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TCS PROVIDES EXPERT SOURCE ON CONGRESSIONAL E-911 INITIATIVES URL(s): www.telecomsys.com What: A bill is being introduced this week requiring states to use funds earmarked for E911 exclusively for that purpose. Issue: Funds have been diverted to other purposes on the local level, significantly delaying the implementation of nationwide E911. Impact: Inconsistent national coverage; reduced homeland security effectiveness; lack of permission-based location identification capabilities in a increasingly mobile, increasingly uncertain society. Discussion: Should E911 be mandated like HIPAA in the healthcare industry? This week, Representatives Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and John Shimkus, R.-Ill., are scheduled to introduce a bill requiring states to use funds designated for wireless E911 efforts expressly for those efforts, preventing these funds from being diverted elsewhere. Wireless E911 funds have been used for almost everything but the provision of E911 service in some states. This bill is said to be aimed specifically at those states that have misused funds or failed to use the funds for the designated purposes. On Thursday, the National Emergency Numbering Association is to release the results of its Strategic Wireless Access Team's (SWAT) public policy recommendations on state implementation of E911. Further, a 'call to action' will be initiated on wireless E911 issues at the federal, state and local level. At the Thursday event, John Melcher, NENA President, and FCC Chairman Michael Powell will be present to join telecommunications industry executives.