Rep. Pfluger's Mystic Alerts Act Passes Through Energy and Commerce Committee

WASHINGTON, DC — Congressman August Pfluger (TX-11) spoke in favor of his legislation, the Mystic Alerts Act, during a House Energy and Commerce Committee markup. Since the devastating floods in Texas on July 4th, Rep. Pfluger has been at the forefront of strengthening emergency alert systems, especially in rural or remote areas.

The Mystic Alerts Act would integrate satellite networks into wireless emergency alert processes. This legislation passed through the Communications and Technology Subcommittee earlier this year. Expert witnesses testified in December that this legislation is a critical step toward closing the digital divide and strengthening public safety communications nationwide. The bipartisan legislation was passed unanimously by the House Energy and Commerce Committee and now awaits a vote on the U.S. House Floor.

"When disaster strikes, communication infrastructure is often the first thing to fail, especially in rural areas. After the devastating floods of July 4th in Central and West Texas, we must ensure every American receives life-saving emergency alerts when it matters most," said Rep. Pfluger. "I'm grateful the Mystic Alerts Act passed out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee today with unanimous, bipartisan support."

“My granddaughters were staying at Camp Mystic when the devastating floods claimed the lives of many young girls, including their cousin, Janie Hunt,” said Rep. Carter. “Camp should be a place of joy, adventure, and lasting memories. But for these girls, the trauma they experienced will stay with them forever. Like Representative Pfluger, this issue is deeply personal to my family, and I look forward to our continued work to pass the Mystic Alerts Act so that no child or family has to endure a tragedy like this again."

Read more on the bill here.

Read Rep. Pfluger's full remarks in support of the Mystic Alerts Act below:

Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman.

As many of you know, this issue is very personal for me. After the July 4 flooding that swept through Central Texas, including the all-girls Camp Mystic, where two of my daughters were attending, I knew Congress had to act to improve redundancy and reliability in the wireless emergency alert system to ensure alerts reach families and first responders even in the most challenging circumstances.

H.R. 7022, the Mystic Alerts Act, is the result of these efforts. This legislation ensures that during natural disasters, Wireless Emergency Alerts can still be delivered via satellite when traditional networks go down or service is unavailable.

This need for improvement was reinforced during last year's Communications and Technology Subcommittee meeting, titled "Legislative Improvements to Public Safety Communications in the United States." There, we heard from expert witnesses about the need to strengthen the WEA systems and the risks when Americans lose access to alerts due to damaged, overwhelmed, or nonexistent cellular infrastructure—especially in rural areas.

The Mystic Alert Act would close these gaps by incorporating space-based mobile broadband into the Wireless Emergency Alert system.

This Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute incorporates technical assistance into the Mystic Alerts Act to ensure sound implementation of the legislation with the WARN Act, as well as ensure that if a provider elects to transmit emergency alerts, they may not impose a fee for that service.

I'd like to thank my co-leads, Representatives Lizzie Fletcher and Mark Veasey from Texas, who are familiar with this camp and the need for this, and Representative Buddy Carter, who also had grandchildren that were at the camp. I'd like to thank them for working closely with my office, with myself to advance this bipartisan but also common sense legislation. Their collaboration has been instrumental in advancing this effort, and I think we owe it to the families that lost their lives to continue to do the best that we can, and I think this legislation represents that effort.

I urge my colleagues to support this important, bipartisan legislation. Thank you, and I yield back.