II 

Calendar No. 585 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2204 

[Report No. 116–292] 

To allow the Federal Communications Commission to carry out a pilot program under which voice service providers could block certain automated 

calls, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 23, 2019 

Mr. CRAPO (for himself and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) introduced the following bill; 

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

Science, and Transportation 

NOVEMBER 16, 2020 

Reported by Mr. WICKER, with an amendment 

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

A BILL 

To allow the Federal Communications Commission to carry 

out a pilot program under which voice service providers 

could block certain automated calls, 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 ‘‘Data Analytics 

3 Robocall Technology Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘DART Act of 

4 2019’’. 

5 SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM. 

6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

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

8 Communications Commission; 

9 (2) the term ‘‘gateway provider’’ means a voice 

10 service provider that, with respect to a consumer— 

11 (A) does not have a direct relationship 

12 with the consumer; and 

13 (B) offers an entry point onto the public 

14 switched telephone network with respect to a 

15 call made by the consumer; 

16 (3) the term ‘‘originating provider’’— 

17 (A) means a voice service provider that 

18 permits a subscriber to originate a call that 

19 may be transmitted on the public switched tele20 phone network; and 

21 (B) includes a gateway provider; 

22 (4) the term ‘‘public safety answering point’’ 

23 has the meaning given the term in section 222(h) of 

24 the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

25 222(h)); and 


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1 (5) the term ‘‘voice service’’ means any service 

2 that— 

3 (A) is interconnected with the public 

4 switched telephone network; and 

5 (B) furnishes voice communications to an 

6 end user using resources from the North Amer7 ican Numbering Plan or any successor to the 

8 North American Numbering Plan adopted by 

9 the Commission under section 251(e)(1) of the 

10 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

11 251(e)(1)). 

12 (b) PILOT PROGRAM.—Beginning not later than 18 

13 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Com14 mission may carry out a 1-year pilot program under 

15 which, notwithstanding any other provision of law or regu16 lation— 

17 (1) a voice service provider may, except as pro18 vided in paragraph (5)— 

19 (A) use data analytics and caller identifica20 tion authentication procedures to identify any 

21 call that the voice service provider reasonably 

22 believes is highly likely to be unlawful; and 

23 (B) block a call identified under subpara24 graph (A); 


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1 (2) the Commission may not penalize a voice 

2 service provider that, while acting in good faith 

3 under paragraph (1), inadvertently blocks a lawful 

4 call; 

5 (3) the Commission shall establish a process 

6 through which— 

7 (A) a caller that originates a call that a 

8 voice service provider blocks under paragraph 

9 (1)(B) may quickly report to the voice service 

10 provider that the caller believes that the call 

11 should not have been blocked; and 

12 (B) a voice service provider that receives a 

13 report under subparagraph (A) shall evaluate— 

14 (i) whether the call to which the re15 port relates should have been blocked; and 

16 (ii) the means by which to address fu17 ture calls from the number to which the 

18 report relates; 

19 (4) each voice service provider shall designate a 

20 single point of contact to whom a caller may submit 

21 a report described in paragraph (3); 

22 (5) a voice service provider that blocks a call 

23 under paragraph (1)(B) shall maintain a list of 

24 numbers that are not eligible to be blocked, includ25 ing any number used— 


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1 (A) for outgoing calls by a public safety 

2 answering point or a similar facility that is des3 ignated to originate or route emergency calls; 

4 (B) to originate calls from a government 

5 entity, such as a call generated during an emer6 gency; and 

7 (C) by a school, or a similar institution, to 

8 provide school-related notifications, such as a 

9 notification regarding— 

10 (i) a weather-related closure; or 

11 (ii) the existence of an emergency af12 fecting a school or students attending a 

13 school; 

14 (6) a voice service provider— 

15 (A) may obtain, upon affirmative consent 

16 provided by a consumer, a list of numbers from 

17 which the consumer is willing to receive calls; 

18 (B) shall, with respect to a consumer who 

19 provides to the provider a list described in sub20 paragraph (A), block each call made to the con21 sumer from a number that is not on the list; 

22 and 

23 (C) may not share a list obtained under 

24 subparagraph (A) with the Commission or any 

25 other voice service provider; and 


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1 (7) the Commission shall ensure that no con2 sumer incurs any cost relating to the pilot program. 

3 (c) EVALUATION OF PILOT PROGRAM.—If the Com4 mission establishes the pilot program under subsection 

5 (b), after the expiration of the pilot program, the Commis6 sion may— 

7 (1) make a determination regarding the effec8 tiveness of the pilot program; and 

9 (2) if the Commission determines under para10 graph (1) that the pilot program was effective, make 

11 the pilot program permanent with any adjustments 

12 that the Commission determines to be necessary. 

13 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

14 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Data Analytics Robocall 

15 Technology Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘DART Act of 2019’’. 

16 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

17 In this Act— 

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

19 Communications Commission; 

20 (2) the term ‘‘covered ruling’’ means the ‘‘Declar21 atory Ruling and Third Further Notice of Proposed 

22 Rulemaking in the matter of Advanced Methods to 

23 Target and Eliminate Unlawful Robocalls’’, adopted 

24 by the Commission on June 6, 2019 (FCC 19–51; CG 

25 Docket No. 17–59); 


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1 (3) the term ‘‘public safety answering point’’ has 

2 the meaning given the term in section 222(h) of the 

3 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 222(h)); and 

4 (4) the term ‘‘voice service’’ means any service 

5 that— 

6 (A) is interconnected with the public 

7 switched telephone network; and 

8 (B) furnishes voice communications to an 

9 end user using resources from the North Amer10 ican Numbering Plan or any successor to the 

11 North American Numbering Plan adopted by the 

12 Commission under section 251(e)(1) of the Com13 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 251(e)(1)). 

14 SEC. 3. RULEMAKING. 

15 Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment 

16 of this Act, the Commission shall initiate a rulemaking to 

17 consider establishing a process under which the Commission 

18 shall maintain a list of numbers that are not eligible to 

19 be blocked by a voice service provider, which may include 

20 a number used— 

21 (1) for outgoing calls by a public safety answer22 ing point or a similar facility that is designated to 

23 originate or route emergency calls; 

24 (2) to originate calls from a government entity, 

25 such as a call generated during an emergency; 


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1 (3) by a school, or a similar institution, to pro2 vide school-related notifications, such as a notification 

3 regarding— 

4 (A) a weather-related closure; or 

5 (B) the existence of an emergency affecting 

6 a school or students attending a school; and 

7 (4) for similar or emergency purposes, as deter8 mined appropriate by the Commission. 

9 SEC. 4. REPORTS ON DEPLOYMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION 

10 OF CALL BLOCKING AND CALLER ID AUTHEN11 TICATION. 

12 Not later than 180 days after the date on which the 

13 Commission receives any report under paragraph 90 of the 

14 covered ruling, the Commission shall submit to the Com15 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 

16 Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 

17 House of Representatives— 

18 (1) an analysis by the Commission with respect 

19 to the effectiveness of various categories of call block20 ing tools, as evaluated in the report; and 

21 (2) any legislative recommendations of the Com22 mission relating to the report. 

23 SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

24 Nothing in this Act may be construed to impede or 

25 delay the analysis by the Commission of the most effective 


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1 means by which to maintain and administer a list of num2 bers that may not be blocked (referred to in the covered rul3 ing as a ‘‘Critical Calls List’’), as considered in the covered 

4 ruling. 


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Calendar No. 585 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2204 

[Report No. 116–292] 

A BILL 

To allow the Federal Communications Commission 

calls, and for other purposes. service providers could block certain automated to carry out a pilot program under which voice 

NOVEMBER 16, 2020 

Reported with an amendment 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS