Security
Senate Panel Preps For First Hurricane Hearing
     The leaders of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee said this week that their panel would like to hold the first public hearing on the government's recovery and response efforts to Hurricane Katrina as early as next week. Chairwoman Susan Collins and ranking Democrat Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut said government officials at all levels share the blame for "inadequate" preparedness and response plans. They have told committee staff to begin investigating the response by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is located within the Homeland Security Department. Despite calls from other lawmakers to remove the agency from the department, Collins and Lieberman said FEMA should remain within Homeland Security. The hurricane also prompted the federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to renew efforts to promote telecommuting options for federal employees.

Telecom
FCC Takes Steps To Help Areas Hit By Hurricane
     The FCC responded to Hurricane Katrina with a series of relief measures, special procedures, regulatory exemptions and orders designed to bolster the communications response to the natural disaster. The commission stayed open Sunday and Monday of Labor Day weekend, ratifying and releasing orders both days. "We will continue doing everything within our power to ensure the vitality of the nation's communications network," the commissioners said. Last week, the agency responded with three notices designed to provide television, radio and cable systems with emergency relief. In addition to extending deadlines for regulatory compliance in various proceedings, the FCC on Thursday waived the requirement that telecommunications carriers let people "port" telephone numbers from one carrier to another. Meanwhile, a low-power radio station for evacuees from Hurricane Katrina that was prepared to launch Wednesday at the Houston Astrodome likely will not go on the air because of a denial by the "incident commander" at the stadium, radio volunteers said.

Telecom
Hurricane Revives Call For Connecting 'First Responders'
     Advocates for improving the ability of emergency responders to communicate across jurisdictions said the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina proves again why America needs interoperable emergency communications. Reports from Louisiana and Mississippi painted a grim portrait of emergency workers doing their best under impossible circumstances. Traditional and cellular telephone systems are down, and limited fuel has made recharging specialized wireless handsets difficult, said a former police chief familiar with the situation. But several lawmakers said the hurricane shows once again that federal funding is needed to help firefighters, policemen and other "first responders" get communications systems that can work together.

Spectrum
Officials Say Digital Transition Should Move Forward Now
     Given that many problems Hurricane Katrina emergency workers have encountered are due to an ineffective communications system, it would be unwise for Congress to delay action on the transition from analog to digital television, a panel of experts said. When broadcasters make the transition from analog to digital signals, that will free more spectrum for public-safety agencies in an effort to help them communicate across jurisdictions. Digital television "is about public safety, it's about the emergency response and it's about Katrina," Cheryl Leanza, principle legislative council for the National League of Cities, said. A spokesman for Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, said Tuesday that a Sept. 16 deadline to address DTV as part of a budget package to reconcile tax and spending initiatives might be extended. But Rep. Diane Watson, D-Calif., said Congress is still on track to address DTV next week.

Antitrust
Justice Department Sues Realtors Over Internet Listings
     The Justice Department launched an antitrust lawsuit against the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The department said the group is violating antitrust law by letting its members withhold real-estate listings from more efficient Internet-based competitors. The case comes after months of negotiations between Justice and NAR. In a statement, Justice noted that NAR changed its policy in response to the department's concerns but that the changes do not go far enough. At issue is a policy that Justice said discriminates against real-estate brokerages with "virtual office Web sites." The policy forbids brokers that participate in the collective, electronic Multiple Listing Service from using the Internet to send any property listings to customers unless the listing brokers agree first. Justice's complaint said that at least one innovative brokerage service had to cease it Web operations because its competitors implemented the NAR policy, making it impossible for the Web site to serve customers effectively.

Government Reform
Witnesses: Patent Office A Mess; Hiring Will Help
     The Patent and Trademark Office is a difficult place to work, panelists told Congress. A primary imaging system slows progress, backlogs are growing and nearly half of employees leave after five years on the job. But the agency is still the best in the world, Director Jon Dudas said. In testimony before the House Judiciary Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property Subcommittee, Dudas said the solution for the beset agency is "hire more, train better, retain better and telecommute." According to Dudas, the hiring of 1,000 new examiners per year through 2011 would drive back the backlog of 600,000 patent applications. The agency hired 940 new examiners this year. But the strategy does not address some of the basic complaints of the Patent Office Professional Association. Association President Ronald Stern called Patent Office a "legal sweatshop."

E-government
Archiving Agency Awards Work For Its Electronic System
     Lockheed Martin won a $308 million contract to build an electronic archiving system for the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The announcement comes after a one-year competition between Lockheed and Harris Corp. According to a NARA timeline, the agency expects the initial operating capability of the archives to be running by 2007 and to be fully operational by 2011. The goal is to develop a system that "accepts, preserves and makes accessible -- far into the future -- any type of electronic document," said Allen Weinstein, archivist of the United States. There is a "climate of urgency" around the need to digitize documents because "there is an unprecedented number of electronic records now being created by the government's departments and agencies, all of which head toward NARA," Weinstein said.