Federal Agency Roles and Responsibilities for Emergency Communications Need Clarification

GAO reviewed the June 1979 report of the Interagency Committee on Search and Rescue which proposed a national Emergency Response Communications Program to determine the Federal agencies' and offices' responsibilities for emergency communications and determine plans for following up on the report findings. The Committee envisioned a satellite system which would provide voice, data, and video coverage to mobile and fixed station users in all 50 States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Because the satellite system envisioned is beyond state-of-the-art technology, it will require substantial research and development effort.