A House panel on Thursday marked-up three homeland security bills designed to modernize the national emergency alerting system, strengthen the use of social media in disaster response, and to bolster interoperable communications capabilities among components of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The bills were introduced with bipartisan support and were approved unanimously by voice vote by the House Homeland Security Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Communications Subcommittee for consideration by the full committee. 
The Integrated Public Alert and Warning System Modernization Act of 2013 (H.R. 3283), which was approved by the committee last year and re-introduced by Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.), would update, modernize and implement the national integrated public alert and warning system (IPAWS). The bill would also establish an advisory committee to make recommendations regarding the IPAWS.
The Social Media Working Group Act of 2014 (H.R. 4263), offered by Rep. Susan Brooks (R-Ind.), the subcommittee chairman, calls for DHS to establish a social media working group to provide guidance and best practices to the emergency preparedness and response communities on the use of social media before, during and after emergencies. The working group would be chaired by the under secretary for Science and Technology within DHS.
The Department of Homeland Security Interoperable Communications Act (H.R. 4289), introduced by Rep. Donald Payne (D-N.J.), the ranking member on the subcommittee, requires the under secretary of Management to develop a strategy for achieving and maintaining interoperable communications among all the agencies within the department. The strategy would include an assessment of existing interoperability gaps in radio communications among the components and the challenges in achieving interoperability.