NLN Members, Executive Council, and Chapter Officers:

Sen. Burns and Sen. Stevens intend to offer an amendment during the markup on S. 2281 for VOIP 911. I have posted a copy of the amendment at http://apcointl.org/about/gov/PDF/Burns-Stevens-Amendment.pdf. As it stands now, the amendment appears to address most of the issues that our members have raised. Most importantly, the amendment addresses the issue of state and local jurisdiction of 9-1-1 and E9-1-1 services including the ability of states and local jurisdictions to require providers of all VoIP applications to collect fees to support the provision of 9-1-1 or E9-1-1 services. The amendment would also require the FCC to adopt rules to ensure that VoIP provides E9-1-1.

APCO is looking to generate a fax campaign to tell the Senate Commerce Committee to pass this amendment. If you would like to send a fax in support of the amendment the fax number for the Senate Commerce Committee is 202-224-1259 (majority) and 202-228-0303 (minority).

The letters should be addressed to:

The Honorable John McCain

Chairman

Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation

United States Senate

Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Ernest Hollings

Ranking Member

Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation

United States Senate

Washington, DC 20510

Dear Chairman McCain and Senator Hollings:

The letter can be very short and should state that you are in “support the Burns/Stevens amendment to S. 2281, which is to be marked up on July 22, 2004.” Faxes should be sent as soon as possible. It is important that you note on the letter and fax cover that the letter is “Regarding: Markup of “VOIP Regulatory Freedom Act” (S. 2281) on July 22, 2004.” Without this information your letter might not receive the immediate attention it deserves.

Also, below is a list of all the Senators that are on the Sen. Commerce Committee. If your Senator is on the committee, APCO would like to encourage that you write a separate letter to your Senator to vote in favor of the amendment. You can get their contact information by clicking on the Senators name. If you are unable to access this information please call me and I will get your Senators fax number.

Senate Commerce Committee Membership

John McCain - Arizona Russell 241    Ted Stevens - Alaska Hart 522    Conrad Burns - Montana Dirksen 187   Trent Lott - Mississippi Russell 487    Kay Bailey Hutchison - Texas Russell 284    Olympia Snowe - Maine Russell 250    Sam Brownback - Kansas Hart 303    Gordon Smith - Oregon Russell 404    Peter G. Fitzgerald - Illinois Dirksen 555    John Ensign - Nevada Russell 290    George Allen - Virginia Hart 708    John Sununu - New Hampshire Russell C4

Ernest F. Hollings - South Carolina Russell 125    Daniel K. Inouye - Hawaii Hart 722    John D. Rockefeller IV - West Virginia Hart 531    John F. Kerry - Massachussetts Russell 304    John B. Breaux - Louisiana Hart 503    Byron L. Dorgan - North Dakota Hart 713    Ron Wyden - Oregon Hart 516    Barbara Boxer - California Hart 112    Bill Nelson - Florida Hart 716    Maria Cantwell - Washington Hart 717    Frank Lautenberg - New Jersey Hart 825A

Please note that although most of the 9-1-1 issues are being addressed by the Burns/Stevens amendment, there are several items in the S. 2281 Act that are of a concern to various public safety organizations such as preemption of state and local governments’ ability to tax VoIP services and meeting the needs of CALEA (Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act).

Please call me if you have any question about this issue.

Thank you for your support. You have and are making a difference on this issue.

Yucel Ors

Legislative Affairs Manager

Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials International

Office of Government Affairs

1725 DeSales Street, NW, Suite 808

Washington, DC 20036

202.833.1997 (DC Office)

202.436.4558 (Mobile)

202.833.5700 (Fax)