Senators issued satellite phones, offered demos on upgraded security devices

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/senators-issued-satellite-phones-new-security-measures/

by gumby • 3 years ago

61 63 3 years ago

Natsu2• 3 years ago

It says "over 50" but... why not 100? Is there some reason any senator should be without one if there's a worry? I'm pretty sure we can afford a few more phones.

kevinventullo• 3 years ago

From the second paragraph of the article: “The satellite phone technology has been offered to all 100 senators. CBS News has learned at least 50 have accepted the phones…”

Natsu2• 3 years ago

Thanks, I missed that because I saw several previous versions of this story that left that out.

Mountain_Skies• 3 years ago

Makes me wonder if CBS News asked how many accepted the phones and were told "the majority did" with no specific number given.

0cf8612b2e1e• 3 years ago

Given our geriatric government, I could believe many of them do not regularly use phones. As of 2015, Senator Lindsey Graham claimed to have never sent an email [0].

[0] https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/lindsey-graham-ive-ne...

Edit: median Senator age is 65 https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/aging-congress-boomers/

SoftTalker2• 3 years ago

If I could change one thing about federal office eligibility it would be to add a mandatory retirement age of 65. That would go for elected office as well as agency and judicial appointments. There are too many old people set in their ways at the highest levels of governent who need to get out of the way. And I say that as someone who's less than a decade away from that age himself.

NoZebra120vClip• 3 years ago

It's one thing to accept a device as an emergency backup, and it's another thing to know whether the device and its user will be ready when that emergency comes. Will the firmware be updated? Will the user be familiar with its operation? Will it be incorporated into regular drills and practice scenarios?

wildzzz• 3 years ago

Graham has been office since before email became ubiquitous. He's always had an aide to handle that for him.

CPLX• 3 years ago

Another thing to know is that members of congress lie. Routinely, about matters big and small, for fun, for no reason, for personal gain, for amusement value, sometimes more then once in the same sentence.

Members of congress who tell you they have never used email are lying. It's a nice thing to be able to say when someone asks them to produce email records.

There's not a single one that doesn't have powerboy775X@gmail.com or whatever for when they need it, and I'm willing to bet on that.

Except for maybe Feinstein. I'm not convinced she's aware of the internal combustion engine at this point.

rapjr9• 3 years ago

Gibson said the phones are a security backstop in the case of an emergency that "takes out communications" in part of America.

Ummm, what about the rest of us? Large scale emergency preparations in the USA fell to the wayside long ago. Maybe the new satellite messaging features just starting to roll out would help, although I doubt they have been tested at scale with tens of millions of people trying to use them at the same time.

poorUs• 3 years ago

What do you mean what about us? We got what we wanted; tech jobs, new phones each year, all the anime, Marvel, and Star Wars content we can stomach!

If the public wanted security and sustainability it should have acted less like a drunk in a whore house.

LinuxBender6• 3 years ago

If cost isn't an issue there are existing commercial satellite phones and phone services that have been around for quite some time see Iridium, Inmarsat, GlobalStar. Or if you want a middle-of-the-road option so to speak there is Garmin InReach service that would allow texting via the Iridium satellite network.

In this case the officials are being issued phones. Some companies issue phones to employees. If your job is critical during a catastrophic event then your company should issue you a satellite phone. Perhaps corporations could get bulk discounts. Each neighborhood's CERT team should maybe invest in at least one phone to text others.

Of course if they are planning for a full scale nuclear exchange then those options may be useless when the different layers of the atmosphere are charged. HAM radio operators or even CB radios may be more useful for local communications. Long distance would require a courier and a lot of bottle caps. I have no idea what they are actually planning for. Perhaps EMP floated in on a few balloons that takes out power continent wide? Overload of the power grid? [1] Halting all petroleum imports and re-shuffling the locally produced fuel transport networks? Go 100% green in 2024?

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36097173

mikem1705• 3 years ago

I have no idea what they are actually planning for.

The article said:

The devices are part of a series of new security measures being offered to senators by the Senate Sergeant at Arms, who took over shortly after the assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

I assume they figure that the next insurrection may involve the loss of cellular communications, which is reasonable to expect from a decent coup attempt. The authorities might plan on jamming cell phones themselves, want to deprive the insurgents that communication channel.

rightbyte• 3 years ago

I got a feeling satellite phones wont help them, unless they prepare for getting lost on a hike to some forest.

Like, who are you going to call. Their phones are not working either.

fragmede• 3 years ago

I suspect the US Army has a satellite phone or two, and I bet senators have the phone numbers of a general or two.

perardi• 3 years ago

Well, you better be ready to pay up. Which is the inherent problem here.

Creating a robust, well-tested emergency satellite comms system that nobody uses day to day costs a lot of money to develop and maintain…and nobody wants to pay for that.

toomuchtodo• 3 years ago

A 300 min annual prepaid plan with Iridium, retail rate, is ~$1400/year. Assuming no government discounts, you're looking at probably less than $2M-$3M in phone costs for 535 members of Congress and first year service, with <$2M/year service upkeep.

I assume it would be relatively straightforward to onboard another part of government assuming existing awards, based on my experience with US government contracting.

https://www.usaspending.gov/recipient/586ca912-a43c-d9a3-fbd...

sliken• 3 years ago

Get some FRS radio (walky talky type) in a bubble pack, maybe get a few extras for neighbors, and befriend your local ham. Talk to neighbors about emergency plans so you can coordinate helping the needy, tracking water/food deliveries, and making sure those in need get their meds. Cheap/disposable radioes are good enough for talking to local neighbors and the ham can handle communications across the state, country, or even world if necessary.

After all in many emergencies the people you want to talk are local and likely don't have a sat phone.

Most cities have radio nets where they go over emergency plans for whatever earthquake/storm/fire emergencies are relevant. Often they help out with local events like bike/horse/marathon races that go outside the bounds of cell reception.

i2cmaster3• 3 years ago

IMO: HAMs will likely be more helpful than these will. This is more of the result of professional confusion/processes etc.

hulitu• 3 years ago

Ummm, what about the rest of us?

You will have to fight for your country. / s

giantg2• 3 years ago

"Large scale emergency preparations in the USA fell to the wayside long ago."

Not really. The preparations have shifted a little. It seems the government doesn't want to really encourage individuals to prepare the same way it did during the cold War, and to a certain point many individuals wouldn't care to anyways. I'd imagine a lot of that is to increase the reliance in the government and limit the number of people who have the resources to radicalize.

The government still stockpiles emergency response medications and has plans to distribute them. FEMA has all sorts of resources including COWs (cell on wheels) for communication. But really, communications are secondary for ordinary citizens. You'll still have emergency services who can communicate, hams (including RACE), and stuff like that. They're more worried about food, water, shelter, meds, and order.

On the personal side, we can just look at early covid. People were freaking out and panick buying. It wasn't a big deal for my family. We were raised to have about 2-4 weeks worth of food on hand and just rotate your stock as you buy new stuff. Whether it's a pandemic, storm, production issue, or attack, it's pretty good advice. It can even help if you lose your income suddenly.

FridayoLeary• 3 years ago

So in the event of a communications blackout they will be able to continue obstructing the running of government.

i2cmaster3• 3 years ago

I'm on the "please obstruct it" side and thought this was funny.

Let's laugh together instead of silencing each other.

costco• 3 years ago

Is it possible to obtain phones like the Iridium 9575A or Sectera models as a non-government user? Seems like the non-secured versions are usually available but if encryption isn't really export controlled anymore I don't see why these phones aren't available to everyone.

Blackstrat3• 3 years ago

In the event of a widespread communications outage, I’m not too concerned about whether some senator can call his mistress. Just another waste of taxpayer dollars. They want satellite phones, cut spending elsewhere. This has little to do with Jan 6. It’s just another perk for our ruling class.

aaomidi2• 3 years ago

You don’t but our political system expects senators to be able to be around.

I think criticizing this needs to be mixed with criticizing the entire form of governance here

Blackstrat3• 3 years ago

It is not the form of government that is the issue. It's the corrupt dinosaurs that have for too long rigged elections in their favor and Congress today is hardly different from the old Soviet Politburo - a description given me by a friend that escaped the Soviet Union in the early 80s. Term limits would help since machine politics controls elections in most states.

neuronexmachina• 3 years ago

I think I'm missing something -- why would someone use a (presumably closely-monitored) government-issued satellite phone instead of a personal phone to call a mistress?

Blackstrat3• 3 years ago

Considering the frequency of trading stocks ahead of legislation, payola and other graft, I doubt too many are worried about word of a mistress getting out. It’s a badge of honor in DC

i2cmaster3• 3 years ago

A lot of important people where I work (something important you're probably using right now) were recently issued these as well.

Senators issued satellite phones, offered demos on upgraded security devices

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