[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4974 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4974
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to improve the accessibility of
9-8-8, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 27, 2023
Mr. Cardenas (for himself, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mrs. Napolitano, Ms.
Matsui, Ms. Kuster, and Mr. Moulton) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to improve the accessibility of
9-8-8, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Local 9-8-8 Response Act of 2023''.
SEC. 2. 9-8-8 IMPROVEMENT.
(a) Proximity-Based Routing.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall promulgate
regulations to ensure that each phone call, text message, and
chat made or sent to 9-8-8 is routed to the participating
crisis center that is closest to the geographic area from which
such phone call, text message, or chat originated.
(2) Limitation.--In promulgating regulations under
paragraph (1), the Commission shall protect the privacy of
individuals who contact 9-8-8 by ensuring that a call, text
message, or chat made or sent to 9-8-8 does not reveal the
precise location of the individual who made or sent such call,
text message, or chat.
(b) Transmission of All Calls and Texts.--Not later than 90 days
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall
promulgate regulations to ensure that each provider of commercial
mobile service transmits all calls and text messages made or sent to 9-
8-8, including a call or text message that originates from a non-
service-initialized handset (if such call or text message originates on
a phone using a compliant radio frequency protocol of the provider).
(c) Configuration of Multi-Line Telephone Systems for Direct
Dialing.--
(1) In general.--Section 721 of the Communications Act of
1934 (47 U.S.C. 623) is amended--
(A) in the section heading, by inserting ``and 9-8-
8'' after ``9-1-1'';
(B) in subsection (a), by inserting ``and 9-8-8''
after ``9-1-1''; and
(C) in subsection (b), by inserting ``and 9-8-8''
after ``9-1-1''.
(2) Applicability.--
(A) In general.--The amendments made by paragraph
(1) shall apply to actions occurring on and after the
date that is 2 years after the date of the enactment of
this Act.
(B) Exception.--The amendment made by paragraph
(1)(C) shall not apply to the management or operation
of a multi-line telephone system installed before the
date that is 2 years after the date of the enactment of
this Act, if such system is not able to be configured
to satisfy the requirements of such amendment, without
an improvement to the hardware or software of the
system.
(d) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) 9-8-8.--The term ``9-8-8'' means 9-8-8, as designated
as the universal telephone number within the United States for
the purpose of the national suicide prevention and mental
health crisis hotline system under section 251(e)(4) of the
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 251(e)(4)).
(2) Commercial mobile service.--The term ``commercial
mobile service'' has the meaning given such term in section
332(d) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 332(d)).
(3) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal
Communications Commission.
(4) Non-service-initialized handset.--The term ``non-
service-initialized handset'' has the meaning given that term
in section 9.10(o)(3)(i) of title 47, Code of Federal
Regulations.
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