I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4194 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to direct the Federal Communications Commission to designate 9–8–8 as the universal telephone number 

for the purpose of the national suicide prevention and mental health 

crisis hotline system operating through the National Suicide Prevention 

Lifeline and through the Veterans Crisis Line, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 20, 2019 

Mr. STEWART (for himself, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. GIANFORTE, Ms. JOHNSON of 

Texas, Mr. BALDERSON, Mr. BERGMAN, Mr. BISHOP of Utah, Mr. 

BROWN of Maryland, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. CISNEROS, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. 

COLE, Mr. COLLINS of New York, Mr. CRAWFORD, Mr. CURTIS, Mr. 

DEFAZIO, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. GALLAGHER, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. KING of New 

York, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. MCKINLEY, Mrs. RODGERS

of Washington, Mr. MOOLENAAR, Ms. NORTON, Mr. OLSON, Mr. PAYNE, 

Mr. RASKIN, Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee, Mr. ROSE of New York, 

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. RUTHERFORD, Mr. RYAN, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. 

SIRES, Mr. SOTO, Mr. STEIL, Mr. STIVERS, Mr. TURNER, Ms. 

VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. WALTZ, and Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN) introduced the 

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

A BILL 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to direct the 

Federal Communications Commission to designate 9–8– 

8 as the universal telephone number for the purpose 

of the national suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline system operating through the National Suicide 


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Prevention Lifeline and through the Veterans Crisis 

Line, 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 ‘‘National Suicide Hot5 line Designation Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. UNIVERSAL TELEPHONE NUMBER FOR NATIONAL 

7 SUICIDE PREVENTION AND MENTAL HEALTH 

8 CRISIS HOTLINE SYSTEM. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 251(e) of the Commu10 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 251(e)) is amended by 

11 adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(4) UNIVERSAL TELEPHONE NUMBER FOR NA13 TIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION AND MENTAL HEALTH

14 CRISIS HOTLINE SYSTEM.—The Commission and any 

15 agency or entity to which the Commission has dele16 gated authority under this subsection shall designate 

17 9–8–8 as the universal telephone number within the 

18 United States for the purpose of the national suicide 

19 prevention and mental health crisis hotline system 

20 operating through the National Suicide Prevention 

21 Lifeline maintained by the Assistant Secretary for 

22 Mental Health and Substance Use under section 

23 520E–3 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

24 290bb–36c) and through the Veterans Crisis Line 


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1 maintained by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

2 under section 1720F(h) of title 38, United States 

3 Code. The designation shall apply to both wireline 

4 and wireless telephone service.’’. 

5 (b) DEADLINE.—The designation required by the 

6 amendment made by subsection (a) shall be made not later 

7 than the date that is 1 year after the date of the enact8 ment of this Act. 

9 SEC. 3. STATE AUTHORITY OVER FEES. 

10 (a) AUTHORITY.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act, any 

12 amendment made by this Act, the Communications 

13 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.), or any Com14 mission regulation or order may prevent the imposi15 tion and collection of a fee or charge applicable to 

16 a commercial mobile service or an IP-enabled voice 

17 service specifically designated by a State, a political 

18 subdivision of a State, an Indian Tribe, or village or 

19 regional corporation serving a region established 

20 pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement 

21 Act (43 U.S.C. 1601–1624; 85 Stat. 688 et seq.) for 

22 the support or implementation of 9–8–8 services, if 

23 the fee or charge is held in a sequestered account to 

24 be obligated or expended only in support of 9–8–8 

25 services, or enhancements of such services, as speciVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:44 Aug 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4194.IH H4194

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1 fied in the provision of State or local law adopting 

2 the fee or charge. 

3 (2) LIMIT ON FEE OR CHARGE.—For each class 

4 of subscribers to IP-enabled voice services, the fee or 

5 charge may not exceed the amount of any such fee 

6 or charge applicable to the same class of subscribers 

7 to telecommunications services. 

8 (b) FEE ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT.—To ensure effi9 ciency, transparency, and accountability in the collection 

10 and expenditure of a fee or charge for the support or im11 plementation of 9–8–8 services, not later than 1 year after 

12 the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually there13 after, the Commission shall submit to the Committees on 

14 Commerce, Science, and Transportation and Appropria15 tions of the Senate and the Committees on Energy and 

16 Commerce and Appropriations of the House of Represent17 atives a report that— 

18 (1) details the status in each State of the collec19 tion and distribution of such fees or charges; and 

20 (2) includes findings on the amount of revenues 

21 obligated or expended by each State or political sub22 division thereof for any purpose other than the pur23 pose for which any such fees or charges are speci24 fied. 

25 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) COMMERCIAL MOBILE SERVICE.—The term 

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

3 that term under section 332(d) of the Communica4 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 332(d)). 

5 (2) IP-ENABLED VOICE SERVICE.—The term 

6 ‘‘IP-enabled voice service’’ has the meaning given 

7 that term by section 9.3 of the Commission’s regula8 tions (47 C.F.R. 9.3), as those regulations may be 

9 amended by the Commission from time to time. 

10 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean11 ing given that term in section 7 of the Wireless 

12 Communications and Public Safety Act of 1999 (47 

13 U.S.C. 615b). 

14 (4) TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE.—The 

15 term ‘‘telecommunications service’’ has the meaning 

16 given that term in section 3 of the Communications 

17 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153). 

18 SEC. 4. LOCATION IDENTIFICATION REPORT. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

20 date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall 

21 submit to the appropriate committees a report that exam22 ines the feasibility and cost of including an automatic 

23 dispatchable location that would be conveyed with a 9– 

24 8–8 call, regardless of the technological platform used and 

25 including with calls from multi-line telephone systems (as 


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1 defined in section 6502 of the Middle Class Tax Relief 

2 and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1471) identifica3 tion or equivalent information features over the 9–8–8 

4 network. 

5 (b) DEFINITION.—In this section: 

6 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES.—The term 

7 ‘‘appropriate committees’’ means the following: 

8 (A) The Committee on Commerce, Science, 

9 and Transportation of the Senate. 

10 (B) The Committee on Health, Education, 

11 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate. 

12 (C) The Committee on Energy and Com13 merce of the House of Representatives. 

14 (2) DISPATCHABLE LOCATION.—The term 

15 ‘‘dispatchable location’’ means the street address of 

16 the calling party and additional information such as 

17 room number, floor number, or similar information 

18 necessary to adequately identify the location of the 

19 calling party. 

Æ 


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