Remarks of Commissioner Copps to the Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council

Federal Communications Commission member Michael Copps spoke at the first meeting of the newly re-charted Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council. He said:

"We're over eight years out from 9/11 now-and over four years beyond Hurricane Katrina-and our country is nowhere near where it should be in terms of being prepared for the next great disaster, be it man-made or from the not-always-benign hand of Mother Nature. On this day particularly, December 7th, we should appreciate how swiftly harm can befall us. Yes, I think in some respects we've moved ahead, but I think most public safety experts agree that there's more to be done than has yet been done. Many of us remember the stern warnings of The 9/11 Commission Report. Well, many of the shortfalls identified in that report still remain. And, as a country, the farther away we get without another terror attack, the more hurricane-less summers we have, the more folks become complacent. Most of us are guilty of that, I suppose. And it's not good. But it is government that must lead the way. Not acting by itself, but working closely with the private sector, public safety, all the stakeholders-and when it comes to public safety, we're all stakeholders. It's all of our jobs-industry, government and the public safety community, working together-to do this job. As I have said before, when disaster strikes again, we don't want anyone to be able to say that we in the public sector or you in the private sector were asleep at the switch. If disaster struck tomorrow, to be perfectly frank, I don't think there would be a patient reaction from the American people -- nor should there be."