II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3482 

To establish a multi-stakeholder advisory committee tasked with providing 

detailed recommendations to address challenges to transmitting 

geolocation information with calls to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 13, 2023 

Mr. BARRASSO (for himself and Mr. LUJA ́N) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To establish a multi-stakeholder advisory committee tasked 

with providing detailed recommendations to address challenges to transmitting geolocation information with calls 

to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, and for other 

purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘988 Lifeline Location 

5 Improvement Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

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1 (1) 911 SYSTEM SERVICE PROVIDER.—The 

2 term ‘‘911 system service provider’’ has the meaning 

3 given the term ‘‘covered 911 service provider’’ in 

4 section 9.19(a)(4)(i) of title 47, Code of Federal 

5 Regulations, or any successor regulation. 

6 (2) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON7 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con8 gress’’ means— 

9 (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

10 and Transportation of the Senate; 

11 (B) the Committee on Health, Education, 

12 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate; and 

13 (C) the Committee on Energy and Com14 merce of the House of Representatives. 

15 (3) COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘committee’’ 

16 means the advisory committee established under sec17 tion 3. 

18 (4) COMMUNITY BASED MENTAL HEALTH ORGA19 NIZATION.—The term ‘‘community based mental 

20 health organization’’ means an organization that 

21 serves individuals with mental health conditions and 

22 the families of those individuals in a community set23 ting. 

24 (5) DISPATCHABLE LOCATION.—The term 

25 ‘‘dispatchable location’’ has the meaning given that 

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1 term in section 9.3 of title 47, Code of Federal Reg2 ulations, or any successor regulation. 

3 (6) HANDSET MANUFACTURER.—The term 

4 ‘‘handset manufacturer’’ means a manufacturer of 

5 cellular phones. 

6 (7) LOCAL CRISIS CENTER.—The term ‘‘local 

7 crisis center’’ means a call center intended to receive 

8 calls from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline and 

9 the Veterans Crisis Line. 

10 (8) LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘local 

11 government’’ means the government of any political 

12 subdivision of a State. 

13 (9) LOW POPULATION STATE.—The term ‘‘low 

14 population State’’ means a State that has no urban15 ized areas with a population greater than 250,000, 

16 as reported in the decennial census. 

17 (10) MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES ORGANIZA18 TION.—The term ‘‘mental health services organiza19 tion’’ means an organization or association that rep20 resents providers of mental health crisis services or 

21 crisis respite services. 

22 (11) PUBLIC SAFETY ANSWERING POINT.—The 

23 term ‘‘public safety answering point’’ has the mean24 ing given that term in section 9.3 of title 47, Code 

25 of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation. 

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1 (12) TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE PRO2 VIDER.—The term ‘‘telecommunications service pro3 vider’’ has the meaning given that term in section 

4 52.5(e) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or 

5 any successor regulation. 

6 (13) SMALL AND RURAL COMMUNITIES.—The 

7 term ‘‘small and rural communities’’ means a 

8 noncore area, a micropolitan area, or a small metro9 politan statistical area with a population of not more 

10 than 250,000, as reported in the decennial census. 

11 (14) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any of 

12 the several States of the United States, the District 

13 of Columbia, and any territory or possession of the 

14 United States. 

15 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMITTEE. 

16 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 

17 the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Commu18 nications Commission, in coordination with the Secretary 

19 of Health and Human Services, shall establish an advisory 

20 committee to provide recommendations to address chal21 lenges to transmitting geolocation information with calls 

22 to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. 

23 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

24 (1) COMPOSITION.— 

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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The committee shall be 

2 composed of 14 members, to be appointed in 

3 accordance with subparagraphs (B) and (C). 

4 (B) APPOINTMENTS BY FEDERAL COMMU5 NICATIONS COMMISSION.—Of the 14 members 

6 of the committee appointed under this para7 graph, the Federal Communications Commis8 sion shall appoint— 

9 (i) 1 member from a telecommuni10 cations service provider or an organization 

11 that represents telecommunications service 

12 providers; 

13 (ii) 1 member from a handset manu14 facturer or an organization that represents 

15 handset manufacturers; 

16 (iii) 1 member from a public safety 

17 answering point or an organization that 

18 represents public safety answering points; 

19 (iv) 1 member from a 911 system 

20 service provider or an organization that 

21 represents 911 system service providers; 

22 (v) 2 members from a State govern23 ment, with at least 1 member representing 

24 a low population State; and 

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1 (vi) 2 members from a local govern2 ment, with at least 1 member representing 

3 small and rural communities. 

4 (C) APPOINTMENTS BY THE SECRETARY

5 OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES.—Of the 14 

6 members of the committee appointed under this 

7 paragraph, the Secretary of Health and Human 

8 Services shall appoint— 

9 (i) 1 member from the 988 Suicide 

10 and Crisis Lifeline; 

11 (ii) 1 member from a local crisis cen12 ter or an organization that represents local 

13 crisis centers; 

14 (iii) 1 member from the Veterans Cri15 sis Line; 

16 (iv) 1 member from the Substance 

17 Abuse and Mental Health Services Admin18 istration; 

19 (v) 1 member from a mental health 

20 services organization; and 

21 (vi) 1 member from a community 

22 based mental health organization. 

23 (2) DATE.—The appointments of the members 

24 of the committee shall be made not later than 30 

25 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 

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1 (c) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT; VACANCIES.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—A member of the committee 

3 shall be appointed for the life of the committee. 

4 (2) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the committee— 

5 (A) shall not affect the powers of the com6 mittee; and 

7 (B) shall be filled in the same manner as 

8 the original appointment. 

9 (d) MEETINGS.— 

10 (1) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 30 days 

11 after the date on which all members of the com12 mittee have been appointed, the committee shall hold 

13 the first meeting of the committee. 

14 (2) FREQUENCY.—The committee shall meet at 

15 the call of the Chairperson. 

16 (3) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of 

17 the committee shall constitute a quorum, but a less18 er number of members may hold hearings. 

19 (e) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIRPERSON.—The 

20 committee shall select a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson 

21 from among the members of the committee. 

22 SEC. 4. DUTIES OF COMMITTEE. 

23 (a) STUDY.—The committee shall conduct a study 

24 on— 

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1 (1) policy considerations regarding consumer 

2 privacy and legal authority with respect to man3 dating transmission of location information, includ4 ing dispatchable location information, with calls to 

5 the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline; 

6 (2) technical implementation standards for serv7 ice providers, 911 system service providers, public 

8 safety answering points, and local crisis centers; and 

9 (3) potential recovery of costs or additional 

10 funding requirements for service providers, the 988 

11 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, the Veterans Crisis Line, 

12 and local crisis centers. 

13 (b) RECOMMENDATIONS.—Based on the results of 

14 the study conducted under subsection (a), the committee 

15 shall develop recommendations on potential legislation 

16 that would address challenges relating to the inclusion of 

17 location information, including dispatchable location infor18 mation, with calls to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. 

19 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

20 of enactment of this Act, the committee shall submit to 

21 appropriate committees of Congress and the Federal Com22 munications Commission a report that contains a detailed 

23 statement of the findings and conclusions of the com24 mittee, together with the recommendations of the comVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:49 Dec 28, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3482.IS S3482
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1 mittee for such legislation and administrative actions as 

2 the committee considers appropriate. 

3 SEC. 5. POWERS OF COMMITTEE. 

4 (a) HEARINGS.—The committee may hold such hear5 ings, sit and act at such times and places, take such testi6 mony, and receive such evidence as the committee con7 siders advisable to carry out this Act. 

8 (b) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The committee may secure 

10 directly from a Federal department or agency such 

11 information as the committee considers necessary to 

12 carry out this Act. 

13 (2) FURNISHING INFORMATION.—On request of 

14 the Chairperson of the committee, the head of the 

15 department or agency shall furnish the information 

16 to the committee. 

17 (c) POSTAL SERVICES.—The committee may use the 

18 United States mails in the same manner and under the 

19 same conditions as other departments and agencies of the 

20 Federal Government. 

21 (d) GIFTS.—The committee may accept, use, and dis22 pose of gifts or donations of services or property. 

23 SEC. 6. COMMITTEE PERSONNEL MATTERS. 

24 (a) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—A member of the com25 mittee shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem 

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1 in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for employees 

2 of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, 

3 United States Code, while away from their homes or reg4 ular places of business in the performance of services for 

5 the committee. 

6 (b) STAFF.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Chairperson of the com8 mittee may, without regard to the civil service laws 

9 (including regulations), appoint and terminate an ex10 ecutive director and such other additional personnel 

11 as may be necessary to enable the committee to per12 form its duties, except that the employment of an 

13 executive director shall be subject to confirmation by 

14 the committee. 

15 (2) COMPENSATION.—The Chairperson of the 

16 committee may fix the compensation of the executive 

17 director and other personnel without regard to chap18 ter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, 

19 United States Code, relating to classification of posi20 tions and General Schedule pay rates, except that 

21 the rate of pay for the executive director and other 

22 personnel may not exceed the rate payable for level 

23 V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of 

24 that title. 

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1 (c) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—A Fed2 eral Government employee may be detailed to the com3 mittee without reimbursement, and such detail shall be 

4 without interruption or loss of civil service status or privi5 lege. 

6 (d) PROCUREMENT OF TEMPORARY AND INTERMIT7 TENT SERVICES.—The Chairperson of the committee may 

8 procure temporary and intermittent services under section 

9 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code, at rates for individ10 uals that do not exceed the daily equivalent of the annual 

11 rate of basic pay prescribed for level V of the Executive 

12 Schedule under section 5316 of that title. 

13 SEC. 7. TERMINATION OF COMMITTEE. 

14 The committee shall terminate 30 days after the date 

15 on which the committee submits the report required under 

16 section 4(c) of this Act. 

17 SEC. 8. FUNDING. 

18 This Act shall be carried out using amounts otherwise 

19 appropriated, and no additional amounts are authorized 

20 to be appropriated to carry out this Act. 

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