I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1954 

To provide that the Federal Communications Commission may not prevent 

a State or Federal correctional facility from utilizing jamming equipment, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 28, 2019 

Mr. KUSTOFF of Tennessee (for himself and Mr. TIMMONS) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To provide that the Federal Communications Commission 

may not prevent a State or Federal correctional facility 

from utilizing jamming equipment, 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 ‘‘Cellphone Jamming 

5 Reform Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON FCC AUTHORITY. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 


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1 (1) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Federal 

2 Communications Commission; 

3 (2) the term ‘‘correctional facility’’ means a jail, 

4 prison, penitentiary, or other correctional facility; 

5 and 

6 (3) the term ‘‘jamming system’’— 

7 (A) means a system of radio signal gener8 ating and processing equipment and antennas 

9 designed to disrupt, prevent, interfere with, or 

10 jam a wireless communication into, from, or 

11 within a correctional facility; and 

12 (B) includes the components and 

13 functionality of a system described in subpara14 graph (A), such as— 

15 (i) antennas, cabling, and cable ele16 ments; 

17 (ii) the installation, interconnection, 

18 and operation of system elements, power 

19 levels, and radio frequencies carried on the 

20 cables or fed into antennas; 

21 (iii) the radiation pattern of the an22 tennas; and 

23 (iv) the location and orientation of the 

24 antennas. 

25 (b) RESTRICTION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

2 provision of law or regulation, and subject to para3 graph (2), the Commission may not prevent a State 

4 or Federal correctional facility from operating a 

5 jamming system within the correctional facility to 

6 prevent, jam, or otherwise interfere with a wireless 

7 communication that is sent— 

8 (A) to or from a contraband device in the 

9 facility; or 

10 (B) by or to an individual held in the facil11 ity. 

12 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—With respect to a jam13 ming system described in paragraph (1)— 

14 (A) the operation of the system shall be 

15 limited to the housing facilities of the correc16 tional facility in which the system is located; 

17 (B) if the correctional facility that operates 

18 the system is a State correctional facility, the 

19 State that operates the correctional facility 

20 shall be responsible for funding the entire cost 

21 of the system, including the operation of the 

22 system; and 

23 (C) the correctional facility that operates 

24 the system shall— 


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1 (i) before implementing the system, 

2 consult with local law enforcement agencies 

3 and other public safety officials in the area 

4 in which the facility is located; and 

5 (ii) submit to the Director of the Bu6 reau of Prisons a notification regarding 

7 that operation. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS