Transcripts For CSPAN2 Emergency Alert System 20180126

John. Of south dakota. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] good morning and welcome to todays hearing on her countries will Emergency Alert system that i hope to give our panel about whats working, whats not on what we can do to better prevent false alerts like we saw with the hawaii Ballistic Missile warning this month. Ensuring State Government has the proper tools to alert the public of and that tempt emergency is radical. Fall sports not only create unnecessary panic they undermine the Emergency Alert system leading to confusion. What happened and why is inexcusable must be addressed to ensure that its not like that never happens again prints essential american have an emergency system they can trust overwhelmingly by and large and i believe they do. Theres much that is workinge well with the Emergency Alert system. In fact its operating by this committee through the warrant act. Industry partners including those representative here today have been investing to improve the system and are working with government and Public Safety officials to carry out the mission. We now want to overlook the successes by the recent events have shown they are problems that must be a dress for todays hearing will be the first a few hearings on the Emergency Alert system and we will hold a field hearing hawaii to address the generally 13th Ballistic Missile false alarm and followup on issues discussed today. The United States has been building and improving an Emergency Alert system for citizens. First on the risks expanded to include natural disasters like fires floods tornadoes and tsunamis. We continue to build on this lifesaving system to include amber alerts which seeks the publics assistance when a child is in danger. Soon we will have blue alerts which can be issued when theres an imminent credible threat to a Law Enforcement officer. From the beginning or merchant tailor system has harnessed the immense resources the commercial Communications Systems of broadcast television and radio and eventually cable and satellite tv and mobile phone networks to reach the American Public as quickly and effectively as possible. Heres how the system works or should work. Our system relies on federal state local officials authorized by the federal Emergency Management agency or fema to decide when and alert is appropriate and what it should communicate. These alerts are then sent to fema. When fema receives an overt it validates as from an authorized entity before forwarding it to in turn send the alert out by Television Radio and mobile phones in the affected areas. The federal Communications Commission regulates between those sending the messages and the Communications Companies that deliver the messages to us. Ensuring that people get the information theyeyve need and as are credible is an ongoing process that is fundamental that messages must be credible. Messages sent like the hawaii Ballistic Missile alert to run the risk of undermining the entire alert system by undermining peoples confidence. While we do not want to prevent authorized officials from indicating alerts when they see fit we mustten ensure that such officials are better trained. They are additional improvements we can undertake as well. For example theres no question the National Weather Service Watch and Warning System saves lives but it can also be enhanced. That is why it includes provisions in forecasting which became law last spring that require the National Weather service easily as behavioral science and Stakeholder Feedback to improve its watch and Warning System. We should make sure Lessons Learned from one incident inform and improve future alerts with the fcc is taking steps to make improvements to the other system should be is a better feel targeting of messages which is being considered at its current proceeding. That is targeting messages to those who need to receive them and not sending them to those who dont. This helps avoidnene alert and addresses the concerns expressed by some local officials during the California Wildfires last year that an overly broad alert could result in traffic jams and hindering the evacuation off those who truly do need to leave. So here today the goal of providing timely emergency information to our communities is also advanced by private citizens like those amateur or ham Radio Operators to help keep the blue connected after tragedies. Today am pleased to welcome ms. Lisa fowlkes chief of the Public Safety, Security Bureau in mr. Scott bergmann Senior Vice President regulatory w affairs. Mr. Sam matheny executive Vice President and chief Technology Officer of the National Association of broadcasters and mike lisenco the representative the amateur radio thank you for being here and look forward to todays discussion and i will now recognize the Ranking Member senator schatz for any opening remarks you may have and i think you can speak personally to the impact of this issue. Thank you mr. Chairman. One of the most harrowing hours of their lives started a few minutes after 8 00 a. M. On january 13y , 2018. Cell phones across the state lit up with a warning that a Ballistic Missile attack wase imminent. For the next 38 minutes both residents and visitors panicked. People were terrified as they scramble to get in touch with loved ones. I know because i was home in honolulu that morning i started to get dozens of text with screenshots of the alert asking me what was happening. Meanwhile within a minute or two officials in the hawaii Emergency Management agency had spoken to Pacific Commander confirmed command it confirmed that there was no missileci attk attack. Us. Nobody told the rest of people in hawaii may be relieved about the false alarm but they are also angry. All of this was avoidable from the false alarm itself and multiple junctures surrounding the incident. Bureaucratic errors made the crisis worse but they they are o inherent flaws in the system itself. We are here today because of problems in our Emergency Alert system from false alarms to issues in Communications Related to the recent California Wildfires. I want to thank chairman ben and Ranking Member nelson for holding this hearing in agreeing to hold the field. In hawaii in the near future and i want to thank the fcc including ms. Fowlkes who came to meeting i convened last week with fema d. O. T. And the department, security for helping us to determine what happened and how to fix fix it fix it. What happened in hawaii raises some basic policy questions. Right now any city county or state can choose to put to participate in this program on missile alerts and when they do begin technical ability to get the word out that does not make them experts in knowing when the missile is coming. That rests with the department of defense and it is increasingly clear to me that if we get all 50 states in all the territories and 2007 counties across the country participating in this program the likelihood of another mistake in alert as the result of human or bureaucratic error is not zero. Local officials have fled on Disaster Response and recovery but at the if the federal government knows the missile was coming its worth asking if they should be the ones to tell everyone. States are laboratories of democracy. They should not be a laboratory for missile alerts which is why this is an important question for congress to consider. We have lively debates on heroism and about the role of local versus federal government but a missile attack his federal. A missile attack is not a local responsibility. Confirmationon notification of Something Like a missile attack should reside with the agency who knows first and knows for sure. In other words people who know should be the people who tell us. That is why im introducing i am introducing legislation with senators Harris Gardner and others to make it clear to the authority should rest with the department of defense and homeland security. These agencies have to work with the state and local Emergency Management agencies when they get the word out that the public is safe and informed. Thank you again chairman ben and Ranking Member nelson for your leadership on this issue and i look over to hearing from the witnesses on where we stand and what we can do better. Thank you senator schatz and thank you for sharing your experience and we look forward to working with you to make sure Something Like that never happens again to your constituents or anybody else in thisit country. And Ranking Member senator nelson is here. Senator nelson your opening statement. Thank you mr. Chairman by the way i thought yesterdays hearing at the auto show was outstanding about Automated Vehicles so thank you. I think there is going to be a lot of good that comes out of that hearing. If you were told that a Ballistic Missile was inbound and your loved ones were spread out, what in the world would go through your mind . Its exactly what went through the minds of senator schatz. Regrettably he knows the answer to thatet question and he knows its very real and its very personal. He was the heir. He received the alert and its because of that personal connection to this situation and the leadership that he has shown in the aftermath that i am going to be here simply to support him in this. Nobody should have to go through what folks in hawaii did but the flipside of thath is we want to make sure that there is a system in place so if there isnt inbound Nuclear Warhead that people are alerted. When disasters occur americans rely not only on the Emergency Alerts but also the 911 system. But the infrastructure is aging and frankly its been left behind in the digital revolution revolution. Congress must make modernizing the 911 system a National Priority which is why i have for what senatora klobuchar to introduce the next generation 911 at of 2017 and i hope this is something that is a template for moving ahead on bipartisan things and this is a good bill to start moving ahead on. Thank you senator nelson. This committee can Work Together in get it done for all the people in this country and of course more specifically the people in hawaii. We do have a great panel and i look forward to hearing from them this morning we will start with ms. Lisa fowlkes was the chief of Public Safety homeland Security Bureau and the federal clinic patients system which he has jurisdiction over the integration of all these forms of medication and Scott Bergmann Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at tia and mike lisenco chairman of amateur Radio Relay League and sam matheny executive Vice President chief Technology Officer at the National Association of broadcasters so we will start ms. Fowlkes with you and if you could confine your oral remarks to five minutes or thereabouts we will make sure that all of your testimony is made part of the written record and that will be the time to ask questions so ms. Fowlkes please proceed and get morning. At morning chairman thune Ranking Member and members that come in committee thank you for the opportunity to appear before each discuss our nations Emergency Alerting system. The false Ballistic Missile warning issued on january 13 by the state of hawaii was absolutely unacceptable. It resulted in my spread panic in the extended. Naca took to correct the area error nearly 40 minutes. The mistakes which were serious in and of themselves as themselves described was damaged the credibility of Emergency Alert messaging which can be dangerous when a real emergency occurs. The commission acted swiftly to open an investigation into the matter. That investigation is ongoing but raced on current information it appears the false alert was the result of two failures. First simple human error. Second, the state did not have safeguards to process control in place to prevent the human error from resulting in the transmission of a false alert. Last week vietze ceci sent to employees interview representatives of the hawaii Emergency Management agency and other stakeholders. The hawaii Emergency Management agency tells us that its working with this vendor to integrate official technical safeguards meant to alert originationin software that is changes protocol to require two individuals to sign off on a transmission of live alerts. We are quite pleased with the level of cooperation we have received from the leadership for the hawaii Emergency Management agency. Thus far we are disappointed however that one key employee, the person who transmitted the false alert is refusing to cooperate with our investigation. We hope that person will reconsider. Moving forward the commission will focus on ways to prevent this from happening again. Federal, state and local officials throughout the country need to Work Together to identify any vulnerability to false alert and do what is necessary to fix them. We also must ensure that should a false alert nonetheless occur a correction is issued promptly and in order to minimize confusion. Emergency Alert Systems provide lifesaving information to the public and we must take all measures to bolster and restore the Public Confidence in the systems. While the incident in hawaii is very present in our minds we cannot lose sight of the fact that the wireless Emergency Alert has greatly enhance Public Safety. In the last five years it has been used to issue over 33,000 Emergency Alerts. In california we always used response to the tune 2070 wildfires in Northern California and 16 times for the Los Angeles Area wildfires. It was also used extensively in all areas affected by the 2017 hurricanes. The commission has taken significant steps to enhance alert capabilities by leveraging technology. September 2016 the Commission Adopted rules to enable wireless alerts to contain more content and to enable support for her those written in spanish between the Program Launch in 2012 participating wireless providers are generally required to target alerts to a county or counties affected by the emergency and last november all participating wireless providers are now required to transmit alerts to a Geographic Area that best approximates the area affected even if its smaller than a county. To further improve wea next tuesday the commission will both on an order that would require participating wireless providers to target alerts with an overreach of no less than one tenth of a mile and w require subtle fowlkes for 24 hours. Closing look forward to partnering with Emergency Management professionals on your jurisdiction on alerting capabilities they need to keep the Warning System but confidence during times of crisis. Thank you and i look forward to any questions you may have. Thank you ms. Fowlkes. Mr. Bergmann. Chairman thune Ranking Member nelson merris the committee we thank you for the opportunity to testify about the critical and successful role of wireless alerts. Tci commends this committee for its focus today on this issue and for your leadership on it over the last decade stemming back to the passage of the warrant act in 2006 which created the wireless Emergency Alert or wea program to the partnership between the wireless government and Public Safety officials. Agoe its launch five years where this Emergency Alerts have become a critical resource for hundreds of millions of americans who rely on mobile phones every day. Today wireless providers serve more than 99 of u. S. Subscribers voluntarily participating in wea. More than 33,000 wea alert to vincent hoping to locate those in danger and worn out than a minute threats are dangerous. Members are deeply committed to ensuring we remain trusted effect of resources of the American Public. Underscores the importance of the functionality integrity and credibility of our nations Emergency Alert system. With that in mind my testimony will adjust the vital role we have played in our ongoing efforts to enhance capability and the importance of maintaining the systems integrity. A decade ago this committee recognized the value of a wireless the wireless Emergency Alert to reach nearly every american. Now is more than half of american households are wireless summit would become essential tool for health and safety officials to reach americans wherever they are. Wea is part of a broader alert system. Federal state and local authorities transmit emergency messages to fema. Fema formats messages for distribution to the various national alerting systems and wireless providers deliver authorized images to the targeted areas determined by alert authorities. Wireless providers do not control message content and did not exercise discretion over whether to transmit messages. Because local authorities can target the wea in a particular area they are extremely effective for reaching those americans directly impacted by an emergency. We use sound and vibration to ensure that everyone is aware of the alert. Wireless Emergency Alerts have helped to return abducted children and warrant millions of people of Severe Weather events like flooding tornados wildfires and they help Law Enforcement catch terror suspects in the 2013th Boston Marathon bombing in the 2016 Chelsea Bombing in new york city. As we expand the capabilities in the past year the fcc is adopted rules to expand the content and authority of consumers adding additional characters spanishlanguage blue alerts and downloadable content as well as support for additional state and local testing testing. We have supported these enhancement because her members are committed to the lifesaving success of wea. We plan to adopt in order to further enhances targeting capabilities. A week have alert started to the cell sector level with significant improvement over county level targets. Cti support the ftcs rule framework which can help Public Safety minimize through innovative solutions. Significant standards deploymeno support this capability. For this reason we will challenge to meet the fccs proposed timeline of november 2019 through the for the Wireless Industry will work and family to do so. Ne finally the false alert in hawaii and discourse of Public Confidence in our national alerting system and the remains are high is pretty. Fema must send messages quickly and echoing providers must deliver messages to the targeted areas. We commend this committee and chairman pie to learn Lessons Learned from this event and appreciate commissioner rosenworcels call for additional this event demonstrates the technical capabilities of the way the wea system works. Policymakers a publisher conference in the abandoned guerrilla merchants he authenticated information will be sent rapidly through the Emergency Alert system. Cpi is proud to play a role in our national or system pants is committed to working collaboratively to maintain Public Confidence. Thank you for the opportunity to testify and i look forward to your questions. Thank you mr. Bergmann. Mr. Lisenco. Good morning chairman thune. My capacity as the american Radio Relay League for amateur radio. Its approximate 175,000 members at the estate of iraq represent the interests of licensed amateurs for ham Radio Operators put amateur radio are experimenters and indicators but they were is also a very serious side to amateur radio. Far more than a hobby. With their license from the fcc comes the responsibility to promote emergency during times of disaster. If it maintains number and understanding with the u. S. Military fema and dhs are we provide Emergency Communications to the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army. The fema administrator craig fugate quote as much as we think we are sophisticated singer amateur radio in a crisis oftentimes is the one thing are still up and running a ham transmitting community can mean the difference with lifeanddeath imagery offers in included implants in every state in the union. The role played by disasters was on display o in 2017 when we saw four hurricanes make landfall in the United States and its territories through the storms cause significant damage to florida texas puerto rico and the virgin islands. In advance of hearing and the aftermath of each one trained amateur Radio Operators visited Radio Stations responded in large numbers. Ham provided web spotting information from residences to the National Weather service and the National Hurricane center. They join dozens of residents in puerto rico and the u. S. Virgin islands to provide restoration for the u. S. Military fema dhs and First Responders. They provided health and Welfare Communications were no other method of communication was available. They provided all the medications for the red cross and the Salvation Army. The red cross requested a dispatch an additional amateur Radio Operators equipped with Emergency Communications alveda free of charge by a double l. R. In the aftermath and as discussed they did a multitude of other things at no cost the public or the federal government. And hawaii are teams are prepared to assist in the case of an emergency whether natural or manmade. For example in the aftermath of moreon amateur Radio Operator was highlighted on the hawaii news now for his work and connecting a mountain family in puerto rico. Its a using in effect path in the station from his residence which could be utilized in a disaster of benenoch after the false alarm msnbcs reported quote in the case of an electromagnetic pulse of blast ham radio was one of the plays we will be able to hear what is happening throughout the islands with or not people are okay end quote. While the amateur Radio Committee rarely hears from the federal government what we must have as an antenna in order to practiceed our properties. The pillage of practice our craft is crucial to being ready to perform when needed any crisis. To do that they must have some sort of effective outdoor antenna. To beth ready when disaster strikes these restrictions prevent any outdoor antennas of any size or hypertoday 90 of all new Housing Starts are done so under restrictions only include national radio. What they have done with amateur radio. This destroyed the Necessary Balance between an installing attendant hoa placement of these antennas. Support to note the bill is different than the legislation proposed by Ranking Member nelson in 2015. That time the distinguished senator from florida expressed reservations about the legislation stating he supported amateur radio. Quote there must be a happy compromise. Based on his concerns allr began the only National Association for homeowners associations lasting several months. These discussions culminated in a happy compromise endorsed by cia as well as the American Red Cross and Salvation Army and the compromise bill by the passed by voice vote twice to help this committee will extend the blumenthal bill to ensure the amateur Radio Community can be a roulette upon my disaster strikes and i think the committee for the opportunity to speak about the role of amateur radio disaster in with or to answering any questions. Thank you mr. Lisenco. Mr. Matheny. Good morning chairman thune Ranking Members know that schatz members the committee. My name is sam matheny on the chief officer of the National Association of broadcasting at about half of the thousands of free local television and radio broadcasters in your hometown thank you for inviting me to testify on the Emergency Alert system and how broadcasters fulfill their roles as first informers and how innovation will allow broadcasters to do even more to keep viewers and listeners safe during emergencies. Broadcasters take seriously their role as the most trusted source of news and emergency updates whether its preparing listeners and viewers for the coming storm directingr them to need supplies and shelter during a disaster for helping rebuild in the aftermath local stations are part of the communities they serve. Broadcasting is sometimes the only available communication medium in an emergency when Wireless Networks fail. Warning console we found the American People turn to broadcast in times of emergency by a factor of more than 31. Broadcasting is unique for the following reasons. First, broadcasting covers virtually everyone. Broadcasting those reach more of the u. S. Population than any other communication medium. Broadcasting is localized. Local broadcast stations can deliver market specific information as well as national alerts. Broadcasting has no bottlenecks. And Emergency Alert can reach money to people simultaneously without concern over network congestion. Broadcasting is redundant. There are independently operated stations in each market that deliveren alerts. Broadcasting is resilient. Stations often operate with backup equipment generators and fuel supplies to keep stations on the air. Broadcaster information is actionable. Radio and television can provide enough information to enable people to understand what is happening and what steps they shouldblop take. Finally broadcasters are trusted. They are members of the local community and are seen not just as the authority by the a neighbor. Broadcasters do more than just deliver messages to the public. Broadcasters are also the fact one of the Emergency Alert system to working with the government since the 1950s broadcasters have operated in a nationwide Wireless Network to deliver emergencyir alerts. This chain of broadcast stations ensures that Emergency Alerts can be delivered independent of Internet Connectivity and even when Power Outages disrupt other forms of communications. Iner fact Broadcaster Service primary entry point for Emergency Communications with the public and are thus part of the solution from beginning to end. Because broadcasting plays such an Important Role in this Critical Communications infrastructure it is vital that the government supported foster broadcasting. Like to briefly outline three key areas for your consideration. First the nextgeneration television standard ats be 3pointer which is recently approved by the ftc has many features that will improve Emergency Alerts including the ability to wake up sleeping devices more precise geotargeted alerts and reaching multimedia files such as weather radar news evacuationd maps and even video files with detailed explanations about the emergency and what to do. New britain the tory hurdles should not be placed in our way as we deploy nextgen tv. Second broadcasters are in the final and most complicated phase of the incentive option, the repack phase. Nearly 1000 television stations will be moving to new channel assignments and this will also impact over 700 fm Radio Stations on colocated towers. Broadcasters need the time and money required to make these movesrs successfully and without impairing the publics ability to access Emergency Alerts that i ask for your support of the viewer and listener protection act sponsored by senators moran schatzsc and eight other colleagues and urged its passage is no station should be forced to air due to lack of funds or unreasonable time constraints. In heard broadcasters have been working with the wireless manufacturers and Service Providers on marketbased solutions to activate smartphones. Our effort has been successful with one notable exception, apple. We believe apple should encourage to activate the fm tuner and future models of their iphone as it will improve peoples access to Vital Information in times of disaster. In conclusion in emergencies large and small are nation and your hometown benefit from a strong and vibrant broadcast industry. Few mock calls broadcasting a redundant resilient and necessary alerting pathway. I agree. Thank you for having me here today. Look forward to answering any questions. Thank you mr. Matheny and appreciate you all tucked in about the Important Role that they play in this process. But to start with ms. Fowlkes and ask if you could describe or explain to us the role the fcc plays in the Emergency Alert system and how that interacts with the larger what they refer to as the ipod Communication System and how does the fcc, sort of where this committees jurisdiction and it just is, how do they relate to the sequences of events . The fcc is responsible for the disgrace and of the eas and wea. In other words we adopt and administer rules that apply to the king indication Service Providers that participate in those two systems. For example with respect wea we have rules that would apply to wireless carriers in terms of how there ever structures to react when they receive thehe alert and certainly issues like geotargeting and other types of things that we cover with respect to the eas what capabilities they are eas equipment must have in order to receive an alert. We do not have authority over an alert origination peace which is the part of the system where Government Agencies decide whether to issue an alert, what the alert is going to include in the targeted area. That is not within our purview. Fema oversees the integrated public alert and Warning Systems that basically we think of it as three pieces. The alert origination peace and fema, the distribution by the Communication Service provider. They are participating under rules that are adopted and administered by the fcc. Do you see any needed change in the rules based on this incident . That is something that i really cant answer. Wea doesnt have a position on that. Terms of that it wouldnt be so much changing a rule, it would be something that would have to change in terms of our authority authority. Certainly if congress decided he wanted to make changes we would stand ready to supervise that with any draft resolution and if congress enacted legislation we would obviously implemented. Does the fcc to that point ever exert a jurisdiction to require their best practices are used and make sure they are adequate safeguards in place . Do you believe the commission has the authority or the tools it needs to ensure an incident like the one that happened in hawaii never happens currently . Given the fact that the problem was the alert origination peace the fcc does not have authority in that area. Just to ask the obvious question that i thought of when i heard about all of this and that is so you describe this as a threepart process and the fcc is the distribution part of it the origination alert in the fema clearinghouse function. It seems to me why then did this Ballistic Missile threat, i mean this is a dod like nuclear war type thing. Why was a state agency involved in that alert . I understand we have a lot of experience in my part of the country with weather. The National Weather Service Works with fema and all the alerts go out for a potential. Of threat all those kinds of things. Im at a loss to how it fares origination of the alert and the clearinghouse how that got so messed up. Anybody want to take a stab at that . From the fccs perspective we cant give an opinion on that. We are not involved in any way withni society who issues what alert. Thath is purely on the alert origination side. In terms of this specific incident i would have to refer you to fema and dhs. Mr. Bergmann could you briefly talk about the Wireless Industrys role in the Emergency Alert system and i know you talked about are generally in terms of the role you play but particularly in light of this recent discussion and whether its been a success in your view. Thank you chairman thune. We have seen over the last two years that wireless alerts are a lifesaver. They help return kids who have been about it. They have helped voice tornadoes rolling through the town n and w they are used for blue alerts to identify and locate suspects. They are a couple of key reasons why wireless Emergency Alerts are the only tool in our toolbox right now that helps get the message to you right then and now as we continue to improve wireless Emergency Alerts we have delayed access to the links and contents where you can get that information and act on it. Thats a powerful combination. Senator schatz. Thank you mr. Chairman in ms. Fowlkes thank you for being that you and the fcc have t been doing could have a number of questions and im going to give them to you all at once. You can take them for the record record. Whatever you can answer would be great. The first question is who gets an alert in who doesnt and in that category you turned off the push number of occasions of my first question and again im going to try to run through them in the interest of time, on Television Tv broadcaster cable launcher doesnt have the opportunity to turn off those alerts. We presume everyone must know over the airwaves why do we allow people to turn off of ertz ertz. Maybe a blue alert or an amber alerts is another matter but in terms of an incoming Ballistic Missile we should have a system that doesnt give anybody discretion about whether or not they get told that an alert is coming. Number two my understanding is although this is a voluntary system we still have 99 coverage and i just want to confirm thats true. Number three we now have a bunch of people who are watching tv in different ways. We still depend heavily as we should honor broadcast partners on tv and lets not forget the importance of radio especially in rural area. We also have people in their ipad. Im wonderingco where the the fc has done a thinking about how to make sure people are watching television in a nontraditional way get those alerts . On the first question which i believe you were referring to the opt out option. I get a warrant act people can opt out of all all the alert sym from the president so the ability and i should point out wea unlike some subscription alerting system is in opt out versus and optin. The statute allows wireless carriers to offer the option to opt out. Not one of the questions we have at the National Security council is why either by executive order or by process way is an incoming missile not absolutely the kind of thing that would ride on that although in the drafting of a warrant act and not sure that was contemplated. Seems to me to be the highest priority alert and therefore perfect for president ial alert. That is the question that the fcc in terms of the second question which i believe was about whether its voluntary . The questiont is carriers and i believe we have 99 coverage and the last question is how do we reach people who are watching tv in nontraditional ways and not people on broadcast . Thats a very good question and thats something that the fcc, something that we can certainly look at in our authority. Sad that is whatt is going to ak you. Can you get back to us about what they need Additional Authority and if you do have existing authority and like to know what youre going to do to solve that problem and if youee dont its an incumbent on the congress to fix that. And just a quick clarification did the hawaii Emergency Management agency allow fema to sign off on a correction to the first push notification . No. They did not need permission from fema or the fcc. The final question for ms. Fowlkes one of the challenges with their broadcast partners the Radio Station that is responsible for getting out emergencysp information they couldnt get on the phone with Emergency Management agencies and they couldnt get on the phone with pacom. The governor had charles getting through to dod. I was having difficulty getting through to the governor. What do we do about the phone line problem when everybody is trying to communicate with each other. We need to have phone conversations and seems to me the fcc and their investigatory process to the family for problem not just in terms of the systems for communicating with each other in termsms of who called whom but also literally people who really need some were not in a position to do so at the technical level. See that thats something we can look at this part of the investigation. Thank you. Thank you senator schatz. Senator klobuchar. Thank you very much mr. Chairman and i want to thank senator schatz for his leadership. I can imagine what that its been like in your state. Ive had many minnesotans who like to go to hawaii. I wonder why and my director was there when this happened and told the story of how he was in a hotel condo with no baseman and didnt know what to do. They are taking anything they can find for an emergency packet. When you think about thatey stoy about families with kids and how scared they were clearly changes have to be made. I wanted to focus on the legislation that we have been working on with senator nelson and i think its very important that we upgrade and cochairs the next 10911 caucus. First of all i am introduced with senator fisher with the accessibility act and was included in the mobile now at in the house and senate. Mr. Bergmann how can spectrum disaggregation and other incentives the use to use to increase wireless coverage in rural areas . Thank you senator klobuchar. We commend you and appreciate your work on spectrum accessibility act. As anyone from Rural America knows the challenge is making sure we have service out there in the parts are various. Geography is challenging topography is challenging and stores populations make it difficult. When you do things to make it easier to serve out their by creating incentives to put spectrum is in rural areas. We can give providers greater incentives and lower the barriers to building out networks and thats a perfect tiein to our focus here today making sure as you talked about we have the most recent 911 services and wireless Emergency Alerts making sure we can build out. We believe that legislation will help. Thank you. Ms. Fowlkes ensuring that the Emergency Alerts as senator schatz is pointed out the fcc will be voting soon on an order that would require wireless providers to target alerts within one fifth of a mile. At this point because the proposal hasnt been voted on by the commission i cant give you more details about what they may or may not say. You talked about senator nelson and i how would interoperability between systems and increase effectiveness in the advanced alert system . The order of the fcc will soon consider will allow local Public Safety officials to better target Emergency Alerts. The fcc order will require participating providers to shift from a networkbased approach to one that uses the location capabilities to target messages through once operational this will minimize the use of someone outside of the disaster areas to use an unnecessarily are. Mr. Bergmann how wireless providers work with Device Manufacturers to ensure the functionality . Thank you senator. That order will be considered next week and identified as the single most important improvement to wireless emergency system we have. To turn back the clock when the wireless alerts were first launched it was targeted at the county level today we improve that to the individual cell towers and what the capability will let us do is not only is the targeting of the networks but also intelligence in a device to try to figure out if its a device in the target area to alert authorities. This will be a significant improvement help address that to Public Safety than consumers. And to flood daily reports broadcasters can continue operating during Severe Weather with new technology broadcasters may soon be able to deliver Additional Information on six mobile and handheld devices. The level of targeting will this new capability provide . What additional alerting measures can broadcasters make available . Thank you. I believe youre talking about the advanced alerting capabilities that are there. Yes, thats exactly what i was talking about. The tv allows for waking up devices. If a device is asleep it can be woken up. Thats a distinct feature that was designed in. Then it would have the ability to do targeting. The standard has been completed and the actual implementation of that is being developed. It will be similar to what mr. Bergman described in using the location to determine if it is in the affected area. We are still talking about a one way broadcast delivery of the alert. Additionally, it allows for sending multimedia content. You could think an evacuation map or tornado track map, an evacuation or even a video file that would tell you explicitly what is happening. This would be in addition to the normal coverage that our station provides. Thank you. Senators looking for the vikings threepoint oh two. This has nothing to do with the vikings. Its about hawaii does that doesnt have an nfl team. Or south dakota for that matter if you decide you can take shots at my team. Lets go back to the good stuff. Senators sullivan has to preside on the floor could he ask questions next. All come clean, we dont have an nfl team either. Thank you senator. A couple questions alaska at the same time, it relates to a big event that occurred in alaska on Tuesday Morning early in the morning to 7. 9 magnitude earthquake hit in the gulf of alaska. As a result many my constituents in coastal communities were alerted to the threat of a tsunami and told to relocate inland. Many did. However some carriers were not able to send the notification because of the process required by the fcc to stand up alert emergency read alerts on their system. This many carriers are Small Companies so going through the process that the fcc puts a big burden on them, other things youre looking at to streamline the process and take into account the Smaller Companies that can participate and also several coastal alaska Radio Stations did not get their signal after the earthquake at all or got it 30 minutes after the wireless alerts when out. What are you trying to do on those issues . Its important issue for my state and others. Im not sure by what they mean is a long process of the fcc. Under the rules of a wireless carrier wants to participate, they send us a notification say theyre electing to participate in part which might mean some other Geographic Service areas are not others. Could also mean theyre not offering it on all of their cell phones where they can elect to participate in full which means theyre participating it through other devices. Once i have done the only thing for them to do is what other carriers would be required to be able to offer the we are capable phones and make sure their network is set up to receive alerts. Other than of the election itself, theres not a drawn out process with the fcc. Maybe what we can do is work with you. We are looking into the synonymy alert. We can certainly look into it. If we can learn from this fortunately there is no synonymy. But it is very scary for hundreds if not thousands of my constituents. It would be good to learn from this we can be ready next time. Thank you chairman and thanks to you and senator shots for focusing on these important questions. My understanding says some questions couldve been answered by fema. Fema is not at this hearing. I know you requested them. Seems to me we should try to get some answers some way. I could participate in the letter that i think we need the answers to your questions based on the answers we have received which they dont seem to have the information. Fema is who we should be directing these things too. You said you didnt have authority. To the extent youre asking about anything about arc authority or regulation of the Service Providers participation, i would agree. Its my understanding the states file Emergency Alert system plans with the fcc. There are a few tribal nations whose reservation cross at least one state line. In new mexico we have a Navajo Nation in three different states. Our trave tribal nations under t same . No, they dont have to file separate plans. What typically happens is to the extent there are parts of tribal nations and states, those states take into account the need of those tribal nations. That certainly help the new mexico state plan was set up. It is important to every beer of the fcc to engage directly with tribal nations. Have you had the opportunity to work with tribal nations on their unique safety needs . Certainly. The Public Safety and homeland Security Bureau overseas and Advisory Committee and we have had representatives of tribal nations serving on the committee. In addition weve had a separate committee of 911 centers focused on nextgeneration 911. Weve had represent digits on that committee as well. As you know, is very important to get these alerts out. Many of these tribal nations dont have it. Youre dealing with an additional huge hurdle in terms of getting Emergency Alerts of those things into tribal alerts. I appreciate the worker local broadcasters to everyday. Particularly in times of starts a Public Safety like wildfire season. Weve seen various places around the country. Broadcasters in new mexico rely heavily on translators to serve rural communities. Im concern the ongoing spectrum process could leave these consumers behind. Its my understanding the current allocation of 1. 75 billion is an adequate to meet the needs of the broadcasters relocating. Is there a better estimate of the money needed to ensure translators to knock off line in rural areas . Thank you. You are correct. That was allocated. And thats the number i believe chairman pipe testified to. We testified there is not enough money. He is on the record with that as well. We certainly dont believe theres enough money either. Based on the initial results of the cost estimate submitted by tv stations real number will be around 3 billion. There is substantial disconnect in the Funds Available and what will be needed. We are keen to see the viewer listener protection act that senators have sponsored to take hold and get approved. We think it will be necessary to make sure station stand there and can operate, including translators. In the context of this hearing that means emergency related alerts will be available to this population. Am also unoriginal cosponsored i believe we have to make this investment. I dont think theres any doubt about it. I have a couple of questions now some of them to the panel. We did attempt to give fema here, apparently they mean more lead time to prepare for this but there are questions that only they and others can answer. Im hoping by the time the field hearing and why occurs that we can get the other parties to this discussion involved and engaged. To me theres still unanswered questions. Another attempts to cure some of those problems. Thank you and i know its been a difficult several days and weeks since this occurred. I just want to get this on the record, pretty sure you dont know the answer dont have it but i think many people wonder that is, how is it that a single Government Employee could trigger an alert without any meaningful mechanism to override . To have any light to shed on that basic question . Thats an issue that were exploring as part of our investigation. What happened and what hawaiis process was. Were the warnings broadcast over tv . In a scrawl or how. There were scrolls on tv and then there is audio played on radio. I was actually talking with somebody yesterday who was there in a hotel room. They mustve missed the first scroll on the tv but they did get it through their phone, both of them. But i wanted to tell senator shots at the hotel their staining was right on top of it. Theres a Warning System with directions on what they should do and encouraging everybody what to do. And to go to the basement. I would say since you have so many tourism and people staying in hotels its good to know your Tourism Industry is reacting quickly to this and so, i also want to thank the broadcasters will have a thousand year flood in june 2 years ago, im convinced we wouldve lost more lies if we had not had the Rapid Response through the radio and social media. So, thank you for that and thank you for the broadcasters for staying on the story. It wasnt a oneday story for us. And thank you for recognizing that. Its one of the key elements to recognize that there part of the committee to help prepare and recover. If you are in a no surface area in your phone to get these alerts . You need to be within the Coverage Area is puts a premium on what were talking about her earlier. This is a major issue for us, not just on the wireless side on the broadband side. In our state we have challenges because of the rural nature but when i can drive 8 miles outside of my capital city and lose coverage theres a lot of work that needs to be done. I just want to reemphasize that. Lastly on december 7, 1941 my uncle was stationed in hawaii when pearl harbor was attacked. My mother was 15 at the time. The story she told us which was interesting. When you talk about instantaneous messages and retraction within 40 minutes which sells like a lifetime. She told me if it were not for the ham Radio Operators, her parents would not have known their son was okay. But it took days for it to come across the country. Sure some of those messages were not quite as positive as my mother and father received that day. Your organizations long history is well appreciated. Amateur radio was involved in the efforts to achieve normalcy and why after the false alarm. As a matter fact the radio amateur civil Emergency Alert activated the system and they monitored the alerts and cancellations. Twenty hours earlier they had drilled with the hawaii state management this kind of scenario. So then there was in our face, we had operators present and at the state warning point the false alarm was on various mechanisms on 13 minutes. Amateur radio pass that along whereas the full false alarm came 38 minutes. They are trained to listen to specific types of siren railings. Each would determine what kind of emergency there was. There was no siren. They also received reports from the coast guard vessel relating the cancellation notice before it came out. So they know you earlier than anybody else was going on and started sending the issue along. Also the thing i think is real and related the story, the skepticism of this is a test and this is real even though it was explained it was real, if we perfect the system we wont have this testing critique. Where you getting tested and no nothing is really happening. I think the better the system gets and the more reliable, the less frequently it needs to be tested or you can test it in different places and not always at the same site. Then itll go against that mentality of him get awaited out. Thank you mr. Chairman. Just referring back to an earlier conversation. There is actually a professional Football Team in massachusetts and it will be playing in about ten days in a gay in minnesota. So just want everybody to look for that. You said the rule will be implemented in 2019 to increase the character count for mobile Emergency Alerts from 90 360. Can we get it done more quickly . Its obviously big problem. We do think having additional characters will be helpful a modest pass on more information to consumers explain situations better. Were an industry about over delivering. Weve hit every deadline. So you can set a goal of completing in 2018 . Up i dont want to get ahead of the current deadline but we will be doing everything we can to hit it and if we can, beat it. We think that deadline is too far out. So, lets talk for example about what could happen at a meltdown at the Pilgrim Nuclear powerpoint which is at the bottom of the list of best managed Nuclear Power plants in the United States and people in cape cod would have to write plastic the plant to evacuate. It gets a little complicated. So when this event just occurred in hawaii the message was Ballistic Missile threat, seek immediate shoulder, this is not a drill. Will be the message that one o off, will be the information communicated in word they be told to go, with a be told to shelter in place where to go and what you do . If there is a Nuclear Meltdown we still have a hundred plants in america and is clear and accident can happen. Should there be more information that gives a little guidance maybe with 360 characters so that there some guidance . The main reason my the commission expanded the character limit of the alert from 90 316 was because of the need to provide more information, in addition to which the Commission Adopted rules that would allow for the alerts to include embedded references. Originally they did not allow telephone numbers or url link into the we a alert. The commission has now given the Advancement Technology to allow those to be can included. There are other issues before the commission that we are considering in terms of other information that can be provid provided. I think thats very important and needs to be tailored. People need to know to shelter in place or just run crazy and head towards what could be the problem and i think thats an issue that has been identified. And just going back to the hawaii incident, i dont know how much thought has been put into this question of state control versus federal control because obviously the north koreans could also make a miscalculation if they think we are preparing for nuclear war. If they think we have a hairtrigger response capacity that is going to be triggered, for this emergency evacuation plan. Has anyone thought through that reality that the north koreans could completely misinterpret what is going on and actually move them closer to their own hairtrigger because we might be actually on the verge of attacking . From the fcc standpoint, we are focused on communication distribution side. Thats another issue or i would have to refer you to fema and dhs. I think decisions like this should be made by the president to the pentagon and not by state officials. I think it needs to be put in that context. Its already too close. In this reading about by the north koreans could have resulted in a more catastrophic message. Think central market. Thank you for holding this hearing when it comes to this Pacific Northwest can my a guarantee use anomalies in earthquake, volcanoes, flooding we pay a lot of attention to disaster issues. Having been on the committee im reminded of our former colleague who spent a lot of time on the development of the buoy system. That is our earliest detection so that we can have this information. And now know is working diligently on that. Think we need to be thankful weve made the investment in technology. The question becomes, who owns the protocol for making sure the coordination happens at the state local level if so many of those had a we make sure that information is there . For us on the long beach peninsula, this issue is a very big issue. We have establish warning information and the scientists would tell us this is what we should be developing we have a very isolated community trying to figure out how to deal with this now me. Many might remember a few years back from an article called the big one. We treat constantly on this is a coordinated effort between homeland security, or National Guard local responders. But, who owns at the federal level thinking through what this communication protocol should actually look like and how we establish protocols so that these kind of mistakes or information gaps are avoided in the future. We want to continue with the information, does anybody have a thought on that . In terms of the communication provider side, certainly the fcc works with the Service Providers and we have rules about how theyre supposed to react in receiving and transmitting dealers. On the fema side i would have to refer more to them. I will say, that in terms of general coordination, the fcc has a time, not just at times, but regularly coordinates with fema in terms of things like testing or dealing with some of the issues that go with our rulemaking. For example, theres a lot of states particularly on the western side of the country who to synonymy in earthquake tests. They want to use the live code. Which under the rules you cant use less its an emergency. Working with other broadcasters and participants we have waived the rules to allow them to transmit that live code test as part of the broader sternotomy exercise that fema may be doing with the state or local government pgh so, trying to stump the panel, i think its more that we have a gap here. In our state because of the National Guard the texas sector so strong theyve establish hygiene issues. Here the ten things that you should follow for good Cyber Security hygiene. Somewhere it seems we need a protocol list of heres what Emergency Response should look like and these are the safeguards, with their target a county or state, will keep marching ahead. We need the information, we desperately want this when its earthquake you only have minutes to respond. This article about the big one in the northwest, we want to see this information but we want to make sure things that happen in hawaii also have new safeguards for false alarms. I remember as senator talk about a previous moment prior to this technology and i think it went on for hours, they thought it tsunami wave was going to hit. And thats why we developed the buoy system. That still work the other night in kodiak even though it went off it gave people time to understand that the wave was not going to be that great. We want the technology but we need to across on how its used. Thank you for being here today. I do wish fema wouldve been here. I echo the concerns and i appreciate your candid comments about the challenges we still have one of the things i have concerned about language barriers. I know mr. Bergman you talked about this in the actions taken in 2016 to enable spanishlanguage alerts. Can you talk more about the describe how it works to ensure that understandable alerts are sent to everyone. We have a large population. Its a barrier for those who do not speak spanish. Can you talk a little bit about language barriers and how to address them and what we should be doing to keep that in mind or talk about reaching out to everyone when theres a crisis or concern. As you know, the commission in 2016 adopted rules to facilitate spanishlanguage alerts. We currently have the broader issue that is pending befores there were considering regarding other languages. And to what extent we should be looking at alerts and other types of languages. Not there yet. And mr. Bergman, could you talk about how particularly was spanish you overcome a barrier with the technology sumac we certainly agree that its an important improvement and then just with the addition of urls they play an Important Role as well. We think often as the seven bellringer. Youre giving them the opportunity to get Additional Information. Together those will be very valuable for consumers. And besides language barrie barriers, their geographic barriers in nevada and across the country that are still struggling to have Broadband Access and to use the technology thats providing this information. I know its an area that we will continue to bring resources and funding to connect them but to me this is a crisis as well that they are not connected right now. The masque of this, Cyber Security, is there any concern about hackers into an alert system, have we seen the prison something thinking about her making sure your dressing in the infrastructure. The fcc has addressed the issue of Cyber Security with respect to the eas through its Advisory Committee. You may recall in 2013 a hacker gained access to eas equipment and various broadcast stations across the country. We conducted an investigation and asked Advisory Committee to come up with best practices the participants could use to make their equipment more secure. In addition to which the fcc has developed best practices for all the communication sectors to address Security Risk management specifically the missed framework. Theres no guarantee they will be adopted. We have taken steps to strongly encourage communication Service Providers to implement those best practices. We also work with industry organizations for example, nab has done a lot to encourages members to implement those. Right, but were still at the stage for encouragement and not mandating. Correct. Thank you, i appreciate the conversation today. Thank you senator. I wanted think the chair in the Ranking Member for today syria. I also think are witnesses. As a graduate of the university of hawaii, go rainbows, no one else. Not even you. Recent false alarm is a fascinating case because on one hand it worked how it was supposed to. The execution actually words as it was designed. A message was sent and effectively communicated to the targeted population. On the other hand, it was sent in aaron terrified the entire state. I landed in south korea when it popped up on my phone so, it the situation really expose some gaps in the training process and ergonomics of the software. It seems to me the questions raised in the gap focus more on alerting authorities in the fcc and the alerting disseminators. Would you agree with that . Yes, i would. The broadcast infrastructure worked. The transmission worked. The message to get out. Unfortunately it was a mistake and i think as it requires us all, in particular on the fema side to revisit who can generate an alert and how its generated. But as it relates to the dissemination transmission as you stated, that piece worked as designed. On the wireless side the alert was delivered as intended. One of the key focuses is making sharia public trust and confidence. We can certainly say we have that on the delivery side. I understand your focus is to make sure it extends across the entire system. But it performed well. I want to contrast that was something my colleague talked about, the recent warning in alaska thats more of an appropriate test case where an alert was sent to residents, many in the danger zone but a lot of folks who are outside of the danger zone and do not need to be alerted it exposes the potential gap in the alert system in large rule environments. In illinois have chicago and then large rule communities. So in anchorage residents received an alert at 12 36 a. M. Even though they were not in the danger zone. I can appreciate erring on the side of caution. This seems like many sense of boundaries and it should play a role which rush on this but has fcc done any after action analysis of the tsunami were me to determine the effectiveness . Were in the process of looking into it. To know how long that will take . I cant give a timeline but but we move very carefully next viciously. What can you tell us about you targeting technology . Where the gaps where should industry in the fcc and congress focus our attention. Was that a problem with someone who might have the gps turned off on the phone . Thank you i think you made in prime point. This is why think about alerts tried to target folks who are in danger their two components. One implement now taken advantage of greater capabilities to go below the cant county level so they can draw the geographic region they want to make them and not take advice advantage of not just the network. Theyre turning the features like location is important. You take advantage of that Location Information a comforting piece of information is that if its turned off still receive the message. Its not as if you would not see receive that in that circumstance. Thank you for being here. Thank you for your written testimony. Page nine you talk about the hawaii amateur Radio Operators during the recent false alarm. How were these operators able to disseminate a cancellation notice before others were able to do so . Can you explain how they were able to provide that notice before others . I first thank you for your support of amateur radio. Thank you. I point out that senator blumenthal is a cosponsor of the and i appreciate his bipartisan support for this. As mentioned earlier ironically, amateur radio members in hawaii had just been drilling 20 hours before the false alarm. Everything was fresh on their minds. Because they were able to work outside the local infrastructure to get word out through various about the false alarm. That was within 13 minutes after the initial alarm. They were picking up information from sources including a coast guard vessel was just outside the area. Because they were able to disseminate that information freely within the 13 minutes they could get that word out right away. Whereas there is confusion as well because they were taught to listen to a certain type of sire that never came. So they were dependent upon information theyre getting from the community itself. Okay let me then switch to katrina. Why, in situations like Hurricane Katrina are the amateur radios so much more resilient and able to be there is a backup to the more wellknown forms . First, were not dependent on the structure top rate. Power goes down, we can use generators and solar power batteries, what have you. Because we understand how radio works we can adapt quickly wears most First Responders are using technology that they really cant adapt to, given the situation because they dont have a basic understanding. They can walk into a situation, take dose of the surroundings of the move along the lines quickly. The big thing is that when all is fails were able to provide Emergency Communications is required. So, things are okay, but why is the new legislation so important . What would it give us that we dont have . Amateur radio is unique that we are throughout the entire country. Well have amateur Radio Operators both within and outside a disaster area. That gives us a unique probability to disseminate information within a disaster zone that others dont have. The fact that were not dependent upon the infrastructure gives us the ability to work outside of it. For instance, during sandy, can tell from my accident, from brooklyn. We had devastation throughout the coast going out to long island. The flooding was so severe you people stuck in their homes waiting for help. We had Radio Operators who were inside the flood zone were able to send messages to First Responders outside the flood zone as to where people needed help. Its is important to know where you need help and we dont need help see dont Waste Resources you have see dont want to send a First Responder to the wrong address when theres nobody there to say. Northern that it is that dissemination of resource that is a strong point for us. Thank you. Anything else . I think we have covered the subject today. With the folks that are here. There are some folks are not here who could shed light on some of the other aspects of the process works. Its clear to me that we need to make some changes with respect to the kind of alert that was issued in way if its a Nuclear Attack, the chain that alert system needs to be modified to reflect the seriousness of the threat, not that anyone serious but this is a very different sort of threat. Thank you for the work that your organizations to an alert in the public and i encourage you to continue to work to develop and find processes and technology so we can become even better. Hopefully more efficient seen that people have the notifications they need in the face of disasters. Thank you, will keep the record open for members would like to submit questions for the rec for a couple of weeks. Ask witnesses assessing can to get responses and preferably within a couple weeks. We appreciate you being here today. This hearing is now adjourned. [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] will hopefully build get payment some of the other folks were unable to be here today at that hearing. We will drill down to figure out what needs to be fixed and how to do that. Were still discussing and trying to figure out what we can do to maximize the opportunity for members to attend. Getting to why means it has to be over one of the congressional work breaks. Well figure it out let you know when that is. You heard the senator talk about tsunami alerts. Theres other Alert Systems that in hawaii. Yes, in this case my understanding is that fema through this system can delegate out in this case it was to a state agency, some of the responsibility for the alert. Then whether or not that process needs to be modified is something well take a look at. Clearly in the event of a Nuclear Attack as president ial and i think what senator shots is attempting to get out. We definitely need to figure out how we need to keep what happened from happening again. They were trying to put the pieces together. Would that be under the jurisdiction of your committee . Probably not. So you and have a market then . Probably not elicit has fcc components that it would come under our jurisdiction. Well take a look at that. And see if there are other things as we take in consideration what we heard today the subsequent field hearing and see if there are other things that we can do to refine make the system work better and avoid what i think was a very potentially catastrophic situation. If nothing else, certainly embarrassing situation. When you talk about best practices may be might have a piece of it. And its true. Thats what we need to question today. Clearly the fcc doesnt have the authority to do that so wed have to take a look at that. Thank you for being here. [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] where you from . Described the moment as a bizarre moment. It was a surprise when you call me over. But hes the president and youre in the oval office so he says who are you, come over he here, you dont really have an option. Sunday night a q a, former washington correspondent katrina. Talks about covering President Trump during and after the 2016 president ial election, in her book, and america. Drain the swamp three words is incredibly provocave