NG911 supporter Eshoo announces she will not seek reelection to Congress in 2024

Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), a longtime supporter of federal funding to help public-safety answering points (PSAPs) transition to next-generation 911 (NG911) technology, last week announced that she will not seek reelection to Congress in 2024 but plans to serve out her current term through January 2025.

Eshoo, 80, was elected to Congress for the first time in 1992—known as “The Year of the Woman”—and was the first woman and the first Democrat to represent her Silicon Valley district, according to a press release from her office.

“I’m not fleeing the Congress—that’s not what my decision is about at all,” Eshoo said during a television interview with ABC7 News Bay Areav. “I think that it’s time for me.”

In a video posted to her congressional web site, Eshoo told constituents that she will “continue my work with vigor and unswerving commitment” during the upcoming year. However, she is looking forward to an expected change in lifestyle that retirement from Capitol Hill will bring in 2025.

“I have commuted across the country every single week for 31 years,” Eshoo said during the ABC7 television interview.

“My life is filled with ‘have-tos’—I have to do this, I have to do that. I have to set up appointments, so I can make sure I can have dinner sometimes with my family. I think that stepping out of Congress—it’s only a dream to me now. But I look forward to not having as many ‘have-tos.’”

In 2003, Eshoo became a founding member of the Congressional E911 Caucus, along with Rep. John Shimkus and Sens. Conrad Burns and Hillary Clinton. The name of the group was changed to the NextGen 911 Caucus, and Eshoo is the lone original member who remains a co-chair of the caucus.

Eshoo has sponsored, co-sponsored or supported multiple attempts to enact legislation that would result in significant federal funds being dedicated to 911 technology improvements—a difficult task, given the fact that 911 historically has been funded at the local and state levels. Language calling for at least $10 billion to help pay for the migration of public-safety answering points (PSAPs) from legacy 911 technology to IP-based NG911 platforms did not get included in the most recent omnibus spending package.

APCO CEO Derek Poarch noted that Eshoo “has a long history of being a staunch advocate for public-safety communications” in a prepared statement provided to IWCE’s Urgent Communications.

“As an original co-chair of what is presently known as the NextGen 911 Caucus since 2003, a recipient of APCOs Leadership in Legislative Service Award, a champion for legislation that created FirstNet and 911 grant programs, and most recently an advocate for federal NG911 funding legislation and reclassification of 911 professionals, Rep. Eshoo has been a true friend to APCO and public-safety communications professionals across the country,” Poarch said. “We sincerely congratulate and thank Ms. Eshoo for her esteemed record of service.”

This sentiment was echoed by the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) in a statement provided to IWCE’s Urgent Communications.

“Anna Eshoo’s advocacy and leadership will be missed in the House of Representatives,” according to the NENA statement. “Her tireless efforts to support public safety and 911 professionals as a co-chair of the NextGen 911 Caucus helped ensure that there was always continued, bipartisan support for Next Generation 911 funding. We thank her for her years of devotion to the 911 community and the nation.”