[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3444 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 3444
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to improve the accessibility of
9-8-8, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 7, 2023
Mr. Padilla (for himself, Mr. Tillis, and Ms. Klobuchar) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
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) 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 the 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, or any successor regulation.
(b) Proximity-Based Routing.--
(1) In general.--The Commission shall--
(A) not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, initiate the rulemaking process
for regulations to ensure that each phone call and text
message made or sent to 9-8-8 is routed to a
participating crisis center that is near the geographic
area from which the phone call or text message
originated; and
(B) not later than 180 days after initiating the
rulemaking process under subparagraph (A), issue final
regulations.
(2) Privacy protections.--In promulgating regulations under
paragraph (1), the Commission shall--
(A) protect the privacy of individuals who contact
9-8-8 by ensuring that a phone call or text message
made or sent to 9-8-8 does not reveal the precise
location of the individual who made or sent the phone
call, text message, or chat; and
(B) ensure that the geographic location used to
route the 9-8-8 call or text message is accurate enough
to determine the proper participating crisis center
without revealing the precise location of the
individual who made or sent the phone call or text
message.
(c) Transmission of All Calls and Texts.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 270 days after the date of
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 the call or text message
originates on a phone using a compliant radio frequency
protocol of the provider).
(2) Implementation.--A provider of commercial mobile
service shall comply with the regulations promulgated under
paragraph (1) not later than 1 year after the date on which the
regulations are promulgated.
(d) 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 ``or 9-8-8''
after ``9-1-1''; and
(C) in subsection (b), by inserting ``or 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 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 enactment of
this Act, if the system is not able to be configured to
satisfy the requirements of the amendment, without an
improvement to the hardware or software of the system.
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