House lawmakers demanded on Wednesday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency move quickly to upgrade the nation's Cold War-era public warning system so presidential alerts will reach Americans through modern communications, including cell phones. Rep Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management, asked Mark Goldstein, director of physical infrastructure at the Government Accountability Office, what if the president had to send out a message today, who would and who would not receive it? "There's no assurance that the message would get very far," Goldstein alleged. "There's been limited testing of the system." A lack of concrete goals and deadlines have delayed installation of a comprehensive system, called the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS), that will interface with Web-based and cellular devices, according to lawmakers and GAO.
