Social Media Working Group Act of 2015
Floor Speech
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Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I congratulate and commend Mrs. Brooks of Indiana and
Mr. Payne of New Jersey for sponsoring the Social Media Working Group
Act of 2013 which addresses an emerging and important topic in
emergency management.
More and more, we are seeing social media, especially Twitter,
Facebook, and YouTube, playing a critical role in the preparedness,
response, and recovery operations in emergency situations.
In the past few years, social media has become a valuable tool that
has been used by emergency managers at all levels to warn those in
harm's way of impending natural disasters. I might add that the same
could occur in terrorist disasters.
Moreover, it has been used to inform survivors of how to access
disaster assistance and tips for speedier recovery. Equally important,
social media has been used to coordinate and manage assistance from
nonprofits and volunteers who want to help in recovery efforts.
It is not just emergency managers who use social media regarding
emergencies. Individuals have used social media to help identify
locations where assistance may still be needed and to raise awareness
of impending hazards. They have used it to communicate with loved ones
who may be impacted by an event, as well as to reconnect pets with
their owners.
It was no different here in the District of Columbia, Mr. Speaker,
after 9/11, and I refer to the earthquake centered in Mineral, Virginia, but
certainly felt in every part of the Nation's Capital.
Because cellphone service was jammed, residents turned to social
media to communicate. Within minutes of that earthquake, Twitter noted
that over 40,000 earthquake-related tweets were sent about the
occurrence.
Facebook noted 3 million mentions related to the earthquake.
In 2010, the Department of Homeland Security established the Virtual
Social Media Working Group to provide recommendations on how to use
social media before, during, and after emergencies. The existing
working group consists of emergency responders, nonprofit
organizations, and Federal agencies.
H.R. 623 would codify the working group to make certain that their
good work continues. To allow for broader representation, the bill
expands the working group membership to include the private sectors and
requires consultation with nonmembers. To ensure accountability, the
bill requires an annual report to Congress on important issues such as
best practices and lessons learned. It would also provide
recommendations on various issues, including how to improve the use of
social media for emergency management purposes.
This is a very timely bill, Mr. Speaker. It will assist in informing
the public of critical emergency information which may well save lives
and reduce injuries. I strongly urge my colleagues to support this
bill.
I reserve the balance of my time.
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Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, as I was coming to the floor, I tweeted and Facebooked
that I would be on the floor managing this bill. We are used to
Tweeting and Facebooking our every movement, usually for fun--and yes,
even to come on the floor.
I will be very interested to know whether, after we had the tragic
accident last month in our Metro system when we lost one life--and we
know for sure communication between the District of Columbia fire,
emergency, and Metro was informed--I will be very interested to know
whether Facebook, Twitter, and other forms of social media were
helpful. I cannot believe they were not.
We all think of social media for social fun. What is important about
the bill that my two colleagues, Representative Brooks and
Representative Payne, have brought to us is, of course, that it shows a
very essential use.
Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman
from New Jersey (Mr. Payne), a cosponsor of the bill.
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Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the sponsor and cosponsor
once again on this vital and valuable bill.
As we see the kinds of, really, unheard of events we are
experiencing, it seems to us often that phones and cell phones are so
20th century. Twitter and Facebook are the functional equivalent for
many Americans of 911. So today on this floor, I think we are resolved
that social media are, to be sure, often about fun and games, but they
may also be about life and death.
I am pleased to support this bill and ask Members for its support
here in the House.
I yield back the balance of my time.
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