I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4466 
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require the Federal Commu-
nications Commission to prescribe rules regulating inmate telephone serv-
ice rates. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 7, 2005 
Mr. RUSH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require the 
Federal Communications Commission to prescribe rules 
regulating inmate telephone service rates. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Family Telephone Con-
nection Protection Act of 2005’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds that: 
(1) The telephone is the primary method by 
which individuals correspond and maintain contact
with family members who are incarcerated in correc-
tional institutions. 
(2) Except for emergency purposes, family 
members are not allowed to call people incarcerated 
in correctional institutions; incarcerated persons are 
typically allowed to call family members and other 
pre-approved individuals only through payphones 
physically located on the premises of correctional in-
stitutions. 
(3) Inmate telephone service in correctional in-
stitutions often is limited to collect calling. 
(4) Regardless of whether the prisoners’ calls 
are placed collect or through a debit account, the 
prisoners’ family members typically pay for the calls, 
either through their telephone bills, in the case of 
collect calls received from prisoners, or by making 
deposits directly into prisoners’ debit accounts. 
(5) Innocent citizens are paying excessive tele-
phone charges simply due to having a family mem-
ber or loved one who is incarcerated. 
(6) The rates for calls from correctional institu-
tions are some of the highest rates in the United 
States, with some per-minute charges reaching $1 
and service or connection charges of $3.95 per call.
(7) Information compiled by the Congress and 
the Federal Communications Commission shows that 
the high rates are due in part to the lack of competi-
tion between telephone companies that provide long 
distance inmate telephone service to correctional in-
stitutions. 
(8) There are no competitive forces providing 
incentives for those carriers to lower prices or oper-
ate efficiently because, unlike the mass market, only 
one carrier is typically permitted to provide long dis-
tance inmate telephone service within each correc-
tional institution. 
(9) High calling rates also are due in part to 
commissions that carriers pay to correctional institu-
tion administrators for the exclusive right to provide 
long distance inmate telephone service in a correc-
tional facility. In some cases, such commissions ac-
count for 50 percent or more of the total charges. 
(10) The collection of such commissions by cor-
rectional institution administrators and state depart-
ments of correction based upon interstate tele-
communications revenues is a burden on interstate 
commerce. 
(11) Due to the lack of competition for tele-
phone services within correctional institutions, fami-
lies of people in prison, many of whom have low in-
comes, cannot choose the long distance carrier with 
the lowest calling rates and must pay the excessive 
rates charged by the carrier having the exclusive 
right to provide long distance service to the correc-
tional institution from which the call originates. 
(12) It is the policy of the United States to en-
sure that all Americans are afforded just and rea-
sonable communications services, including those 
families that pay rates for inmate telephone service. 
(13) It is clear from various studies that main-
taining frequent and meaningful communications be-
tween people who are incarcerated and family mem-
bers is key to the successful social reintegration of 
formerly incarcerated individuals. Such contact re-
duces recidivism and facilitates rehabilitation, which 
in turn reduces crime and the future costs of impris-
onment. 
(14) Frequent communications between incar-
cerated persons and family members is burdened, 
and in some cases, prevented, by excessive inmate 
telephone service rates. Excessive inmate telephone 
service rates thus weaken the family and community 
ties that are necessary for successful reentry into so-
ciety by persons who were formerly incarcerated and
the reduction in crime resulting from successful re-
entry. 
(15) The Commission has the expertise and au-
thority to regulate inmate telephone service. Because 
parties to Commission rulemaking proceedings have 
raised issues regarding its authority to implement 
meaningful relief for excessive inmate telephone 
service rates, Congress finds it necessary and appro-
priate to reaffirm that the Commission has the au-
thority to implement the types of relief set forth in 
this Act. 
SEC. 3. RESTRICTIONS ON THE PROVISION OF INMATE 
TELEPHONE SERVICE. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 226(a) of the Commu-
nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 226(a)) is amended add-
ing at the end the following new paragraphs: 
‘‘(10) The term ‘collect’ or ‘collect call’ refers to 
a telephone call from a person incarcerated in a cor-
rectional institution that is billed to the subscriber 
receiving the call. 
‘‘(11) The term ‘commission’ refers to a fee or 
other payment by a provider of inmate telephone 
service to an administrator of a correctional institu-
tion, department of correction, or similar entity,
based upon, or partly upon, inmate telephone service 
revenue. 
‘‘(12) The term ‘debit account’ refers to the 
payment of inmate telephone service through a pris-
oner’s prepaid card or other account, which can be 
accessed only through an access code, personal iden-
tification number, or similar identifier. 
‘‘(13) The term ‘inmate telephone service’ in-
cludes the provision of telephone service enabling 
persons incarcerated in correctional institutions to 
originate interstate calls at payphones or other tele-
phones that are designated for prisoners’ personal 
use, regardless of whether the calls are collect, paid 
through a debit account, or paid through any other 
means. 
‘‘(14) The term ‘provider of inmate telephone 
service’ means any common carrier that provides in-
mate telephone service or any other person deter-
mined by the Commission to be providing inmate 
telephone service.’’. 
(b) REGULATIONS.—Section 226 is further amend-
ed— 
(1) by redesignating subsection (i) as subsection 
(k); and