when our country has been attacked by a foreign nation state, all of this seems like far too many layers for our residents to be notified that we are under attack, especially those, in the instance of Hawaii, who are in the impact zone.

We need to exhaust all diplomatic efforts to continue to work toward denuclearizing North Korea, bring about peace, and prevent an all-out catastrophic war.

we really need to shore up our capability, diplomatic capabilities.

I think it's really important as you're looking at communication and preparedness and response that, A, the public knows and understands the reality of the seriousness of the threat.

I will say that the particular individual did not make the right decision.

So this delegation of authority to the FEMA Director really isn't a whole delegation because the FEMA Director would still wait for the President to take action, is that correct?

I share the sentiment that Senator Schatz initially stated, which is that maybe when it comes to natural disasters...

this is a much bigger issue than just Hawaii, and it's something that the entire country has to deal with and the Federal Government needs to take the lead on.

The false missile alert also made clear the need for improvements to the distribution side of our Emergency Alert System.

This is a major wake-up call to see what response plans are in place.

why shouldn't the DoD be responsible for sending out the notification, especially given with the existing notification system, State and local governments already have the authority to send out these messages?

Our congressional delegation is of one mind in getting to the bottom of what happened and making sure that it never happens again.

So that alarm should never have gone off at Joint Base Pearl Harbor.

I do not believe other states are prepared.

Thank you, Senator Schatz and your Committee, for convening this very important hearing today.

You can talk about the numbers of people who would perish in the event of the attack itself, but in the aftermath of that... what are the realistic scenarios and the responses that... need to be in place.

With regard to the Wireless Emergency Alert System, I think what came to light was that wireless providers are not required or obligated to participate, so it's a voluntary program where a wireless carrier can either participate in whole…

I would describe that as benign neglect.