House Republican introduces D Block bill
A member of the House leadership yesterday introduced deficit-limit legislation that also would reallocate the 700 MHz D Block to public safety and provide $7 billion in funding for the buildout of a nationwide LTE network for first responders.
Sponsored by Rep. David Dreier (R-Calif.) — chairman of the House Rules Committee — the public-safety portion of the bill has many of the same characteristics as a deficit bill introduced earlier this week by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), in that it includes D Block reallocation and $7 billion in funding, according to Richard Mirgon, former president of the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO).
“APCO is definitely pleased to see a Republican introduce a bill that provides spectrum and funding to build out a nationwide, public-safety broadband network,” Mirgon said.
With the Drier and Reid bills, deficit legislation that also includes D Block reallocation and significant network funding has been introduced on both sides of Capitol Hill. Mirgon said public-safety representatives continue to receive bipartisan encouragement on these issues in the Senate, but many members of the House continue to advocate auctioning the D Block spectrum.
