Cellphone Jamming Reform Act of 2019

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 pur- poses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cellphone Jamming 4 Reform Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON FCC AUTHORITY. 6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1954.IH H1954 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 1954 IH (1) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Federal 1 Communications Commission; 2 (2) the term ‘‘correctional facility’’ means a jail, 3 prison, penitentiary, or other correctional facility; 4 and 5 (3) the term ‘‘jamming system’’— 6 (A) means a system of radio signal gener- 7 ating and processing equipment and antennas 8 designed to disrupt, prevent, interfere with, or 9 jam a wireless communication into, from, or 10 within a correctional facility; and 11 (B) includes the components and 12 functionality of a system described in subpara- 13 graph (A), such as— 14 (i) antennas, cabling, and cable ele- 15 ments; 16 (ii) the installation, interconnection, 17 and operation of system elements, power 18 levels, and radio frequencies carried on the 19 cables or fed into antennas; 20 (iii) the radiation pattern of the an- 21 tennas; and 22 (iv) the location and orientation of the 23 antennas. 24 (b) RESTRICTION.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1954.IH H1954 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 1954 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 1 provision of law or regulation, and subject to para- 2 graph (2), the Commission may not prevent a State 3 or Federal correctional facility from operating a 4 jamming system within the correctional facility to 5 prevent, jam, or otherwise interfere with a wireless 6 communication that is sent— 7 (A) to or from a contraband device in the 8 facility; or 9 (B) by or to an individual held in the facil- 10 ity. 11 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—With respect to a jam- 12 ming system described in paragraph (1)— 13 (A) the operation of the system shall be 14 limited to the housing facilities of the correc- 15 tional facility in which the system is located; 16 (B) if the correctional facility that operates 17 the system is a State correctional facility, the 18 State that operates the correctional facility 19 shall be responsible for funding the entire cost 20 of the system, including the operation of the 21 system; and 22 (C) the correctional facility that operates 23 the system shall— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1954.IH H1954 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 1954 IH (i) before implementing the system, 1 consult with local law enforcement agencies 2 and other public safety officials in the area 3 in which the facility is located; and 4 (ii) submit to the Director of the Bu- 5 reau of Prisons a notification regarding 6 that operation. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1954.IH H1954 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS