Dan Bishop: “I often think it is helpful to think about what Americans must be thinking as they watch debates here on this floor. In…”

“I often think it is helpful to think about what Americans must be thinking as they watch debates here on this floor. In this instance, I am sure that Americans think, as Mr. Massie suggested, and as I just have been thinking and was thinking in our markup: Aren't we already doing this? Aren't there alert systems that go out all the time for times when a child has been abducted, an elderly person has gone missing, all sorts of things? Sure enough, Federal, State, and local officials already use the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, IPAWS, to alert the public to emergency situations. Government officials use the IPAWS Wireless Emergency Alert, the WEA--a lot of acronyms, sure; it is government--to send emergency alerts to mobile devices and use the Emergency Alert System, EAS, to alert media platforms. According to FEMA, ``Imminent threat alerts include natural or human- made disasters, extreme weather, active shooters, and other threatening emergencies that are current or emerging.'' So, wait a minute, active shooters are already specifically covered by FEMA under the existing alert system? So, what is going on? A hint emerged in our committee markup when the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) offered an amendment to broaden the name of the bill, not just to cover active shooters. The gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Cicilline) opposed the amendment--not only opposed it, but he termed Mr. Issa's proposal offensive. Now, we are getting to it.…”