Bill aims to prevent repeat of Hawaii false missile alert The U.S. Senate is expected to pass legislation to prevent the kind of false missile alert that triggered panic in Hawaii nearly two years agoHONOLULU -- A defense bill expected to be passed by the U.S. Senate on Tuesday seeks to prevent local government agencies from mistakenly warning residents of a ballistic missile attack the way Hawaii did nearly two years ago. U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz authored the measure after officials in his home state blasted cell phone and broadcast alerts warning a ballistic missile was heading toward the islands. “And we’re hopeful that this change in the law puts that chapter behind us for good.”Schatz said local officials aren’t the ones to know whether the country is at war. The House last week passed the bill, the National Defense Authorization Act, which includes the missile alert measure. The false alerts from the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency read “BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII.

Source: ABC News December 17, 2019 06:00 UTC