II 

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. 

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 ‘‘Local 9–8–8 Response 

5 Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. 9–8–8 IMPROVEMENT. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 (1) 9–8–8.—The term ‘‘9–8–8’’ means 9–8–8, 

9 as designated as the universal telephone number 

10 within the United States for the purpose of the naVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:02 Dec 16, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3444.IS S3444

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1 tional suicide prevention and mental health crisis 

2 hotline system under section 251(e)(4) of the Com3 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 251(e)(4)). 

4 (2) COMMERCIAL MOBILE SERVICE.—The term 

5 ‘‘commercial mobile service’’ has the meaning given 

6 the term in section 332(d) of the Communications 

7 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 332(d)). 

8 (3) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

9 means the Federal Communications Commission. 

10 (4) NON-SERVICE-INITIALIZED HANDSET.—The 

11 term ‘‘non-service-initialized handset’’ has the mean12 ing given that term in section 9.10(o)(3)(i) of title 

13 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor 

14 regulation. 

15 (b) PROXIMITY-BASED ROUTING.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall— 

17 (A) not later than 1 year after the date of 

18 enactment of this Act, initiate the rulemaking 

19 process for regulations to ensure that each 

20 phone call and text message made or sent to 9– 

21 8–8 is routed to a participating crisis center 

22 that is near the geographic area from which the 

23 phone call or text message originated; and 


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1 (B) not later than 180 days after initiating 

2 the rulemaking process under subparagraph 

3 (A), issue final regulations. 

4 (2) PRIVACY PROTECTIONS.—In promulgating 

5 regulations under paragraph (1), the Commission 

6 shall— 

7 (A) protect the privacy of individuals who 

8 contact 9–8–8 by ensuring that a phone call or 

9 text message made or sent to 9–8–8 does not 

10 reveal the precise location of the individual who 

11 made or sent the phone call, text message, or 

12 chat; and 

13 (B) ensure that the geographic location 

14 used to route the 9-8-8 call or text message is 

15 accurate enough to determine the proper par16 ticipating crisis center without revealing the 

17 precise location of the individual who made or 

18 sent the phone call or text message. 

19 (c) TRANSMISSION OF ALL CALLS AND TEXTS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 days 

21 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commis22 sion shall promulgate regulations to ensure that 

23 each provider of commercial mobile service transmits 

24 all calls and text messages made or sent to 9–8–8, 

25 including a call or text message that originates from 


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1 a non-service-initialized handset (if the call or text 

2 message originates on a phone using a compliant 

3 radio frequency protocol of the provider). 

4 (2) IMPLEMENTATION.—A provider of commer5 cial mobile service shall comply with the regulations 

6 promulgated under paragraph (1) not later than 1 

7 year after the date on which the regulations are pro8 mulgated. 

9 (d) CONFIGURATION OF MULTI-LINE TELEPHONE

10 SYSTEMS FOR DIRECT DIALING.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 721 of the Commu12 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 623) is amended— 

13 (A) in the section heading, by inserting 

14 ‘‘AND 9–8–8’’ after ‘‘9–1–1’’; 

15 (B) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘or 9– 

16 8–8’’ after ‘‘9–1–1’’; and 

17 (C) in subsection (b), by inserting ‘‘or 9– 

18 8–8’’ after ‘‘9–1–1’’. 

19 (2) APPLICABILITY.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made 

21 by paragraph (1) shall apply to actions occur22 ring on and after the date that is 2 years after 

23 the date of enactment of this Act. 

24 (B) EXCEPTION.—The amendment made 

25 by paragraph (1)(C) shall not apply to the 


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1 management or operation of a multi-line tele2 phone system installed before the date that is 2 

3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, 

4 if the system is not able to be configured to sat5 isfy the requirements of the amendment, with6 out an improvement to the hardware or soft7 ware of the system. 

Æ 


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