III 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 157 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that telephone service must be improved 

in rural areas of the United States and that no entity may unreasonably 

discriminate against telephone users in those areas. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 23, 2013 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself, Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota, Mrs. FISCHER, 

Mr. SANDERS, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. MERKLEY, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. PRYOR, Mr. 

GRASSLEY, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. ENZI, Ms. BALDWIN, and Mr. THUNE) 

submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 

on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that telephone service 

must be improved in rural areas of the United States 

and that no entity may unreasonably discriminate 

against telephone users in those areas. 

Whereas all people in the United States rely on quality, efficient, and dependable telephone service in many aspects 

of life, including conducting business, securing the safety 

of the public, and connecting families; 

Whereas multiple surveys conducted by the National Exchange Carrier Association revealed that complaints of 

uncompleted telephone calls persist, with the most recent 

survey in October 2012 indicating a 41 percent increase 


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•SRES 157 IS 

in uncompleted calls between March and September of 

the same year; 

Whereas the National Exchange Carrier Association and 

rural telecommunications carriers in April 2012 supplied 

information that— 

(1) 6.4 percent of calls to rural areas failed, but only 

0.5 percent of calls to urban areas failed; and 

(2) 11 percent of calls to rural areas were either 

poor quality or were delayed, compared to only 5 percent 

in urban areas; 

Whereas the Federal Communications Commission was made 

aware of an issue regarding telephone service connection 

in rural areas in November 2010 and has since issued a 

declaratory ruling and a notice of proposed rulemaking 

with respect to the issue and has reached a settlement 

with one telecommunications carrier; 

Whereas, in a declaratory ruling in February 2012, the Federal Communications Commission made it clear that 

blocking or otherwise restricting telephone service is a 

violation of section 201(b) of the Communications Act of 

1934 (47 U.S.C. 201(b)), which prohibits unjust or unreasonable practices, and section 202(a) of that Act (47 

U.S.C. 202(a)), which outlines the duty of a telecommunications carrier to refrain from discrimination; 

Whereas actions by the Federal Communications Commission 

have not significantly decreased the prevalence of telephone calls being rerouted by telecommunications carriers 

and some States are seeing an increase in complaints as 

of April 2013; 

Whereas telephone communications are vital to keeping rural 

areas of the United States competitive in the economy, 


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•SRES 157 IS 

and a low rate of telephone call completion results in economic injury to rural businesses, including farmers, 

trucking companies, and suppliers who have seen thousands of dollars in business lost when telephone calls are 

not completed; 

Whereas the safety of the public is at risk from a lack of 

quality telephone communications, including 911 services; 

Whereas schools depend on telephone calls to notify students 

and parents of emergencies, and health care centers depend on telecommunications services to save lives and to 

communicate with rural patients; 

Whereas small, local telecommunications carriers are losing 

valuable, multi-line business subscribers because of a lack 

of quality telecommunications services, which is financially detrimental to those carriers and adversely affects 

the rural communities served by those carriers; and 

Whereas it may cost a telecommunications carrier serving a 

rural area hundreds of dollars to investigate each complaint of an uncompleted telephone call: Now, therefore, 

be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that— 

2 (1) all providers must appropriately complete 

3 calls to all areas of the United States regardless of 

4 the technology used by the providers; 

5 (2) no entity may unreasonably discriminate 

6 against telephone users in rural areas of the United 

7 States; and 

8 (3) the Federal Communications Commission 

9 should— 


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•SRES 157 IS 

1 (A) aggressively pursue those that violate 

2 the rules of the Federal Communications Com3 mission and create these problems, and impose 

4 swift and meaningful enforcement actions to 

5 discourage— 

6 (i) practices leading to telephone calls 

7 not being completed in rural areas of the 

8 United States; and 

9 (ii) unreasonable discrimination 

10 against telephone users in rural areas of 

11 the United States; and 

12 (B) move forward with clear, comprehen13 sive, and enforceable actions in order to estab14 lish a robust and definitive solution to discrimi15 nation against telephone users in rural areas of 

16 the United States. 

Æ 


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