of the opt-in process where public safety, you have to build here or Virginia's not opting in. In the coverage workshops, there are seven identified areas in your network. There's a partnership with your local telecom and electric provider. That's how Lee County is getting service. So this network is designed for your first responders.

All right. I'm going to go over a minute or two. I apologize, Mr. Chairman. When you talk about Lee County, is that one of the ones down there for the tower that they put up in Lee County? I think you put a couple of them up there. That was fabulous. It not only gave us the first responders, but it gave us the first time in that part of the county we had any cell coverage. I yield back.

Thank you. Chair now recognizes Representative Dingell for five minutes to ask your questions.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the witnesses for being here. I want to take a moment to underscore just how essential FirstNet is for public safety in Michigan. It's a lifeline for first responders. In my district, the Ann Arbor Fire and the University of Michigan Health System rely on it every day. At the University of Michigan, nurses use iPads connected to FirstNet to ensure they remain prioritized above commercial networks during emergencies so they can communicate when it matters most. More than 950 public safety agencies and organizations in Michigan use FirstNet supported by over 1,850 Band 14 sites. In my district alone, there are more than 10,000 FirstNet subscribers. And nationwide, the network now supports more than seven million connections and covers nearly three million square miles. Across Michigan, police, fire, EMS, and other first responders turn to FirstNet not just for connectivity, but for operational reliability. They use it to restore communication during severe weather, coordinate rescues using push-to-talk and real-time data, and improve indoor coverage. And as our emergency response needs grow, we have to ensure that FirstNet stays secure, resilient, and interconnected with other emergency communications. And that's why this reauthorization matters and why it's so important we get it right. So FirstNet's value is clearest when everything else fails. In Michigan, we saw FirstNet play a critical role during severe weather and search and rescue operations in the Upper Peninsula where a FirstNet satellite cell on a light truck helped coordinate the response that led to the safe recovery of a missing eight-year-old after nearly 50 hours. Sheriff Adkinson, can you speak to why it's critical for Congress to reauthorize FirstNet to ensure first responders have reliable resilient communications?

Thank you for that question. Absolutely fundamentally necessary. I'll use my own organization again. We were on what was called the State Law Enforcement Radio System. That system temporarily went down. It's not supposed to go down. It went down. But because we made the decision when Florida opted in under Governor Scott, I think in 2018, we made that decision that any infrastructure we built was going to have a FirstNet backup. We were able to go from the failure of our land mobile radio to dispatching calls. And again, I'm medical, I'm air medical, as well as law enforcement. And we were able to do that over our FirstNet phones. Seamless service and redundancy and resiliency. It is critical because lives matter.

So I'm going to, the draft bill would extend FirstNet's authority through 2037. But it also makes governance changes to the program by removing the FirstNet Authority's status as an independent entity and subjecting its actions to approval by the NTIA. I understand that first responders and public safety officials have concerns about this shift, particularly the requirement that most FirstNet actions must receive prior NTIA approval. On the other hand, the Office of Inspector General has detailed several concerns including network reliability issues and deficiencies in contract administration. Sheriff Adkinson, how do you assess the potential impact of making the FirstNet's actions subject to NTIA approval and what safeguards are necessary to ensure the first responders continue to have an independent voice in how the network is governed and operated?

Thank you for that question. I think there are a couple of things. Pragmatically, the way it functions now is NTIA hires essentially every employee. Now they do can have consultation, they choose to do that. They're not, to my knowledge, not required by law to consult before even hiring the executive director. We certainly think that that is something the board needs direct oversight on, as I've said numerous times today. The second part of that is where there cannot be a breakdown, where there absolutely cannot be a breakdown, is in the building out strategic planning and growth of this system. That cannot in any way, shape, or form be impaired because otherwise you're going to deal with, let's just say this, it should be done by the experts and that meet the needs of the people we serve. So that to me is a non-sequitur, a non-negotiable in that regard.

I'm going to be out of time, so I want to thank you. I'm going to have more questions for the other two witnesses, so you're going to get them on the record. This is critical for my state and our getting it right. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I yield back.

Thank you. Chair now recognizes Mr. Latta for five minutes to ask your questions.

Well, thanks, Mr. Chairman, and thanks for our panel for being with us today. This is really important. I was on the committee when we had our first hearings for FirstNet and as I'd mentioned in a prior hearing, you could say that things didn't go quite well. It was kind of a top-down approach that was coming from pretty much Washington to the local governments and just wasn't working. And I can remember the hearing that we had that, in fact, it was someone from Ohio testified in behalf and also from Maryland. I can't believe I can still remember this. But what we did see over time that there was vast improvement. And so, Sheriff, if I could just start with you and I think it's important because again, when I'm out with all of my first responders across my district, and I have a pretty big district that spans across Northern Ohio, we have to make sure that the coverage is there and that it's working. And I know that I've been out for one was more of a demonstration for FirstNet, but a second was the first time I was out to see it was actually when the solar eclipse was occurring and it actually went across my district all the way. And so I mean, there was going to be, they knew they were going to have some serious issues out there. And it worked. But in your experience when you're talking to people from around the country, what's your experience in how not only from law enforcement, but all first responders are finding FirstNet?

I think it's a very positive response and I have to tell you one of the things that I hear is to your point, when this was originally done, I don't think people thought it could get done. And I think that's what's changed. I think just a lot of people deserve credit, certainly not me, I wasn't here for this, but if you go across the country, people are relying on FirstNet to make life and death decisions and they're impressed with the fact that this thing is getting done. Again, we're not saying perfection, but we're saying that this has been an overwhelming success and it's going to continue to grow and build out. So I'm extremely proud for the men and women that actually built the system.

Good. Well, thank you. Mr. Agnew, if I could ask you a question here. Telehealth services are a crucial asset in our healthcare system and with the spectrum that's been allocated by Congress, first responders using FirstNet connectivity can provide emergency telehealth services which can be life-saving. If there's an accident in a remote area that is far from a hospital, first responders can connect a patient to a doctor using FirstNet and provide critical care until the patient is delivered to that hospital. And before I ask the actual question, I'll give you an example. I was at one of my hospitals in our region and they had a stroke unit. And they were showing what the stroke unit could do. It was amazing. It was absolutely amazing. But I'm always, having served on this committee for so long, I'm the one that kind of, I didn't want to bust anybody's bubble, but I did ask a question. I said, how far can you go out? And so they showed over that circumference was, but then it was pretty much like if you're on the other side of it, they couldn't get to you. So that's that life-saving right there is that we want to make sure it's expanded all the way out there so it can serve everyone and not just in a particular area what they were doing. So how important is it that FirstNet continues to expand connectivity across the country so all these types of programs can be utilized?

It's very important, Congressman. I mean, the mission is to ensure public safety receives the technology and never get left behind like they were. They get 5G and 6G technology. But then it's about the coverage, building out in the rural, the underserved area, the tribal areas, even in some of the areas as we mentioned, Sheriff mentioned, in-building and maybe some of the dense places. Public safety deserves the coverage. This program is going to allow it to happen and to your point about extending e-health out and so that's what FirstNet is going to do is just continue to grow based on public safety's feedback.

Well, thank you. I'll just close on this because on 9/11, I was driving, I was in the state, in the General Assembly in Ohio at the time. And of course, everything just collapsed. You're trying to use your cell phone to find out what was going on. And literally in front of the Statehouse in Columbus, it took one hour, almost an hour just to drive that one block. But there was no communication. Everything was down. Everything. And so also for our first responders out there, you know, we worried about that. But finally with some, you know, other members of the General Assembly were coming out saying just they if they saw you in your car, they just yelled you got to go home. And but that's how things collapse on 9/11. We all saw it. And but you know, the what we all really saw was what happened in especially in New York. And that's why with FirstNet, we want to make sure that that never ever occurs again because we want to make sure for the people that the FirstNet or the first responders out there are trying to protect, but also just protect those first responders that they can always be in connection with one another. And Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Thank you. Chair now recognizes Representative Barragán for five minutes to ask her questions.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to thank all the witnesses for being here today, for your testimony, and for the work that you do day in and day out. I think I've heard a repeating theme, some questions which I already had about how to make sure that the network works, that it's available when there's a disaster, when there's an emergency, and many questions about what's being done to make sure there's coverage in places where there's not coverage now and efforts being done by AT&T of course to harden the system. So I'm going to focus my questions on a different area. Sheriff Adkinson, under the current law, the FirstNet Authority must reinvest any revenue generated into the FirstNet network, which AT&T owns and operates. The bill we're considering today would enable the FirstNet Authority to invest in new and emerging broadband technologies like satellite internet. If this bill becomes law, will the funding flow only through AT&T or could the FirstNet Authority pay other providers, subcontractors, or technology vendors directly?

Thank you for that question, Representative. I think the authority and the board specifically says that we should always look what is the best service for the American people in the delivery of that services in whatever capacity that is. So if that as long as everything we do enhances the coverage and what we're doing, then it makes sense. If it doesn't, it doesn't make sense. In regard to using other folks, that's something contractually that would have to be worked out. But yes, I think there should be the ability to take whatever is the best application or service, that's what we should be looking at.

So you think that payments could be made directly to those others, not through AT&T?

I'm going to have to defer on that question.

Okay. Do you think that needs to be spelled out more in the legislation?

I think so. I think so.

Okay. I'm also going to follow up on this. I'm looking at an oversight of First Responder Network Authority, an OIG report. The Inspector General has identified $1.13 billion that the FirstNet Authority could have used more efficiently according to the report. Mr. Dame, can you explain if Section 3 of this new bill, the bill we know under the Section 3, more clearly brings the FirstNet Authority under NTIA's authority? Do you think that's going to help prevent further use of funds so that they're efficiently used?

I do. And as we've seen across many Inspector General reports, that there's this overarching theme of the need for greater performance accountability and contract oversight. And I believe that that is an area where NTIA can support. We never want to get in the middle of strategic decisions that first responders should be making on the board and with the Public Safety Advisory Committee. But I believe in terms of performance accountability, that is an area where NTIA and the Department of Commerce can support the authority to a greater degree.

Great. And Sheriff, I want to follow up on the same report. There's another result in this report that says that the OIG made 50 recommendations. 24 of the recommendations remain unimplemented. Who should be implementing those remaining 24 and what's the status?

Thank you for that question. As I said in my initial statement, that is our response. We, the board, is entirely responsible for making sure that gets done through their executive director and staff. We should be leaning and I will tell you all those are in the process of being cleared or closed in close cooperation with the OIG. We have met with them, the executive director has met with them, and we're moving toward resolving them. But more importantly, we've now established a relationship where there is a close line of communication because I need to ensure this doesn't happen again. And that's really the short version of that.

Yeah. Well, I have to say and just reiterate what my colleagues have all reiterated and that the this is so critically important for all our communities. And I think it sounds like when we all spoke to our local elected officials and counties and cities, the pattern was we want it to be reliable, we want there to be transparency, we need it to work. And so I think whatever we can do to make sure that that happens is something that Congress and us as lawmakers are focused on. So I will end with the very brief question. Does anybody on the panel think there's anything that's missing from the draft legislation that needs to be added? We'll start with you, Mr. Agnew, since you're the one we haven't gotten to.

I don't think there's anything that needs to be added.

Okay. Mr. Dame?

No, NTIA supports the bill. Thank you.

Sheriff?

Just consistent with my previous statement that there should be some direct oversight from the board of the executive director so that we have some say in who that is and what their performance metrics would be.

Great. Thank you. Thank you all. I yield back.

Thank you. Chair now recognizes Mr. Fry for five minutes to ask your questions.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. FirstNet was created to address a clear failure exposed on September 11th. Our first responders could not reliably communicate across systems when it mattered most. Congress responded, obviously, and today FirstNet is widely used by first responders across the country including rural and coastal communities like those I represent in South Carolina. In fact, I think there's been a recent expansion of FirstNet in Marion County. The Sheriff is thrilled because his officers can now communicate when they need it the most. As we approach the sunset, though, Congress I think has a unique role and responsibility to ensure continuity of service while also examining governance, oversight, and performance. Reauthorization should focus on reliability, interoperability, and accountability. A lot of abilities, if you will. So first responders can depend on that network without disruption. So I appreciate all of you being here today. Sheriff Adkinson, when first responders identify, in fact in Marion County, South Carolina, Adkinsons are like Smiths, so you might have some family in the district. But when first responders identify coverage gaps or performance issues in the field, how does that information flow from local agencies to the board and into investment decisions?

It flows in a couple of different ways. First and foremost, we have individuals who represent those specific areas to maintain contact with them, field reps for putting it another way. We also have the Public Safety Advocacy Committee who are from multiple disciplines and advise the board where they see shortcomings. And third, and I think this is critical, there is a direct relationship out from those organizations to the FirstNet Authority. In other words, they can pick up the phone and call us as well. You might find that hard to believe, but the first responders are perfectly willing to pick up the phone and call. So I think the field reps are crucial to what we do. I think the PSAC is crucial to what we do. And from that, we try to make the best decisions on the most, again, where do you get the most impact, what is the most critical need and try to stagger that.

Appreciate that. And I think Congressman Griffith raised the issue about rural Virginia and that you have meetings in Virginia, you've had a meeting in Virginia, I think you testified to. But I was curious just to kind of follow up on that, how often those meetings take place? Do they take place in different parts of the state? Are they ongoing meetings where situations evolve and maybe in a year or so you go back to that state to see if the terrain has changed? What does that look like? Just curious on how you listen actively on the ground to what the states are needing most.

Yeah, we actually just finished up the majority of our coverage workshops for the entire country, right? The field reps or the representatives are out all the time. They are assigned to specific states or area. And depending on the state, we don't, in other words, say for instance we have one in Florida and it's in one district, we may hold two there. You may hold three ultimately, depends what's necessary. So there's kind of an ongoing path of reaching back and saying it's time to go back there, we've heard issues or concerns there, the PSAC has reported there's an issue there, we've got a fire chief says there's an issue here. So we're trying to do that on an ongoing basis. But I will tell you, I think that is part of our ongoing strategic plan too is to set a pattern. Listen, if you say you're going to do something, you've got to do it. And so when you start saying you're coming back, we don't want to promise and underdeliver.

So you're coming back?

Yeah, we'll be back.

All right. I know the Chair, he says he will. There you go. Mr. Agnew, outages I think are a big concern just generally and whether or not first responders can access this, use it. What changes have been made since the 2024 outage to reduce the risk of future disruptions and improve notifications for first responder usage?

Thank you for that question. And just as a recap, in 2024, the FirstNet core experienced a two-hour outage. But AT&T prioritized per the contract the FirstNet program and we got that network up and running, that core up and running within a couple hours. We've subsequently done a root cause analysis, an after-action report, and identified specifically what went wrong and what specific implementations need to occur. FirstNet put forth a task force. We were held accountable and basically delivered to ensure that situation wouldn't happen. So this is oversight in action. It's accountability in action happening, so we have now and we funded the investments necessary to enhance the network.

Thank you for that. I have other questions, but I think the Chairman runs a tight ship. So with that, I will yield back.

Appreciate that. Chair now recognizes Mr. Menendez for five minutes to ask your questions.

Thank you, Chairman. Thank you to the witnesses for being here. The horrific terrorist attacks on September 11th exposed critical weaknesses in our public safety communications when overloaded radio, landline, and mobile networks left police officers, firefighters, and paramedics unable to communicate effectively. First responders answered the call on 9/11 from across the river in New Jersey, including many from my district. The First Responder Network Authority was created out of the 9/11 Commission Report out of a recognition that we need a nationwide network for public safety communications to keep Americans safe during emergencies. Today's hearing is also critical to the communities I represent because every year we experience a growing number of natural disasters such as Superstorm Sandy and Hurricane Ida which knocked out power for many local 911 centers and disrupted communications networks down the entire Northeastern seaboard. Our district also includes a vast amount of critical infrastructure that has led homeland security experts to call the area between Newark Airport and the Port of Elizabeth the most dangerous two miles in America. This makes strengthening FirstNet's security and resilience... ...resiliency essential for families in our district so that first responders know their communication tools will work when they need them most. I would like to ask each witness just yes or no, would you agree that oversight of the resilience and security of the FirstNet network is especially vital for communities with increased exposure to natural disasters and substantial critical infrastructure assets? We'll start with you, Sheriff.

Absolutely. And I would say remember that the representative of Homeland Security as well as DOJ is on there. And as the third members, there's a technical expertise that is provided by several of the board members, one in particular, and this is the issue of cybersecurity, the ability to stay up against a cyberattack. That is absolutely key.

We'll come back to cybersecurity, don't you worry.

Yes.

Yes, and we're currently held accountable to 3,600 requirements and 1,000 reports to do exactly what you're saying.

I appreciate that. That is why I'm pleased that we are moving forward with a bipartisan discussion draft to reauthorize FirstNet with increased oversight of the resiliency and security of the network. Mr. Agnew, in light of the numerous natural disasters that have impacted public safety communications in New Jersey, how is AT&T working to improve the resilience of FirstNet statewide?

Thank you for that question. And Superstorm Sandy is what created the Response Operation Group program. It started in New Jersey from that experiences. And in fact, New Jersey was one of the Broadband Technology Opportunity Programs that actually set one of the seven that basically built or formulated FirstNet, and it was New JerseyNet. Actually, New JerseyNet has been incorporated within the FirstNet program. But that Response Operation Group is dedicated individuals, former public safety officials, over 190 assets plus the 750 assets AT&T brings to the table, coordinates with public safety as what's going on with the FIFA event. Where are you going to be? Where do you need the equipment? Where we're staging. It is constant collaboration, training, and practicing. So an event like Superstorm Sandy, the team's prepared. The team's prepared to stage and know exactly where to go.

I appreciate that. I appreciate New Jersey leading the way with AT&T. Sheriff Adkinson, in your opinion, does the FirstNet reauthorization discussion draft provide for better dissemination of outage information so that public safety agencies have situational awareness of FirstNet's operational status?

Yes.

Okay. And it's critical that FirstNet remains operational even in the toughest circumstances. Sheriff Adkinson, in your testimony, you touch on the importance of cybersecurity enhancements to FirstNet network. In what ways would this discussion draft strengthen oversight over the cybersecurity of FirstNet?

I can't specifically to how that legislation would increase cybersecurity impact other than to say this: the board is specifically addressing that and making that part of key performance indexes to be rolled out. We haven't finished that yet because I think it still needs more work.

But you would say it's one of the sort of utmost important issues that you are working on on the board given sort of what we're seeing with increased cyberattacks, especially from foreign adversaries.

Absolutely a priority.

I appreciate that. I want to go back, Mr. Agnew. You mentioned this, but how is AT&T investing in preparations for the upcoming FIFA World Cup finals in and around MetLife Stadium in New Jersey through collaboration with local law enforcement?

We're meeting with all 12 of the cities, of course MetLife Stadium. Again, planning, coordinating where first responders are, where we need to be, making incremental investments in in-building coverage. Public safety is what's unique about FIFA is unlike a Jets or Giants game where you can park around the...

People are actually going to be there.

Right. Okay, that's a good point.

I'm a Giants fan, so...

...but it's FIFA has different rules than NFL and you can't park around the stadium, so we have to move all our assets, coordinate with public safety. That's going on. I feel very good about the performance of what you're about to see.

I appreciate it and I look forward to continuing to work with you as well as the entire committee on moving this forward. Thank you all. I yield back.

Thank you. Chair now recognizes Mr. Carter for five minutes to ask your question.

Thank you, gentlemen, for being here. And thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this meeting. And we all have established the fact that FirstNet was created so that our first responders would never again have to face the communications failures that we saw on 9/11. And I remain strongly supportive of reauthorizing this critical public safety network. I had the pleasure of visiting the AT&T facility, the disaster recovery facility in Covington, Georgia, and very impressed with the equipment there, very impressed with the infrastructure. It supports the infrastructure and operations that keep first responders connected across the state. Congress, as I understand it, entered into a 25-year partnership with AT&T to build and operate and maintain this nationwide network for public safety. And as AT&T continues to operate FirstNet and expand its infrastructure, I want to better understand the implications of having a single commercial provider owning and running the underlying network. Mr. Agnew, does AT&T own the network that's being built for FirstNet?

That's correct. It's basically the contract is to understand it's a services-based contract that AT&T implements at the direction of the authority all the FirstNet-specific elements that are required to deliver the service. And it is the FirstNet Authority actually holds license to the spectrum.

So if the contract's not renewed when it ends, what will happen to the infrastructure that's been built?

The infrastructure remains with AT&T, but to just level set expectations, wireless networks upgrade, you're upgrading your entire network every five years. So it has a very limited lifespan on network equipment. So we AT&T spends about $145 billion every five years upgrading a network.

Okay. Thank you for that. As I understand it, Sheriff Adkinson, FirstNet is governed by a 15-person board that includes permanent federal members and 12 commerce-appointed experts, and they have the responsibility of ensuring that the network stays focused on public safety needs. First of all, thank you for your service, Sheriff, and for your leadership on the FirstNet board. What enforcement tools does the board actually have to ensure compliance with build-out and performance requirements under this agreement?

Yeah, they can withhold payment. I mean, ultimately that's where this is at. If appropriate, you can set apart indices again for measures for them to meet, but withholding of funds is the major...

Have you had to do that?

Yeah, there've been delays. There've been time that we've had to double check and go back and do things, but all of those were rectified in a manner that was sufficient.

So you're pretty satisfied?

I am satisfied.

Okay. Do you believe that Congress should enhance the board's oversight authority or transparency requirements as part of the reauthorization to better protect first responders?

Yes. I do. I think the board should take more ownership and more responsibility in making sure this is done appropriately.

But should Congress be the one to do that, to give you that enhanced oversight?

I believe so.

Okay. Fair enough. That's really all I have. Thank all of y'all for being here. This is very important. As I said, I had the opportunity to visit Covington and very impressed with the infrastructure. And Ms. Ferguson, thank you for setting that up and helping us with that because it is, when you see it, you are impressed. It is a big investment, there's no question about that. So thank y'all and I yield back.

Thank you. Chair recognizes Representative McClellan for five minutes for your questions.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I want to reiterate how excited I am to be working with Mr. Dunn of Florida on this very important legislation. Let me first ask, so in the bill, we turn what is the executive director into an associate administrator position, who's a senior service level official appointed by the assistant secretary. Now this, they're subject to performance reviews and consultation with the chair of the board and any committee members that deal with governance and risk. But Sheriff Adkinson, several times you have raised reasonable concerns about the relationship between the board and what will now be this associate administrator. And Mr. Dame, I would like to hear your thoughts on how the legislation can work to address that relationship to further improve FirstNet's Authority's accountability.

Thank you, and thank you for your leadership on this bill, Congresswoman. NTIA believes that moving the FirstNet Authority over to be a line office within NTIA will be important to improve performance accountability. But I want to be clear that the strategic decisions for public safety on their network needs to come from the board, the Public Safety Advisory Committee. I think where NTIA and the department can support to a much greater degree is to provide performance accountability as the Authority is implementing the decisions the board has provided and for performance accountability after the fact, after implementation. I understand Sheriff Adkinson's point, and I think ultimately a solution can be found as Congress considers this bill.

Thank you. And Sheriff Adkinson, I mean, your concerns are heard loud and clear, that's why I didn't ask you, but I wanted to make sure that we gave Mr. Dame a chance to respond. And I think this is an area where we will definitely look. So Mr. Agnew and Sheriff Adkinson, can you describe how AT&T has met its reinvestment obligations in the nationwide public safety broadband network and how the FirstNet Authority ensures those reinvestments align with public safety priorities rather than broader commercial objectives?

I think it's pretty straightforward from a reinvestment standpoint. The framework was established in February of 2024 of what FirstNet would investment: a new core, new coverage, new technologies inclusive of satellite. It is now incumbent on the voice of public safety and the FirstNet Authority to determine what those investments are. AT&T is the contractor. We can share our expertise and the technology, but what we don't dictate where coverage goes or the technology that's implemented. We're just responsible for meeting the requirements of implementation.

Okay. And Sheriff Adkinson, did you want to add anything to that?

Yes, ma'am. I mean, that's the short version of it. We're going to tell them where we believe these towers need to be based on the input from public safety, and that's where the funds should be spent.

Okay. Also for Sheriff and Mr. Dame, the OIG reports have found that FirstNet's Authority has not followed standard federal contracting and procurement procedures. Is there any reason why the Authority should not be subject to the same federal acquisition standards as other federal entities, and if so, what is that?

The reality is any procurement we make should ultimately be transparent, accountable, and have something that can be reviewed. There's just no way around that. Now whether that meets that standard or a separate set of rules for a P3, I don't think anybody here should argue against that.

And I would just add that the FirstNet Authority decided to use the Federal Acquisition Regulations, which I think was the right decision, and that the department has provided delegations of authority to FirstNet officials to perform those procurement activities.

Okay. I probably don't have enough time for the remaining, but thank you. This has been very helpful. As we said earlier, this is a discussion draft, not the final, and so I for one have found your testimony very helpful as we move forward. And I yield back.

Thank you. Chair recognizes Representative Cammack for five minutes to ask your questions.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to our witnesses for being here today. I am very proud to have one of our own from the great free state of Florida here testifying before our committee. So thank you, Sheriff. I'd be remiss if I didn't say go Gators. [Laughter.] I know, those are fighting words. But as everyone in this room knows, FirstNet was created after 9/11 to fix a deadly failure. First responders can't do their jobs if they can't communicate. Congress has responded by helping build a nationwide public safety network with priority and preemption when lives are on the line. By many measures, FirstNet has delivered. It serves tens of thousands of agencies, spans millions of square miles, and has proven its value during disasters. And that success is exactly why Congress must reauthorize it before its authority expires in 2027. But reauthorization shouldn't be on autopilot. Outages, coverage gaps, especially in rural areas, and Inspector General findings show that performance must come with accountability and action. So this bill, this discussion draft, it strengthens oversight, improves outage reporting, clarifies responsibility, and ensures that FirstNet keeps evolving. When accountability is clear, public safety is stronger. So I'm going to start with you, Sheriff. You've emphasized that FirstNet works best when investments are driven by real operational needs. You and I have discussed, for example, in my district that the overwhelming majority of my sheriffs are not on FirstNet. My husband, who is a first responder and a user of FirstNet, was unable to utilize his service during the last three major hurricanes. Now, I know that there have been challenges in deployment, but can you briefly detail how through our conversation and conversations you've had with others that we can make FirstNet for all of our rural sheriffs and disaster-prone areas? Specifically, what reinvestment needs to happen?

Thank you for that question, Representative, and thank you for your work on this because I know your personal interest and that it matters. So in and I'll use your district specifically, you know, we went back and held a coverage workshop there in I think August of this last year and said listening to our firefighters, EMS, first responder, where can we increase the coverage, what needs to be done. I think something like 15 sites have been added in the last year and a half in that district. But that doesn't mean it's going to be perfect. And it certainly doesn't mean the district's farther down south. So if I'm in Lafayette County or Gilchrist County, which are extremely rural counties, there may need more than that one site or two sites. We're going to have to continue to do that. So I think it's incumbent upon us at the Authority to ensure that we keep these workshops going, we keep the field reps going, and we prioritize based on the immediacy of need and where we identify these problems.

Well, and that's a great way to dovetail into the next question about interoperability. So there's some discussion within this language today that there needs to be a concerted effort towards interoperability for different services, particularly in disaster situations. Can you speak to that?

Yeah, I think the clearly, you know, obviously right now I could call you on, you know, I could use my FirstNet phone and call you on a Verizon or T-Mo. So you have that level of interoperability. You also are they have developed the ability to talk over land mobile radio as well too, the push-to-talk if you do that. I think some of the new product that is coming forth, the technology is clearly working toward that. That is the final singularity of goal is that we have one ring to rule them all from a standpoint of a unified command. You knew I would work in Lord of the Rings here at some point. There has to be a unified command. There shouldn't be any question about this working and the ability to work during that.

Excellent. Thank you. I'm going to shift to you. Is it Dom or Dame?

Dame.

Dame. Like hot dame? Okay. Just kidding, it's a joke.

Notre Dame.

Oh, okay. All right, we're going to talk about that later. So you've talked about a lot today quite a bit about the blurred lines of authority. Under the current structure, who is currently responsible for enforcing contract performance? That's the first part. But then how would making FirstNet a clearer line office within NTIA improve the day-to-day oversight and accountability?

Yep, and thank you, Congresswoman, for your leadership on public safety communications. It's the murkiness and the ambiguity of the independent authority within NTIA that's caused the issue. And there are dedicated mission-driven staff at the FirstNet Authority who are working on these issues, who care very much about making sure the first responders have the network they need. But we think that with the proposed changes in the draft discussion text, that having the FirstNet Authority move over as a line office of NTIA, there'd be greater enhancements.

Well, and because my time is running short, I just want to highlight H.R. 1519, the Public Safety Communications Act, which would formally establish the Office of Public Safety within NTIA. It would cut the red tape, create a single point of oversight for FirstNet. Do you agree that that would be helpful in establishing greater ability to be flexible for FirstNet but oversight at the same time?

I do. I think there need to be some reconciliations between the two bills, but yes, ma'am.

And Sheriff, would you agree?

Apologize. I believe there'd be delineated lines of authority, so there's no question about the ambiguity of who is doing what.

Excellent. I appreciate y'all's feedback today. And with that, I yield back.

Thank you. And keeping in Florida, I'll recognize Representative Castor for five minutes to ask her question.

Thank you, Chairman Hudson and Ranking Member Matsui. Yes, we're rich in Floridians on the committee. And thank you to our witnesses. You've had some very constructive recommendations for us. I think there's a lot of interest from Floridians because we're so susceptible to disasters. You talked about Hurricane Michael up in your neck of the woods, but really in the Tampa Bay area, we're still reeling from Hurricanes Helene and Milton in the fall of 2024 that's just devastating one-two punch where folks lost power for weeks. Three million Floridians lost power after that, and it was long and sustained. I know Rep. Cammack knows this all too well. Damage to critical infrastructure. There is no people don't anticipate that they're going to lose internet and cell service, but they do. And it's just a worst-case scenario to think that our first responders when towers go down, communication networks go down, that that will hamper rescue and recovery. So I after the storms checked in on the operation of FirstNet with Pinellas County Emergency Management. They said AT&T has done well building out towers and infrastructure in Florida with hurricanes in mind, but the portable sites, especially the compact rapid deployables, were particularly helpful to provide reliable service. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said that FirstNet has been very successful for the county, connecting up all phones, cameras, patrol cars, laptops. They said that the service has disaster-grade reliability and that there have been little to no issues with the product or provider. But both emphasized to me that if the Congress is going to act, that they were concerned that there would be more bureaucratic red tape, that there they both highlighted that if we're going to make changes to ensure that there are no obstacles created to action. Is there anything you see in the draft legislation or in responding to the OIG's report that would create unnecessary barriers or obstacles?

Thank you for that question. I'm assuming you were pointing at me, so I want to make sure that I am answering appropriately. I think when you look at that specifically, those OIGs largely deal with individuals not following directions or doing what they're told or being held accountable. And I sound like a broken record on this issue, but I think it's fundamentally the crux of the issue. You can switch responsibility to multiple different people, but if you're not going to hold them accountable, I'm not sure what we're going to accomplish with that. So we've got to do that. Again, that individual, those individual positions today currently are hired, selected, supervised by NTIA today. Full stop. And so what I just think we just need to be clear so that we can say this is how it needs to be handled and to do it as effectively as possible.

And you're going to keep an eye to make sure that our local emergency managers and first responders and as we develop this modernization for FirstNet or reauthorization, that there are no barriers to them being able to act.

Yes, ma'am. And quite frankly, I worry all the time about these kind of things or whether or not this system's going down. Is it working like it needs to? This is what keeps me up at night.

Mr. Agnew, Florida now is expanding the number of deployables, the compact rapid deployables and more towers, but I hear Rep. Cammack say there are parts of our state that are still struggling. What's the latest?

Yes, still more to be done. As you mentioned, the state of Florida invested in 60 of those compact rapid deployables. So we've actually developed technology where first responders can own their own mobile towers, and so that has happened so they can self-sustain. There's more coverage coming. There was 15 sites built, there's three more sites being built in your district in the Tampa area. I believe there's four more coming in Representative Cammack in your area. There is a lot more work to be done. That is why we need this network to continue because that investment is going to deliver exactly what you're asking for: more coverage and more deployables for resiliency in hurricanes and other disasters.

So one of the challenges, and I don't know if this impacts directly on the compact rapid deployables, is just the widespread loss of power afterwards. Are you is AT&T developing the battery backups to go with systems? I mean, we there were so many hospitals and wastewater infrastructure for local communities when they lost power for the long term, they couldn't operate. Is there the same challenge for communications networks?

Yep, absolutely. Power in hurricanes and in high winds, power becomes an issue. Continuing to harden that network and invest in...

So do you have partnerships on battery, the kind of the new wave of batteries?

Yes, we do.

Okay. Could you provide a little more information on that? Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.

Thank you. Chair now recognizes Mr. Goldman for five minutes for your questions.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you very much for this hearing and thank you to the panelists for being here today. Sheriff, thank you very much for your service, thank you for your frankness and directness in your testimony today. Can you just take us through anecdotally what it was like before FirstNet was created, any stories you may have, and then the improvements of FirstNet and where we are today?

You know, we talk about I mean, obviously 9/11 the impetus of this, correct? But I can tell you, I've been through Hurricane Katrina. And when there was no ability to talk or where there was so much volume, you know, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas murders that took place in South Florida. You have everybody trying to call at one time, everybody trying to use. What happens now with priority and preemption is that those first responders now have access to this network. The Super Bowl, you know, is a great example of that where you have a lot of folks in there. You had the shooting in New Orleans around that same time frame. If you look at the number of times that that system was bounced off, and AT&T can provide that, we've seen those numbers. We can see who is actually hitting this system and when they're doing it. But the fact it is not an overlay and it's built for them, assuring that we're going to be able to get out, is critical, absolutely critical. Because when we talk about natural disasters, which is a huge thing we worry about, don't forget when you're talking about the inauguration of the President of the United States, or when you're talking about a Super Bowl and some incident happens, that may not be a natural disaster, but there's certainly such a surge in usage right then. This ensures that our first responders can get out when nobody else can.

Thank you. Mr. Agnew, I know you spoke about this a little bit earlier with Mr. Pfluger, my colleague from Texas, but I want to go back to the Central Texas flooding. Can you talk about and again, I apologize if you already did that, I was out of the room for a bit, but can you talk about some hurricanes you can plan for, you know they're coming and you can be prepared. No one knew the flooding was going to happen to the level it did in Central Texas. Can you talk about how y'all responded to that and how you prepare for something like that or then plan for the future?

That's thank you for that question. It's a great question because you have unplanned events, planned events like a hurricane where you can plan a couple days and then unplanned events which it just becomes emergent. And that's exactly what happened with the Texas Hill Country flooding. You your staffer have been to our network disaster recovery warehouse, you see the arsenal. But there's intelligence around that where we stage them across the country. We have an AT&T weather operations center that nationally monitors so we know when impacts are occurring so we can respond. And that's exactly what we did. We responded in force, we sent the cavalry to the Hill Country. I had folks on my team on the ground with first responders directing search and rescue efforts. There was also a cell tower, a full-blown cell tower built in 48 hours. It's magic when public safety and telecommunications gets together, what can happen, because there's no more red tape, it's just execution. And that's what the Response Operation Group does with public safety. We recently recognized at an event with our CEO the the employees that actually went down and supported, and they were tired. They were with public safety multiple days. We had to swap some out because of just the emotional demand of course what was going on and what individuals were seeing. But we learn from those events. We get feedback from those events. One of the things that we learned from the Texas Hill Country is those smaller mobile deployables are so important because it's hard to get in some of those areas. You can't have a huge truck. So we're actually increasing the amount of assets we have of smaller deployables.

That was going to be my follow-up question, what'd you learn? So you already answered it. So with that, Mr. Chairman, thank you. I yield back the balance of my time. Thank y'all very much for being here.

Thank you. And now recognize Representative Carter for five minutes for your questions.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Ranking Member, for holding this important hearing. Thank you all for being here. As you know, I represent Louisiana's 2nd Congressional District, New Orleans being the hub of entertainment, festivals, sporting events, and concerts. The walkability of our city, the nature of millions of people literally coming in every year for conventions and sporting events and Mardi Gras, which we're celebrating as we speak. The importance of recognizing Mother Nature, who always plays a big role in our community, from hurricanes, floods, considered security and mass gathering events. That's why public safety technologies and communication systems like FirstNet are so critical to protecting the lives and ensuring effective emergency responses in districts like mine. And I strongly, strongly support reauthorization of this program. Just a few questions. Mr. Agnew, for those who may not know, can you share with us why the priority for preemption for priority and preemption are critical to protecting public safety during network congestions at large crowd events like Mardi Gras, festivals, sporting events, and concerts?

Public safety has to get through. They have to communicate. If they can't do that, there could be lives at risk. They could not be responding to the incident that they need. And that is why we built a dedicated core, no users, consumer users are on that core. That is why public safety on Band 14 and all of AT&T's other couple hundred megahertz of spectrum, they get priority so they can communicate. And that is why we have the largest network for public safety built by public safety so they can get through.

What are some what are some of the things that AT&T has learned since you've been doing this, and what can we do to to make it better? What have you learned that made it good? What are things that you think hadn't done?

I think that's a great question as far as what we've learned. I mentioned to Congressman Goldman, building smaller deployables, building form factors for in-building solutions, building the location capabilities to show where somebody is in the building in the building. We learn that feedback from public safety is so important because when we take that feedback and deploy a product, it makes it better.

...strategic matter. As a first responder, can you talk about how FirstNet works in a city like New Orleans in response to emergencies, natural disasters strike our communities, and equally as important, share with me, are we big enough? We know that natural disasters just come faster, they stay longer, they come in places that they historically have not, mudslides and tornadoes and all of the natural disasters that we see coming. Are we big enough? And what do we have to do to maintain the level of clear channel as Mr. Agnew mentioned going forward?

I'll speak to New Orleans specifically. You know, the shooting, the incident with the vehicle about a year and a half ago, that's a great example where as first responders, the usage there was really significant for a burst, this short period of time as everybody's trying to coordinate what's going on. The ability for that not to be bogged down in commercial traffic is absolutely crucial. And then the reality of what you just said about natural disasters. There are some things, and I'm not going to lie to you, there are some things that we just sometimes miss or are unprepared for. Maui, the Maui fires, you know, a volcano, that was unprecedented. Should we have had more access as ready to their outlying island? Yes. Full stop. And we're going to have to continue to try and work and do that.

But the very nature of natural disasters is they don't give you warning, right? So as hard as you guys work and as much as we appreciate it, natural disasters don't give a warning. But we can contemplate that this is going to be around for a long time. What can we do now in advance of the storm to strengthen our system?

I think what we're doing, what we can do and what we should do is we should be continue expanding that. This is fundamentally at the heart of what I think government is about. I mean, this is providing for the public safety both of the citizens and the people, you know, the people that are providing those services. This is literally an essential function of government in my mind.

And with 31 seconds left, each of you real quickly, rapid fire, sitting before us, tell us what can we do as members of Congress to assist you with the incredible work that you have to do with this reauthorization and beyond?

Reauthorization first and foremost.

Reauthorization.

Reauthorization.

You made it too easy. Mr. Chairman, I yield.

Thank you. Chair recognizes Representative Fedorchak for five minutes for her questions.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Representative Goldman and I were just talking about how much we appreciate the effort you all put into being here. We were noticing the sheriff's really sharp uniform, maybe it's brand new. But we know you have taken a lot of your precious time and resources to get here and share your expertise, so I want to share my appreciation for that. I'm from the state of North Dakota, I'm the only representative there, so I represent the whole state. It's a big rural state and I'd say let's say we have a lot of weather challenges. We have blizzards, we have fires, grassland fires, we have tornadoes, floods, you name it. It's tough for our first responders because they have to cover a big huge area with few resources. So the communications technology is really, really vital. So thank you for the work you're putting in to ensure that those communication networks are as vibrant as possible. I want to, I have a few questions for both Sheriff and Mr. Agnew. We'll start with you, Sheriff. You emphasized that FirstNet is built by and for public safety and point to the Public Safety Advisory Committee as a key safeguard. Can you help me understand in practice, how does the board independently validate the public safety needs and how is information from the network contractor a part of that or how do you find information separate from what they're providing to you?

Sure, it's a little bit of a bifurcated system in that regard. So you have the Public Safety Advocacy Committee, right, which is made up of experts all across the public safety field that meet and represent their individual disciplines. The authority board and the authority members meet with that Public Safety Advocacy Committee. In fact, it was supposed to be in Dallas this last week, but weather notwithstanding caused some problems there. This is something we do routinely to meet with them to get this insight and input. Additionally, there are field reps from the FirstNet Authority who reach out based on discipline, maybe it's fire, maybe it's EMS, maybe it's law enforcement, to meet with local agencies and entities to understand are we meeting your objectives. That's separate from the other part, which is the indices that we get from AT&T. Are you performing? How much outage do you have? Where it's at? And as I said earlier, we're developing what we consider the board key index performance measures that are additional that we're trying to say, we need some more information here, we want some more information. Nobody's pushed back on that, but we're working through a very thoughtful process of things that we think is important for the public to know. So it's kind of a bifurcated.

Got it. And is the advisory, do you have authority to make your advice to have them act on it?

The board has the authority to act on the actions or the recommendation of the Public Safety Advocacy Committee. Yes, ma'am.

Okay. Very good. Then second, you stressed that reinvestment must remain disciplined and aligned with mission needs. How do you ensure that the reinvestment dollars are serving the first responders' operational needs and not subsidizing improvements to the underlying commercial network?

Well, I think that's, I think that's at the fundamental heart of it, right? We're asking where these dollars should be spent and whether or not they are a good return on investment. That is fundamentally responsibility of the board, quite frankly. And if we find out that it is not doing that, then we should take appropriate actions. And if you find out the board isn't doing that, you should remove board members.

Got it. Mr. Agnew, do you want to speak to that a little bit? Thank you.

Yes. We provide and thank you for the question. We provide the authority full transparency on our build plans, where the commercial network is going. So you don't have, the authority does not have to build there. Where the authority builds is based off of those feedback from the workshops, based off of the feedback from public safety in those areas that weren't identified. So it brings this powerful public-private partnership together. We got this area covered, AT&T is going to do these areas for FirstNet, you cover these incremental areas. And that's how we have 200,000 more square miles covered because of that partnership.

Got it. All right. And one more follow-up question. Public safety agencies may choose among FirstNet, Verizon Frontline, or T-Mobile's T-Priority offerings. Given that reality, what is the rationale for reinvestment funding being tied to an infrastructure that only works for users on one network?

Right. It's important that single network, that it's secure, that it's interoperable, and it's held accountable for first responders. And that reinvestment dollars is going to go into the rural coverage. So we don't recommend diverting any of those funds that would take away from rural sites. For example, 60 new sites were built in your area. You've got more coming based off of the response. We don't want to see that impact. North Dakota needs the coverage.

Very good. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.

Thank you. Chair recognizes Mr. Landsman for five minutes for your questions.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member, all of you for being here, everything that you have done. And I want to start with you, Mr. Agnew. The work that you all have done to expand coverage, particularly as it relates to these dead zones, the investments that you have made, that won't result in any additional cost to first responders, correct?

That's correct.

Okay. Thank you. And this is a question for all of you. Part of obviously what happens here is that when there is an emergency, civilians get kicked off of Band 14. There is a 20 megahertz threshold on Band 14 for you all and first responders. Is that enough? Is there any concern that as we go to reauthorize that that number needs to be reevaluated? And I'll start with you, Sheriff.

I think the main thing is that we contemplate what is the actual spectrum use as we increase again through this internet of things. Data was not something, video data, for instance, was not something that we considered a number of years ago. We haven't tapped that spectrum out, but the reality is whatever is necessary to maintain the mission critical, that's what it needs to be. I just don't know that I have a projection on what that's going to look like five to 10 years.

I just think as you guys, as we work through the reauthorization to make sure that the language is such that it allows you to do that testing because as I understand it, the language is would limit you to 20 megahertz and you're right, things have changed in 20 years and you may use more. Have you ever come close to using 20 megahertz?

I'd have to defer. I have not seen that since I've been on board.

As for that question is concerned, so AT&T as part of the contract and the commitment to the FirstNet Authority, Band 14 is utilized. But also all band priority is provided on the hundreds of megahertz of spectrum for first responders. So to say it's come close, there is more than enough spectrum as it stands. However, needs evolve, right? Sheriff mentioned video and other technologies that are going to require looking to the future from a spectrum standpoint. And we can see that occurring now, right?

Do we need to adjust the language in the statute?

You know, I would have to take that back.

That's okay. Yeah, great. I mean, it wasn't a leading question. I just was curious just if...

If I could add, Congressman. I think under section six of the draft bill, it does address that particular problem by expanding the definition of the network beyond just the core and the RAN and include spectrum bands. And it reflects reality as Mr. Agnew mentioned.

Oh, I didn't put two and two, okay. Yeah, I do remember that, but I didn't put them together yet. And I think as particularly as 5G is predominant and we move into 6G, FirstNet Authority is going to need access to other bands that AT&T has available.

So you feel like that's the fix or that covers? I think having the authority to get access to those AT&T bands is important and I think this definition does that, sir.

Yeah, that makes sense. Last question, Sheriff. 2042, contract's up. We've made a $15 billion investment as taxpayers. What do we own?

The infrastructure as previously stated belongs with AT&T. Yeah. What we own is essentially a currency of trust, which says we have built a network that is what law enforcement officers trust or public safety first responders trust. We don't own an infrastructure past that. We own a concept, we own a again, a situation where this has become the name, if you will. I actually am afraid of a day that we look at not having one provider because I think there is a risk. I'm going to be honest with you. From my standpoint, I know that we're our job is to hold AT&T responsible, right? What I never want to happen, what I never, never want to happen is a law enforcement officer having multiple companies going, no, no, it's their fault that this didn't work. They didn't meet this standard.

Yeah, no, I agree with that piece. I think on behalf of taxpayers, owning more than just the concept and trust is something that should be discussed. And I suspect AT&T would be, you know, eager to have that conversation just because well, I ran out of time. Sorry, I didn't mean to put you on the spot, but I think it is important as we work to reauthorize. Thank you and I yield back.

Thanks. I'll allow Mr. Agnew to respond if he wants to.

No, we can get back. We can get back.

Okay. Thank you. Chair and I'll recognize Representative Houchin for five minutes for her questions.

Thank you, Chairman Hudson, Ranking Member Matsui, and the witnesses for your testimony. FirstNet exists because on September 11, first responders ran toward danger with communications that were fragmented, incompatible, and overwhelmed. Congress created FirstNet to make sure that never happens again. And since then, FirstNet has come a long way with the nationwide build-out, adoption is broad, including in my state in Indiana, and the network is evolving and working on more modernization efforts. But today's hearing isn't about just patting ourselves on the back for the good work that we've done to get this far. It is about ensuring that public safety communications are not just proven on their best days, but their worst days. And that governance and accountability behind the system have to be equally reliable. Over the summer, I met with first responders in Ripley County, Indiana, who spoke directly about why FirstNet matters. When communications are reliable and interoperable, they can share information faster, coordinate resources more effectively, and keep both first responders and the public safer. The Ripley County Sheriff's Department has since sent a letter of support, supporting FirstNet reauthorization and emphasizing that FirstNet has been a vital and reliable partner that improves officer safety and operational effectiveness during emergencies. Mr. Chairman, I'd like to request unanimous consent to submit that letter for the record.

Without objection, so ruled.

I want to applaud Representatives Dunn and McClellan for this reauthorization effort as we work to strengthen the governance, increase public safety, and maybe hope to future-proof our emergency communications technology. There have been, I think, some concerns over the future of FirstNet that I just wanted to particularly ask Mr. Agnew as we are working toward this interoperability. FirstNet has done a great job of this roll-out, making it make sure it's deployed and it is also widely accepted. Do you feel, where do you feel we're going in terms of the next reauthorization? What would put that interoperability at most risk?

Yeah. So today to clarify, the network is interoperable between other commercial providers. So that has been established. Where the network is and where it needs to go is to solve that land mobile radio walkie-talkie integration, the legacy public safety networks that were so challenged during 9/11, which are still in use. So we have technology, we have certified, validated, affordable technology in place today. That's got to be taken to the future. It's time for the next generation, highly affordable, highly scalable. It shouldn't be hours, it shouldn't be days for public safety to interoperable when Bloomington is supporting Indianapolis. It should just happen within seconds. So that's the technology that we are deploying. We are held accountable for that. We signed a commitment to do it. So you've got this powerful public-private partnership of this willing technology company that has the skill set and the authority and oversight of the government to ensure this happens. And that's what we signed up for. We can't fail. We have to do it. And we're going to keep working until we get it right.

Thank you. Sheriff Adkinson, the same kind of question to you. What do you see are the challenges that we should be paying attention to in terms of interoperability, making sure that everybody can communicate with one another moving forward in the next generation of FirstNet?

I think the rate at which things are changing, the advancements in what the expectations of the public is in regard to things like video, in regards to all the different devices that are required. We need to make sure that we set standards of what is acceptable and what is the performance measures that we're trying to get. You know, we're talking about G, a G is about every 10 years, I think, before they replace them. So we're talking five, but really we're starting to think six, right? And what I don't want to do is for public safety to fall to the lowest common denominator. And so I want us to be constantly striving toward what is the best level of service that we can get provided.

Thank you. As I conclude here, I just want to note that FirstNet has made real progress. The trust in the network does depend on how things perform under stress, how it's governed when problems arise. So with the sunset approaching, I look forward to continuing to work together for ensuring that this network is resilient and ready for the next generation. Thank you.

Thank you. Chair and I'll recognize Mr. Joyce for five minutes for your questions.

Thank you, Chairman Hudson and Ranking Member Matsui, for allowing me to join this important hearing. From the Gettysburg battlefields in Adams County to close to the Flight 93 Memorial in Somerset County, I am honored to represent a district that includes expansive rural territories. Unfortunately, geographic barriers create challenges for law enforcement and first responders. We saw that during 9/11. FirstNet's important work to improve public safety across the entire United States gives law enforcement and first responders a necessary tool to operate seamlessly during these times of crisis. And it is essential that the FirstNet network is built out in a way that prioritizes rural areas that are underserved and so often overlooked. More than 2,100 agencies in Pennsylvania representing thousands of FirstNet connections, this is the district that I represent. And a new cell tower was unveiled by FirstNet and AT&T in Huntingdon County in 2022. I was proud to be there for that event. This marked an important development in expanding access to rural broadband infrastructure. However, over the years, it has become difficult and increasingly clear that FirstNet's ability to share the tracking of FirstNet's build-out and the progress has been not very transparent to many of those of us who are concerned about that. And as we know, the contract between AT&T and the federal government that determines the milestones for rural build-out is a private one. The build-out data itself is also private. Congress must exercise oversight of FirstNet to ensure that complete and timely build-out is taking place, especially in rural areas that need coverage desperately. Mr. Agnew, can you describe the rural build-out milestones that FirstNet adheres to?

Right. We were required to build out a 15 percent increase in rural build-out. We built out, we partnered with dozens of rural providers and built over 2,000 sites. We continue to partner with those rural providers to continue expand. Just to kind of take you through a journey, when the network was launched in 2017, the network coverage was 2.5 million square miles. As in my testimony, I said it is nearly 3 million square miles. That is a half million square miles, two sizes of the Texas. Majority of that deployment has been in the rural areas. Now there are still more to go and with the investment...

How can we track where that build-out in rural areas has occurred?

Great question. That's a great question. So during the coverage workshops, it exposes where the network has gone and where the network is going. We also work individually with each agency to expose that and see exactly where the build plan is, as well as they have their network status tool that they can look real time at any moment to see where their network is going.

Mr. Dame, earlier in this hearing, it was stated that NTIA has made the FirstNet contract available to this subcommittee. The contract has unfortunately been difficult to retrieve. Can you commit to sending the FirstNet contract to this subcommittee by the end of next week, Friday, February 13?

Yes.

Thank you. It is essential that Congress reauthorizes FirstNet's authority prior to its expiration. The future of public safety depends on it. The rural communities that I represent depend on it. As we evaluate how to move forward, we must do so with transparency. We must do so with accountability and oversight at the forefront. We must be able to see the data to make sure that our rural communities are being prioritized in FirstNet's build-out and that the rural milestones in the contract are both adequate and being adhered to. Again, I thank you, Chairman Hudson, for allowing me to participate in this hearing and I yield the remainder of my time.

Thank you. And the chair now recognizes Mr. Kean for five minutes for your questions.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member Matsui, for allowing me to join this important hearing. And thanks as well to those who are here in uniform for your extraordinary public service. This hearing is an important opportunity to examine the FirstNet framework and build on the successful, now industry-standard model to ensure dynamic, reliable, and forward-looking public safety communications over the course of the next decade. And I agree with many of the statements that have already been made about the importance of clarity, precision, and robust oversight in FirstNet. Nothing less will suffice for first responders and the challenges that they face daily. I am committed to continue to work to ensure that first responders have a seat at the table by through ensuring access to cutting-edge of preempted communication by reauthorizing FirstNet or by ensuring that their existing systems remain accessible, interoperable, and reliable as for as long as they are needed. Reauthorizing FirstNet is an important step in continuing to fully implement lessons learned from the past, from the tragedies of 9/11 that impacted so many families in New Jersey, impacted so many families across this country, will never ever happen again. Sheriff Adkinson, what do you think is the right metric for determining whether FirstNet is fulfilling its statutory mandate? And if needed, how can Congress improve accountability to fulfilling this mandate in a reauthorization?

I think my take on this is there needs to be these indices that show a continued level to build out and coverage enhancement each year. I think they should be provided in a manner that is readily available to Congress, in a manner that you can see what has been built, where they're at. And I think it should be provided by the authority on that basis. Those are things that we have, those are things that we can do. I think we need to set what are realistic expectations about when and how rural build-out should happen so that you know in advance. I think that is part of the problem from my standpoint is you heard various members today say, hey, my constituents, my district, where we at? I don't always know two and three years in the future, but we certainly have some idea what is coming next. Let's be let's be open about that, let's be realistic about that and set expectations that the public can understand. Let's be transparent about it.

Okay. Mr. Agnew, how well would you say that FirstNet has done in making sure decisions are driven by first responders themselves and is there room for improvement?

There's always room for improvement. It's public safety's network, it has to continue improve over the next 18, 17 years. Has to improve in coverage. It has to improve the amount of deployables, it has to improve the response times, it has to improve the technology. That's not to say it hasn't been successful, it just has to keep getting better for public safety. It has to operate like public safety. Every event they go to, they get better, this network will get better.

Thank you. Mr. Dame, I'll pose a similar question to you as I did to the sheriff. What lessons have we learned since FirstNet's inception and what can we best use to improve organization accountability so that FirstNet is providing the best service possible?

Thank you, Congressman. I think at a minimum, Congress needs to seriously reauthorize FirstNet. As we've all learned, the market did not serve public safety responders before FirstNet. There's now a very competitive market, reauthorization would resolve that. I think in terms of the metrics that you asked the sheriff for the network, I think the availability of the network and the performance of the network are two areas that really should be monitored closely.

And as a follow-up, how can we best integrate the newest communications technology into the FirstNet program? And what are some examples of technologies that can be integrated in the future?

Yeah, I mean, I think with future generations of technology, artificial intelligence, we're going to see unbelievable capabilities for first responders.

Thank you. And then final question with Mr. Agnew. When we talk about interoperability, what options are available to first responders for interoperability with their existing hardware, including land mobile radios?

So currently commercial networks are interoperable with FirstNet. We have technology that allows for land mobile radio. We can provide you a much more in-depth discussion of exactly what the hardware is, but with Fusion and Fusion Link, it's going to take that hardware-based technology, put it in the cloud, and make it so much easier to implement.

Okay. Thank you all for being here as well as for your public service and dedication to all of our fellow Americans. I yield back.

Thank you. Seeing there are no further members wishing to be recognized, I'd like to thank our witnesses for your excellent testimony today. I think it'll be extremely helpful to the committee moving forward. I remind members they have 10 business days to submit questions for the record and I ask the witnesses to respond to those questions promptly. Members should submit their questions by the close of business on February 18, 2026. Without objection, the subcommittee stands adjourned. [Gavel sounds.]

...and I'll yield back. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The gentleman yields back. Are there any other members wishing to ask questions? Seeing none, I'd like to thank our witnesses for being here today. We appreciate your testimony and your service to our country. I'd also like to thank the members for their participation. I remind members that they have 10 business days to submit additional questions for the record, and I ask the witnesses to submit their responses within 10 business days upon receipt of the questions. Without objection, the subcommittee is adjourned. [Gavel sounds.]