I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2250

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Secretary of 

Homeland Security to develop and implement the READICall emergency 

alert system. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 22, 2003

Mr. MEEK of Florida (for himself, Mr. TURNER of Texas, Mr. THOMPSON of 

Mississippi, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. REYES, Mrs. LOWEY, Ms. NORTON, 

and Ms. LEE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Select Committee on Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently determined 

by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 

within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct 

the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop and implement the READICall emergency alert system.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. READICALL EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title V of the Homeland Security 

5 Act of 2002 (Public Law 107–296; 6 U.S.C. 311 et seq.) 

6 is amended by adding at the end the following: 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 510. READICALL EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—As soon as is practicable, but not 

3 later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this 

4 section, the Secretary, working in coordination with appro5 priate Federal agencies, State, and local domestic security 

6 agencies, and national private sector networks and infra7 structure, shall develop and implement an emergency tele8 phonic alert notification system which shall be known as 

9 the Responsive Emergency Alert and Dissemination of In10 formation Call System or READICall System. 

11 ‘‘(b) FUNCTIONS.—The System shall be designed—

12 ‘‘(1) to alert persons in the United States of 

13 imminent or current hazardous events caused by 

14 acts of terrorism and other man-made disasters; and 

15 ‘‘(2) to provide information to individuals re16 garding appropriate measures that may be under17 taken to alleviate or minimize threats to their safety 

18 and welfare posed by such events. 

19 ‘‘(c) COORDINATION AND COLLABORATION.—In im20 plementing this section, the Secretary shall—

21 ‘‘(1) to the maximum extent possible, make use 

22 of national private sector networks, technology, per23 sonnel, and infrastructure to develop and implement 

24 the System; 

25 ‘‘(2) develop coordinated infrastructure for the 

26 System, in collaboration with the Assistant Secretary 
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1 of Commerce for Communications and Information, 

2 the national teleservices industry, and other Federal, 

3 State, and local governmental agencies as may be 

4 necessary, that—

5 ‘‘(A) uses the full range of available 

6 telecomunications technology; and 

7 ‘‘(B) will be able to—

8 ‘‘(i) provide immediate notification 

9 and warning upon approval by the Sec10 retary, via telephone to all telephone sub11 scribers within the United States and its 

12 territories in the event of an emergent na13 tional crisis resulting from a terrorist act 

14 or acts; 

15 ‘‘(ii) target specific regions, commu16 nities, neighborhoods, or locations of emer17 gent local crises and provide notification 

18 and warning to just the affected areas if 

19 appropriate; 

20 ‘‘(iii) to the extent possible, provide 

21 for a distinct ring so that telephone sub22 scribers are immediately aware of the 

23 emergency nature of the call; and 

24 ‘‘(iv) disseminate necessary informa25 tion to a telephone subscriber related to 
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1 the emergency situation and appropriate 

2 courses of action to take; and 

3 ‘‘(3) in developing the System, undertake a col4 laborative effort between the Department and other 

5 Federal agencies, State, and local domestic security 

6 agencies, and organizations of first responders, so 

7 that—

8 ‘‘(A) the System will allow for necessary 

9 interoperability between different sources of ter10 rorist threat information; 

11 ‘‘(B) the System will allow for the imme12 diate dissemination of information both laterally 

13 and horizontally, such that information can be 

14 provided from all levels of governmental 

15 sources; and 

16 ‘‘(C) appropriate standards, protocols, pro17 cedures, and terminology are determined to 

18 minimize inconsistencies and miscommunication 

19 with intelligence information, including appro20 priate definitions for situations that would con21 stitute a threat for which the System would be 

22 used. 

23 ‘‘(d) AUTHORITIES.—The Secretary may conduct re24 search and pilot programs as may be necessary to deter25 mine and improve the effectiveness of the System.
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1 ‘‘(e) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall 

2 submit a report to the Congress on the status of the Sys3 tem—

4 ‘‘(1) by not later than 6 months after the date 

5 of enactment of this Act; and 

6 ‘‘(2) yearly thereafter. 

7 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 ‘‘(1) SYSTEM.—The term ‘System’ means the 

9 Responsive Emergency Alert and Dissemination of 

10 Information Call System or READICall System es11 tablished under this section. 

12 ‘‘(2) TELEPHONE SUBSCRIBER.—The term 

13 ‘telephone subscriber’ means any residents of the 

14 United States (including territories of the United 

15 States) who receives telephone service via a tradi16 tional residential telephone, business telephone, or 

17 wireless telephone.’’. 

18 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

19 in section 1(b) of such Act is amended by inserting after 

20 the item relating to section 509 the following:

‘‘Sec. 510. READICall emergency alert system.’’.

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