When Congress returns to session in January, an early legislative initiative will be attempting to pass H.R. 3125, the Spectrum Inventory Act.  The AOC is very concerned about this bill because it stands to hurt our warfighters.  Basically, H.R. 3125 establishes an annual inventory of spectrum utilization for federal and non-federal activity in the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS).  The FCC and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration would manage the inventory and create a web portal to make the inventory available to the public.  While the legislation does not specifically authorize a reallocation process, it is clear that the intent of the bill is to clear the way for auctioning off “underutilized” government spectrum for commercial wireless purposes.

The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet convened a hearing on December 15 to discuss this legislation.  Former NFL player and Congressman, Steve Largent, who now represents the commercial wireless industry, testified at the hearing.  He argued that once the inventory is complete, the government “must be ready to act immediately to reallocate spectrum identified by the inventory . . . [and] the federal government will be a critical source for spectrum that can be repurposed.”  While every witness testified in support of the legislation, Mr. Ray Johnson from Lockheed Martin did express reservations about existing language that tracks with AOC concerns.

The AOC opposes H.R. 3125 as written and sent a letter to the Committee expressing our concerns.  The EMS is a warfighting domain fundamental to the range of military operations (ROMO).  Its availability is essential to existing and emerging technologies in EW, Network”Centric capabilities, communications systems, satellite resources, and multi”spectral sensors.  Unfortunately, H.R. 3125 threatens to undermine this growing military requirement to conduct operations within and across the EMS.   We greatly appreciate Rep. Lee Terry (NE-02), who represents Offutt AFB, for taking the initiative to submit our letter into the record during his opening statement.  We are actively engaged with the Committee and its members to recommend changes to the bill that will help protect our community from a hasty and ill-advised inventory.

Make no mistake: this bill has very strong bi-partisan support and it will move quickly next year.  The Senate companion bill (S. 649) has already been reported from committee and awaits action on the Senate floor.  The Senate bill is even weaker than the House.  The AOC hopes to influence the process, but it will be an uphill battle. 

The legislation could not come at a worse time for our community.  There is so much happening on the spectrum warfare front to improve management, leadership, technology development, and policy that an inventory and reallocation right now would undermine all the progress our community is making.

The AOC welcomes input from its members regarding this bill and what it would mean for our warfighters.  Further spectrum encroachment, not to mention the dangers of making an inventory available to the public, can only hurt our military’s capability to train and fight in the spectrum domain.  We will keep you posted as the legislation develops.