On the recordNovember 5, 2003
The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 added new a new provision of the Rural Electrification Act giving the Rural Utilities Service, (RUS), Administrator the authority to make loans ``to expand or improve 911 access and integrated emergency communications systems in rural areas.'' This new provision was in response to the pressing need in rural America to upgrade and improve the ability to communicate in times of individual and mass emergencies. In the wake of 9/11 there is no higher telecommunications priority than to ensure that communications systems work best when they are needed most. Senator Clinton and I proposed the emergency communications provision in the Agriculture Appropriations bill to give life to that new section of the Rural Electrification Act.
Source
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