III 

Calendar No. 276 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 157 

[Report No. 113–130] 

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, Mr. THUNE, Mr. 

HARKIN, Mr. FRANKEN, Mr. ROBERTS, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. HOEVEN, 

and Mr. TESTER) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

DECEMBER 19, 2013 

Reported by Mr. ROCKEFELLER, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the resolving clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

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 


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•SRES 157 RS 

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 

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; 


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•SRES 157 RS 

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, 

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— 


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•SRES 157 RS 

1 (1) all providers must appropriately complete 

2 calls to all areas of the United States regardless of 

3 the technology used by the providers; 

4 (2) no entity may unreasonably discriminate 

5 against telephone users in rural areas of the United 

6 States; and 

7 (3) the Federal Communications Commission 

8 should— 

9 (A) aggressively pursue those that violate 

10 the rules of the Federal Communications Com11 mission and create these problems, and impose 

12 swift and meaningful enforcement actions to 

13 discourage— 

14 (i) practices leading to telephone calls 

15 not being completed in rural areas of the 

16 United States; and 

17 (ii) unreasonable discrimination 

18 against telephone users in rural areas of 

19 the United States; and 

20 (B) move forward with clear, comprehen21 sive, and enforceable actions in order to estab22 lish a robust and definitive solution to discrimi23 nation against telephone users in rural areas of 

24 the United States. 

25


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•SRES 157 RS 

1 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 the 

4 technology used by the providers; 

5 (2) no entity may unreasonably discriminate 

6 against communications service in rural areas of the 

7 United States; and 

8 (3) the Federal Communications Commission 

9 should— 

10 (A) aggressively pursue those that violate 

11 the rules of the Federal Communications Com12 mission and create these problems, and impose 

13 swift and meaningful enforcement actions to dis14 courage— 

15 (i) practices leading to telephone calls 

16 not being completed in rural areas of the 

17 United States; and 

18 (ii) unreasonable discrimination 

19 against communications service in rural 

20 areas of the United States; and 

21 (B) move forward with clear, comprehen22 sive, and enforceable actions in order to establish 

23 a robust and definitive solution to discrimina24 tion against communications service in rural 

25 areas of the United States. 


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Calendar No. 276 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 157 

[Report No. 113–130] 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that telephone 

areas. ably discriminate against telephone users in those United States and that no entity may unreasonservice must be improved in rural areas of the 

DECEMBER 19, 2013 

Reported with an amendment 


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