STATEMENT OF 
COMMISSIONER JESSICA ROSENWORCEL
Re: FCC Response to Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria
Thank you to the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau for this report capturing 
how our communications networks fared during this sad season of hurricane damage.  Your 
bullet points and charts elegantly summarize resources deployed, waivers granted, and the state 
of network recovery.  There are so many people—in the public sector and private sector—who 
have performed Herculean feats to help keep communications up and running and communities 
impacted by storms safe and informed.  They deserve our sweetest praise and deepest gratitude.  
But let’s not kid ourselves, this is not enough.  When these devastating hurricanes began 
to batter our coastlines, I called for a full Commission report on these storms.  We need to know 
what worked, what didn’t, and where we can improve our communications infrastructure.  Once 
we know the facts, we need a full plan for fixing the communications vulnerabilities we are 
finding, including how to deal with the impact on 911 and the interactions between social media 
and emergency response.  This report will also need to include a framework for rebuilding so 
that the communities with damaged communications are not permanently relegated to the wrong 
side of the digital divide.  Because one thing is for sure—Mother Nature’s wrath is sure to visit 
us again.  And it is incumbent on us to learn from these disasters to improve emergency response 
and infrastructure recovery.    
One more thing:  I believe you don’t pull together a report with only the information you 
amass from sitting in front of your keyboard.  You get out.  I think the Commission should 
demonstrate its commitment to the first sentence in the Communications Act—which seeks to 
focus our energies on public safety—and demonstrate we know how to make those words ring 
true.  Here’s how:  This agency should hold hearings in Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico—where 
we are in the midst of a humanitarian crisis impacting more than 3 million American citizens—
as soon as feasible.  There is ample precedent for this approach—it was used in the aftermath of 
Hurricane Sandy and Hurricane Katrina.  I know from my experience you learn more out on the 
ground than you do sitting on this dais. I hope this agency has the guts to do this. I, for one,
look forward to traveling with my colleagues—and making this happen.