II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3781 

To amend the National Telecommunications and Information Administration 

Organization Act to codify the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences, 

to direct the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and 

Information to establish an initiative to support the development of 

emergency communication and tracking technologies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 8 (legislative day, FEBRUARY 7), 2024 

Ms. DUCKWORTH (for herself and Mrs. BLACKBURN) introduced the following 

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

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To amend the National Telecommunications and Information 

Administration Organization Act to codify the Institute 

for Telecommunication Sciences, to direct the Assistant 

Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information to establish an initiative to support the development of emergency communication and tracking technologies, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Institute for Tele3 communication Sciences Codification Act’’ or the ‘‘ITS 

4 Codification Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. INSTITUTE FOR TELECOMMUNICATION SCIENCES. 

6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

7 (1) The test center within the National Tele8 communications and Information Administration 

9 (referred to in this subsection as the ‘‘NTIA’’) rep10 resents executive branch agencies on spectrum issues 

11 before the Federal Communications Commission. 

12 (2) Understanding radio frequency propagation 

13 characteristics and modeling is a critical component 

14 of making spectrum decisions. 

15 (3) Federal agencies rely on expert engineering 

16 studies, simulations, and analyses to make deter17 minations about how to make spectrum available for 

18 commercial use, including through system reloca19 tions and identifying spectrum sharing opportunities 

20 through the NTIA. 

21 (4) Clearing of Federal spectrum, when fea22 sible, is the priority action to take to make Federal 

23 spectrum available for commercial uses, as required 

24 by section 113(j)(1) of the National Telecommuni25 cations and Information Administration Organiza26 tion Act (47 U.S.C. 923(j)(1)). 


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1 (5) Sharing of Federal spectrum between Fed2 eral entities and commercial entities provides access 

3 to Federal spectrum for commercial uses in cir4 cumstances where clearing is not feasible. 

5 (6) The test center within the NTIA is the Fed6 eral Government’s premier expert laboratory for 

7 spectrum research activities, spectrum sharing inno8 vation and testing, spectrum interference studies, 

9 and all activities related to advancing next genera10 tion wireless technologies. 

11 (7) The test center within the NTIA is critical 

12 for undertaking engineering studies and analyses 

13 that inform clearing or sharing opportunities and fa14 cilitate policy decisions to maximize the efficient use 

15 of spectrum resources. 

16 (b) OPERATION OF TEST CENTER.—Part A of the 

17 National Telecommunications and Information Adminis18 tration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 901 et seq.) is 

19 amended by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 106. INSTITUTE FOR TELECOMMUNICATION 

21 SCIENCES. 

22 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

23 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

24 ‘Federal spectrum’ means frequencies assigned on a 


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1 primary basis to a Federal entity, as defined in sec2 tion 113(l). 

3 ‘‘(2) OPERATION.—Under the authority pro4 vided to the Assistant Secretary under section 103, 

5 the Assistant Secretary shall operate a test center to 

6 be known as the Institute for Telecommunication 

7 Sciences (referred to in this section as ‘ITS’). 

8 ‘‘(3) FUNCTIONS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any 

10 functions delegated by the Assistant Secretary 

11 under subparagraph (B), ITS shall serve as the 

12 primary laboratory for the executive branch of 

13 the Federal Government to— 

14 ‘‘(i) study radio frequency emissions, 

15 including technologies and techniques to 

16 control those emissions and interference 

17 caused by those emissions; 

18 ‘‘(ii) determine spectrum propagation 

19 characteristics; 

20 ‘‘(iii) conduct tests on technology that 

21 enhances the sharing of electromagnetic 

22 spectrum between Federal and non-Federal 

23 users; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) improve the interference toler2 ance of Federal systems operating with, or 

3 using, Federal spectrum; 

4 ‘‘(v) promote activities relating to ac5 cess to Federal spectrum by non-Federal 

6 users and the sharing of Federal spectrum 

7 between Federal and non-Federal users; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(vi) conduct such other activities de10 termined necessary by the Assistant Sec11 retary. 

12 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS.—The As13 sistant Secretary may delegate to ITS any of 

14 the functions assigned to the Assistant Sec15 retary under section 103(b)(1). 

16 ‘‘(4) AGREEMENTS AND TRANSACTIONS.—In 

17 carrying out the functions described in paragraph 

18 (3), the Assistant Secretary, acting through the head 

19 of ITS, may enter into agreements, as provided 

20 under the following authorities: 

21 ‘‘(A) Sections 11 and 12 of the Stevenson– 

22 Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 

23 U.S.C. 3710, 3710a). 

24 ‘‘(B) Section 1535 of title 31, United 

25 States Code. 


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1 ‘‘(C) Sections 207 and 209 of title 35, 

2 United States Code. 

3 ‘‘(D) Section 103(b)(2) of this Act. 

4 ‘‘(E) Section 113(g) of this Act. 

5 ‘‘(F) The first undesignated section of the 

6 Act entitled ‘An Act to authorize the Depart7 ment of Commerce to make special studies, to 

8 provide services, and to engage in joint projects, 

9 and for other purposes’, approved September 

10 25, 1970 (Public Law 91–412). 

11 ‘‘(G) As authorized in any other provision 

12 of Federal law. 

13 ‘‘(b) EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION AND TRACKING

14 TECHNOLOGIES INITIATIVE.— 

15 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Assistant Sec16 retary, acting through the head of ITS, shall estab17 lish an initiative to support the development of 

18 emergency communication and tracking technologies 

19 for use in locating trapped individuals in confined 

20 spaces (such as underground mines) and other 

21 shielded environments (such as high-rise buildings or 

22 collapsed structures) where conventional radio com23 munication is limited. 

24 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES.—In order to carry out this 

25 subsection, the Assistant Secretary, acting through 


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1 the head of ITS, shall work with private sector enti2 ties and the heads of appropriate Federal agencies 

3 to— 

4 ‘‘(A) perform a needs assessment to iden5 tify and evaluate the measurement, technical 

6 specifications, and conformity assessment needs 

7 required to improve the operation and reliability 

8 of emergency communication and tracking tech9 nologies described in paragraph (1); and 

10 ‘‘(B) support the development of technical 

11 specifications and conformance architecture to 

12 improve the operation and reliability of emer13 gency communication and tracking technologies 

14 described in paragraph (1). 

15 ‘‘(3) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after 

16 the date of enactment of this section, the Assistant 

17 Secretary shall submit to Congress, and make pub18 licly available, a report on the assessment performed 

19 under paragraph (2)(A).’’. 

Æ 


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