Senate Approves DHS Interoperable Communications Act
The Senate passed the Department of Homeland Security Interoperable Communications Act (HR-615) Thursday by unanimous consent. The legislation passed the House in February. House Homeland Security Committee ranking member Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Emergency Preparedness Subcommittee ranking member Donald Payne,…
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D-N.J., in a statement earlier last week pressed for Senate consideration. Payne had introduced the House bill, and Thompson and committee Republicans backed it. In their statement, Payne and Thompson were commenting on a DHS Office of Inspector General verification review of a 2012 audit of department oversight of interoperable communications. “It is incredibly disturbing that the Department of Homeland Security still lacks the proper technology and procedures to allow its frontline workers to communicate properly with each other,” the two Democrats said. “The Department must stop dragging its feet on creating and implementing a communications interoperability plan. This must be a top priority.” They requested Senate consideration “so we can put the Department on a path forward to fix this long-standing problem.”