National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4194 To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to direct the Federal Communica- tions 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 In- diana, 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. GAL- LAGHER, 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 Com- merce 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 cri- sis hotline system operating through the National Suicide VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:44 Aug 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H4194.IH H4194 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4194 IH Prevention Lifeline and through the Veterans Crisis Line, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘National Suicide Hot- 4 line Designation Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. UNIVERSAL TELEPHONE NUMBER FOR NATIONAL 6 SUICIDE PREVENTION AND MENTAL HEALTH 7 CRISIS HOTLINE SYSTEM. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 251(e) of the Commu- 9 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 251(e)) is amended by 10 adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(4) UNIVERSAL TELEPHONE NUMBER FOR NA- 12 TIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION AND MENTAL HEALTH 13 CRISIS HOTLINE SYSTEM.—The Commission and any 14 agency or entity to which the Commission has dele- 15 gated authority under this subsection shall designate 16 9–8–8 as the universal telephone number within the 17 United States for the purpose of the national suicide 18 prevention and mental health crisis hotline system 19 operating through the National Suicide Prevention 20 Lifeline maintained by the Assistant Secretary for 21 Mental Health and Substance Use under section 22 520E–3 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 23 290bb–36c) and through the Veterans Crisis Line 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:44 Aug 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4194.IH H4194 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4194 IH maintained by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 1 under section 1720F(h) of title 38, United States 2 Code. The designation shall apply to both wireline 3 and wireless telephone service.’’. 4 (b) DEADLINE.—The designation required by the 5 amendment made by subsection (a) shall be made not later 6 than the date that is 1 year after the date of the enact- 7 ment of this Act. 8 SEC. 3. STATE AUTHORITY OVER FEES. 9 (a) AUTHORITY.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act, any 11 amendment made by this Act, the Communications 12 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.), or any Com- 13 mission regulation or order may prevent the imposi- 14 tion and collection of a fee or charge applicable to 15 a commercial mobile service or an IP-enabled voice 16 service specifically designated by a State, a political 17 subdivision of a State, an Indian Tribe, or village or 18 regional corporation serving a region established 19 pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement 20 Act (43 U.S.C. 1601–1624; 85 Stat. 688 et seq.) for 21 the support or implementation of 9–8–8 services, if 22 the fee or charge is held in a sequestered account to 23 be obligated or expended only in support of 9–8–8 24 services, or enhancements of such services, as speci- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:44 Aug 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4194.IH H4194 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4194 IH fied in the provision of State or local law adopting 1 the fee or charge. 2 (2) LIMIT ON FEE OR CHARGE.—For each class 3 of subscribers to IP-enabled voice services, the fee or 4 charge may not exceed the amount of any such fee 5 or charge applicable to the same class of subscribers 6 to telecommunications services. 7 (b) FEE ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT.—To ensure effi- 8 ciency, transparency, and accountability in the collection 9 and expenditure of a fee or charge for the support or im- 10 plementation of 9–8–8 services, not later than 1 year after 11 the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually there- 12 after, the Commission shall submit to the Committees on 13 Commerce, Science, and Transportation and Appropria- 14 tions of the Senate and the Committees on Energy and 15 Commerce and Appropriations of the House of Represent- 16 atives a report that— 17 (1) details the status in each State of the collec- 18 tion and distribution of such fees or charges; and 19 (2) includes findings on the amount of revenues 20 obligated or expended by each State or political sub- 21 division thereof for any purpose other than the pur- 22 pose for which any such fees or charges are speci- 23 fied. 24 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 Aug 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4194.IH H4194 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4194 IH (1) COMMERCIAL MOBILE SERVICE.—The term 1 ‘‘commercial mobile service’’ has the meaning given 2 that term under section 332(d) of the Communica- 3 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 332(d)). 4 (2) IP-ENABLED VOICE SERVICE.—The term 5 ‘‘IP-enabled voice service’’ has the meaning given 6 that term by section 9.3 of the Commission’s regula- 7 tions (47 C.F.R. 9.3), as those regulations may be 8 amended by the Commission from time to time. 9 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean- 10 ing given that term in section 7 of the Wireless 11 Communications and Public Safety Act of 1999 (47 12 U.S.C. 615b). 13 (4) TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE.—The 14 term ‘‘telecommunications service’’ has the meaning 15 given that term in section 3 of the Communications 16 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153). 17 SEC. 4. LOCATION IDENTIFICATION REPORT. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 19 date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall 20 submit to the appropriate committees a report that exam- 21 ines the feasibility and cost of including an automatic 22 dispatchable location that would be conveyed with a 9– 23 8–8 call, regardless of the technological platform used and 24 including with calls from multi-line telephone systems (as 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:44 Aug 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4194.IH H4194 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 4194 IH defined in section 6502 of the Middle Class Tax Relief 1 and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1471) identifica- 2 tion or equivalent information features over the 9–8–8 3 network. 4 (b) DEFINITION.—In this section: 5 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES.—The term 6 ‘‘appropriate committees’’ means the following: 7 (A) The Committee on Commerce, Science, 8 and Transportation of the Senate. 9 (B) The Committee on Health, Education, 10 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate. 11 (C) The Committee on Energy and Com- 12 merce of the House of Representatives. 13 (2) DISPATCHABLE LOCATION.—The term 14 ‘‘dispatchable location’’ means the street address of 15 the calling party and additional information such as 16 room number, floor number, or similar information 17 necessary to adequately identify the location of the 18 calling party. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:44 Aug 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4194.IH H4194 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS