SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safe Connections Act 
of 2022’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
Except as otherwise provided in this Act, terms used 
in this Act that are defined in section 345(a) of the Com-
munications Act of 1934, as added by section 4 of this 
Act, have the meanings given those terms in such section 
345(a). 
SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, 
sexual assault, human trafficking, and related 
crimes are life-threatening issues and have lasting 
and harmful effects on individuals, families, and en-
tire communities. 
(2) Survivors often lack meaningful support 
and options when establishing independence from an 
abuser, including barriers such as financial insecu-
rity and limited access to reliable communications 
tools to maintain essential connections with family, 
social safety networks, employers, and support serv-
ices. 
(3) Perpetrators of violence and abuse described 
in paragraph (1) increasingly use technological and
communications tools to exercise control over, mon-
itor, and abuse their victims. 
(4) Communications law can play a public in-
terest role in the promotion of safety, life, and prop-
erty with respect to the types of violence and abuse 
described in paragraph (1). For example, inde-
pendent access to a wireless phone plan can assist 
survivors in establishing security and autonomy. 
(5) Safeguards within communications services 
can serve a role in preventing abuse and narrowing 
the digital divide experienced by survivors of abuse. 
SEC. 4. PROTECTION OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SURVIVORS 
WITHIN COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES. 
Part I of title III of the Communications Act of 1934 
(47 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘SEC. 345. PROTECTION OF SURVIVORS OF DOMESTIC VIO-
LENCE, HUMAN TRAFFICKING, AND RELATED 
CRIMES. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) ABUSER.—The term ‘abuser’ means an in-
dividual who has committed or allegedly committed 
a covered act against— 
‘‘(A) an individual who seeks relief under 
subsection (b); or
‘‘(B) an individual in the care of an indi-
vidual who seeks relief under subsection (b). 
‘‘(2) COVERED ACT.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘covered act’ 
means conduct that constitutes— 
‘‘(i) a crime described in section 
40002(a) of the Violence Against Women 
Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12291(a)), includ-
ing domestic violence, dating violence, sex-
ual assault, stalking, and sex trafficking; 
‘‘(ii) an act or practice described in 
paragraph (11) or (12) of section 103 of 
the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 
2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102) (relating to severe 
forms of trafficking in persons and sex 
trafficking, respectively); or 
‘‘(iii) an act under State law, Tribal 
law, or the Uniform Code of Military Jus-
tice that is similar to an offense described 
in clause (i) or (ii). 
‘‘(B) CONVICTION NOT REQUIRED.—Noth-
ing in subparagraph (A) shall be construed to 
require a criminal conviction or any other deter-
mination of a court in order for conduct to con-
stitute a covered act.
‘‘(3) COVERED PROVIDER.—The term ‘covered 
provider’ means a provider of a private mobile serv-
ice or commercial mobile service, as those terms are 
defined in section 332(d). 
‘‘(4) PRIMARY ACCOUNT HOLDER.—The term 
‘primary account holder’ means an individual who is 
a party to a mobile service contract with a covered 
provider. 
‘‘(5) SHARED
MOBILE
SERVICE
CONTRACT.— 
The term ‘shared mobile service contract’— 
‘‘(A) means a mobile service contract for 
an account that includes not less than 2 con-
sumers; and 
‘‘(B) does not include enterprise services 
offered by a covered provider. 
‘‘(6) SURVIVOR.—The term ‘survivor’ means an 
individual who is not less than 18 years old and— 
‘‘(A) against whom a covered act has been 
committed or allegedly committed; or 
‘‘(B) who cares for another individual 
against whom a covered act has been committed 
or allegedly committed (provided that the indi-
vidual providing care did not commit or alleg-
edly commit the covered act).
‘‘(b) SEPARATION OF LINES FROM SHARED MOBILE 
SERVICE CONTRACT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 business 
days after receiving a completed line separation re-
quest from a survivor pursuant to subsection (c), a 
covered provider shall, as applicable, with respect to 
a shared mobile service contract under which the 
survivor and the abuser each use a line— 
‘‘(A) separate the line of the survivor, and 
the line of any individual in the care of the sur-
vivor, from the shared mobile service contract; 
or 
‘‘(B) separate the line of the abuser from 
the shared mobile service contract. 
‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS ON PENALTIES, FEES, AND 
OTHER
REQUIREMENTS.—Except as provided in 
paragraphs (5) through (7), a covered provider may 
not make separation of a line from a shared mobile 
service contract under paragraph (1) contingent on 
any requirement other than the requirements under 
subsection (c), including— 
‘‘(A) payment of a fee, penalty, or other 
charge;
‘‘(B) maintaining contractual or billing re-
sponsibility of a separated line with the pro-
vider; 
‘‘(C) approval of separation by the primary 
account holder, if the primary account holder is 
not the survivor; 
‘‘(D) a prohibition or limitation, including 
one described in subparagraph (A), on number 
portability, provided such portability is tech-
nically feasible, or a request to change phone 
numbers; 
‘‘(E) a prohibition or limitation on the sep-
aration of lines as a result of arrears accrued 
by the account; 
‘‘(F) an increase in the rate charged for 
the mobile service plan of the primary account 
holder with respect to service on any remaining 
line or lines; or 
‘‘(G) any other limitation or requirement 
not listed under subsection (c). 
‘‘(3) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 
paragraph (2) shall be construed to require a cov-
ered provider to provide a rate plan for the primary 
account holder that is not otherwise commercially 
available.
‘‘(i) a line used by the survivor that 
the survivor seeks to have separated, states 
that the survivor is the user of that spe-
cific line; and 
‘‘(ii) a line used by an individual in 
the care of the survivor that the survivor 
seeks to have separated, includes an affi-
davit setting forth that the individual— 
‘‘(I) is in the care of the survivor; 
and 
‘‘(II) is the user of that specific 
line; and 
‘‘(C) requests relief under subparagraph 
(A) or (B) of subsection (b)(1) and identifies 
each line that should be separated. 
‘‘(2) COMMUNICATIONS
FROM
COVERED
PRO-
VIDERS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—A covered provider 
shall notify a survivor seeking relief under sub-
section (b) in clear and accessible language that 
the covered provider may contact the survivor, 
or designated representative of the survivor, to 
confirm the line separation, or if the covered 
provider is unable to complete the line separa-
tion for any reason, pursuant to subparagraphs 
(B) and (C). 
‘‘(B) REMOTE MEANS.—A covered provider 
shall notify a survivor under subparagraph (A) 
through remote means, provided that remote 
means are commercially available and tech-
nically feasible. 
‘‘(C) ELECTION
OF
MANNER
OF
CON-
TACT.—When completing a line separation re-
quest submitted by a survivor through remote 
means under paragraph (1), a covered provider 
shall allow the survivor to elect in the manner 
in which the covered provider may— 
‘‘(i) contact the survivor, or des-
ignated representative of the survivor, in 
response to the request, if necessary; or 
‘‘(ii) notify the survivor, or designated 
representative of the survivor, of the inabil-
ity of the covered provider to complete the 
line separation. 
‘‘(3) ENHANCED PROTECTIONS UNDER STATE 
LAW.—This subsection shall not affect any law or 
regulation of a State providing communications pro-
tections for survivors (or any similar category of in-
dividuals) that has less stringent requirements for
providing evidence of a covered act (or any similar 
category of conduct) than this subsection. 
‘‘(d) CONFIDENTIAL AND SECURE TREATMENT OF 
PERSONAL INFORMATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 
222(c)(2), a covered provider and any officer, direc-
tor, employee, vendor, or agent thereof shall treat 
any information submitted by a survivor under sub-
section (c) as confidential and securely dispose of 
the information not later than 90 days after receiv-
ing the information. 
‘‘(2) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 
paragraph (1) shall be construed to prohibit a cov-
ered provider from maintaining, for longer than the 
period specified in that paragraph, a record that 
verifies that a survivor fulfilled the conditions of a 
line separation request under subsection (c). 
‘‘(e) AVAILABILITY
OF
INFORMATION
TO
CON-
SUMERS.—A covered provider shall make information 
about the options and process described in subsections (b) 
and (c) readily available to consumers— 
‘‘(1) on the website and the mobile application 
of the provider; 
‘‘(2) in physical stores; and
‘‘(3) in other forms of public-facing consumer 
communication. 
‘‘(f) TECHNICAL INFEASIBILITY.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The requirement to effec-
tuate a line separation request pursuant to sub-
section (b)(1) shall not apply to a covered provider 
if the covered provider cannot operationally or tech-
nically effectuate the request. 
‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION.—If a covered provider can-
not operationally or technically effectuate a line sep-
aration request as described in paragraph (1), the 
covered provider shall— 
‘‘(A) notify the survivor who submitted the 
request of that infeasibility— 
‘‘(i) at the time of the request; or 
‘‘(ii) in the case of a survivor who has 
submitted the request using remote means, 
not later than 2 business days after receiv-
ing the request; and 
‘‘(B) provide the survivor with information 
about other alternatives to submitting a line 
separation request, including starting a new 
line of service. 
‘‘(g) LIABILITY PROTECTION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A covered provider and any 
officer, director, employee, vendor, or agent thereof 
shall not be subject to liability for any claims deriv-
ing from an action taken or omission made with re-
spect to compliance with this section and the rules 
adopted to implement this section. 
‘‘(2) COMMISSION AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this 
subsection shall limit the authority of the Commis-
sion to enforce this section or any rules or regula-
tions promulgated by the Commission pursuant to 
this section.’’. 
SEC. 5. RULEMAKING ON PROTECTIONS FOR SURVIVORS 
OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 
(1) the term ‘‘Affordable Connectivity Pro-
gram’’ means the program established under section 
904(b) of division N of the Consolidated Appropria-
tions Act, 2021 (Public Law 116–260), as amended 
by section 60502 of the Infrastructure Investment 
and Jobs Act (Public Law 117–58), or any suc-
cessor program; 
(2) the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means the Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the
log of calls or text messages in a criminal 
investigation; or 
(ii) alter or otherwise expand provider 
requirements under the Communications 
Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (Pub-
lic Law 103–414; 108 Stat. 4279) or the 
amendments made by that Act. 
(D) COMPLIANCE.—If the Commission es-
tablishes a central database through the rule-
making under subparagraph (A) and a covered 
provider updates its own databases to match 
the central database not less frequently than 
once every 30 days, no cause of action shall lie 
or be maintained in any court against the cov-
ered provider or its officers, employees, or 
agents for claims deriving from omission from 
consumer-facing logs of calls or text messages 
of any records of calls or text messages to cov-
ered hotlines in the central database. 
SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
The requirements under section 345 of the Commu-
nications Act of 1934, as added by section 4 of this Act, 
shall take effect 60 days after the date on which the Fed-
eral Communications Commission adopts the rules imple-
menting that section pursuant to section 5(b)(1) of this 
Act. 
SEC. 7. SAVINGS CLAUSE. 
Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 
Act shall be construed to abrogate, limit, or otherwise af-
fect the provisions set forth in the Communications Assist-
ance for Law Enforcement Act (Public Law 103–414; 108 
Stat. 4279) and the amendments made by that Act, any 
authority granted to the Federal Communications Com-
mission pursuant to that Act or the amendments made 
by that Act, or any regulations promulgated by the Fed-
eral Communications Commission pursuant to that Act or 
the amendments made by that Act. 
SEC. 8. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 
The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 
complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 
shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 
titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 
Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 
by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro-
vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 
vote on passage. 
Passed the House of Representatives July 27, 2022. 
Attest: 
Clerk.
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7132 
AN ACT 
To preserve safe access to communications services 
for survivors of domestic violence and other 
crimes, and for other purposes.