[Scan-DC] Congress unprepared for Jan. 20 emergency

[TMartin831 at aol.com]

Congress unprepared for Jan. 20 emergency  
By Jordy  Yager  
Posted: 01/15/09 07:50 PM [ET]  
Many lawmakers do not  know how to use a critical communications system in 
the event of an emergency  during President-elect Obama’s Inauguration.

Despite months of security planning for the Inauguration by  various 
government agencies, a White House-directed phone service that is  supposed to be 
given to every lawmaker for emergency use remains a mystery to  many members of 
Congress. 
 
The chairman of the House Administration Committee, which oversees the  
security of all House members and staff, has never seen or heard of the tool. “I  
don’t know anything about it,” said Rep. Robert Brady (D-Pa.). “I’m 
definitely  going to find out, though.”

Brady is far from alone. Eight lawmakers The Hill spoke to on Wednesday  said 
they either were not sure of or did not have the Government Emergency  
Telecommunications Service (GETS) card, which gives users priority telephone  access 
during emergencies, when traditional phone lines may be disconnected or  
flooded with calls.

“I don’t know anything about that,” said Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), a  
committee chairman who has served in the House for nearly 30 years.

Five other members said they had and were familiar with the card, but  some 
of them were unsure how to use it. 

The GETS card is one of several emergency preparedness measures taken  by the 
House and Senate sergeants at arms and the House Chief Administrative  Office 
(CAO) to ensure the safety of lawmakers. Lawmakers also are given a card  
giving them instructions on how to evacuate the Capitol in the event of an  
emergency. 

Lawmakers seem more familiar with that card, as several who were  unfamiliar 
with the GETS knew about the evacuation card. 

Still, knowledge of the GETS card could be particularly important on  Jan. 
20, when most representatives of all three branches of government attend  the 
first black president’s Inauguration. 
 
Without the card, lawmakers might be unable to communicate with emergency  
personnel to ensure their own safety and the safety of their staffs and any  
visitors to the Inauguration who are under their care. 

They might also be unable to take part in any response to a terrorist  attack 
because of the likelihood that traditional communications lines would be  
overloaded. 

In the event of an emergency, phone service is apt to be interrupted or  even 
inaccessible because of the high volume of people trying to call friends,  
family and emergency personnel. The GETS system allows for users to supersede  
this congestion by using an elevated communication highway of sorts.

“GETS is necessary because of the increasing reliance on  telecommunications …
 Recent events have shown that natural disasters, power  outages, fiber cable 
cuts and software problems can cripple the telephone  services of entire 
regions,” reads the GETS website.

On Sept. 11, 2001, lawmakers had major difficulties making calls to  their 
district offices, and then-Rep. Porter Goss (R-Fla.), the chairman of the  House 
Intelligence Committee at the time, had trouble communicating with CIA  
officials. In the following years, requests for GETS cards surged.

The fact that many lawmakers are unfamiliar with the system isn’t new.  A 
year after the Sept. 11 attacks, then-House Chief Administrative Officer James  
Eagen testified to Congress that GETS cards had been delivered to all members.  
But despite that assertion, The Hill in 2006 found that dozens — if not 
hundreds  — of legislators did not have GETS cards in their wallets.

In 2006, then-Sen. Obama told The Hill he did not have a GETS card and  asked 
one of his aides to secure one for him.

The office of the Senate sergeant at arms said it ensures that  lawmakers 
know about the GETS cards. 

“We instruct them on what it’s used for, which is for a means of  
communication if the regular phone system is not available, and whether they  choose to 
use that as their primary [emergency measure] or not is up to them,”  said 
Kimball Winn, the chief information officer for the Senate sergeant at  arms.
 
The CAO declined to comment for this story, and the office of the House  
sergeant at arms did not return calls. 

Still, many lawmakers seem unaware of the cards. Of five members The  Hill 
spoke with who had a GETS card, none could find it in their wallets, and  
several did not know how to use it, though they said they received instructions  at 
one point.

Surprisingly, members who have been on Capitol Hill for more than 10  years, 
like Frank and former presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas),  were 
most unsure of the GETS system.

“I don’t know anything about it,” said Paul at first. “Oh, they might  have 
sent it to me and if they did, I didn’t pay any attention to it.”

Freshman members like Rep. Glenn Nye (D-Va.) and more junior members  like 
Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.), by contrast, said they have been instructed on  how 
to use the calling service and been issued cards with the number.

“I have the card and have had it ever since I was elected,” Dent said.  “I 
keep it in my wallet but I’ve never had to use it.”

With some officials estimating more than 4 million people will attend  the 
Inauguration — the first presidential transfer of power since the United  States 
has been at war and the first since the 2001 terrorist attacks — security  
officials have taken above-normal measures to ensure the safety of the public  
and politicians. This transition is likely to leave the country and D.C. more  
prone to an attack than usual, according to a private report obtained by The  
Hill last week.

Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Mass.), who chairs the Capitol Security  
subcommittee, said he had the card but did not know anything about it.

“I was [instructed how to use it] but I don’t remember what it was  because I
’ve got a cell phone,” said Capuano, who added that he is not very  
concerned about what he would do in the event of an emergency.

“I’m one member of Congress, so guess what? The world will go on  without me.
”
~~~~~~~
_http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/unprepared-for-emergency-2009-01-15.html_
 
(http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/unprepared-for-emergency-2009-01-15.html) 
**************Inauguration '09: Get complete coverage from the nation's 
capital.(http://www.aol.com?ncid=emlcntaolcom00000027)
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/scan-dc/attachments/20090116/53ac0243/attachment.html