Preventing Unwarranted Communications Shutdowns Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8659 To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for requirements for the exercise of the emergency powers of the President under section 706 of such Act, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 23, 2020 Ms. ESHOO (for herself and Mr. GRIFFITH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, for a period to be subsequently de- termined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for requirements for the exercise of the emergency powers of the President under section 706 of such Act, 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 ‘‘Preventing Unwar- 4 ranted Communications Shutdowns Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:53 Nov 13, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8659.IH H8659 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8659 IH SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR EXERCISE OF CERTAIN EMER- 1 GENCY POWERS OF THE PRESIDENT. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 706 of the Communica- 3 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 606) is amended by adding 4 at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(i) REQUIREMENTS FOR ACTIONS BY PRESIDENT 6 UNDER THIS SECTION.— 7 ‘‘(1) STANDARD FOR TAKING ACTION.—The 8 President may not take an action under subsection 9 (a), (b), (c), or (d) unless such action is— 10 ‘‘(A) necessary to protect against an immi- 11 nent and specific threat to human life or an im- 12 minent and specific threat to national security; 13 ‘‘(B) narrowly tailored to achieve the pur- 14 pose described in subparagraph (A); and 15 ‘‘(C) the least restrictive means to achieve 16 such purpose. 17 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESSIONAL LEAD- 18 ERS AND SENIOR GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS.— 19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Before or not later 20 than 12 hours after taking any action under 21 subsection (a), (b), (c), or (d), the President 22 shall transmit a notification with respect to 23 such action that meets the requirements of sub- 24 paragraph (B) to each congressional leader and 25 each senior Government official. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:53 Nov 13, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8659.IH H8659 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8659 IH ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements 1 of this subparagraph for a notification with re- 2 spect to an action under subsection (a), (b), (c), 3 or (d) are the following: 4 ‘‘(i) CONTENTS.—Such notification 5 shall contain the following: 6 ‘‘(I) An identification of the war, 7 threat of war, state of public peril, 8 disaster, national emergency, or other 9 circumstance that is the basis for the 10 President to take such action, as re- 11 quired by the subsection under which 12 the President has acted or wishes to 13 act. 14 ‘‘(II) A detailed description of 15 such action, including— 16 ‘‘(aa) the geographic scope 17 of such action; 18 ‘‘(bb) the types of commu- 19 nications networks impacted by 20 such action; and 21 ‘‘(cc) a list of each person to 22 whom the President has trans- 23 mitted a communication directing 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:53 Nov 13, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8659.IH H8659 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8659 IH such person to comply with such 1 action. 2 ‘‘(III) The amount of time (if 3 any) beyond the period of effective- 4 ness provided in paragraph (3) for 5 which the President is requesting au- 6 thorization to maintain such action. 7 ‘‘(IV) A justification, with re- 8 spect to such action and any amount 9 of time stated under subclause (III), 10 of how the President reached the de- 11 termination required for taking an ac- 12 tion under such subsection (including 13 the determination that the require- 14 ments of paragraph (1) of this sub- 15 section are met). 16 ‘‘(ii) FORM.—Such notification shall 17 be in writing. With respect to each con- 18 gressional leader and each senior Govern- 19 ment official, the President shall first 20 transmit such notification to such leader or 21 official in either physical or electronic 22 form, whichever the President determines 23 will result in quicker delivery to such lead- 24 er or official. The President shall transmit 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:53 Nov 13, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8659.IH H8659 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8659 IH such notification to such leader or official 1 in the other form as soon thereafter as 2 possible, but failure to transmit such noti- 3 fication in such other form shall not affect 4 the validity of the action by the President 5 to which such notification relates. 6 ‘‘(iii) TIMING.— 7 ‘‘(I) CONGRESS.— 8 ‘‘(aa) IN GENERAL.—The 9 President shall transmit such no- 10 tification in such a manner so as 11 to ensure delivery to each con- 12 gressional leader as close to si- 13 multaneously as practicable, but 14 the time between delivery to each 15 congressional leader shall not be 16 greater than 1 hour. 17 ‘‘(bb) OFFICIAL TIME RE- 18 CEIVED; PUBLICATION.—Each 19 congressional leader shall record 20 the official time of the chamber 21 at receipt. In the case of notifica- 22 tion to a congressional leader in 23 both physical and electronic 24 form, the time recorded shall be 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:53 Nov 13, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8659.IH H8659 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8659 IH the time of receipt of the form 1 that was received first. Each con- 2 gressional leader shall, imme- 3 diately upon such receipt, inform 4 the Clerk of the House or the 5 Secretary of the Senate (as the 6 case may be) of the time of re- 7 ceipt, to be recorded and pub- 8 lished by the Clerk or Secretary. 9 ‘‘(cc) 48-HOUR PERIOD DE- 10 FINED.—In this subsection, the 11 term ‘48-hour period’ means the 12 48-hour period that begins at the 13 third earliest of the 4 times re- 14 corded under item (bb), including 15 any extension of such period 16 under paragraph (4)(D) and ex- 17 cluding any period disregarded 18 under paragraph (4)(C)(v). 19 ‘‘(II) SENIOR GOVERNMENT OF- 20 FICIALS.—The President shall trans- 21 mit such notification in such a man- 22 ner so as to ensure delivery to each 23 senior Government official not more 24 than 1 hour after the third earliest of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:53 Nov 13, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8659.IH H8659 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8659 IH the 4 times recorded under subclause 1 (I)(bb). 2 ‘‘(C) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.— 3 ‘‘(i) PRESUMPTIVELY PUBLIC.—Ex- 4 cept as provided in clause (ii), the Presi- 5 dent shall publicly release a notification 6 transmitted under subparagraph (A) at the 7 time when the 48-hour period begins. 8 ‘‘(ii) TEMPORARY WITHHOLDING AND 9 RELEASE.— 10 ‘‘(I) WITHHOLDING.—The Presi- 11 dent may withhold from public release 12 under clause (i) a portion of a notifi- 13 cation transmitted under subpara- 14 graph (A) only to the extent that the 15 President determines that— 16 ‘‘(aa) secrecy of such portion 17 is necessary to protect against an 18 imminent and specific threat to 19 human life; or 20 ‘‘(bb) such portion contains 21 classified information. 22 ‘‘(II) RELEASE.—Notwithstand- 23 ing any provision of law or Executive 24 order regarding the protection of clas- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:53 Nov 13, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8659.IH H8659 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8659 IH sified information, any portion of a 1 notification transmitted under sub- 2 paragraph (A) that is withheld under 3 subclause (I) shall be publicly released 4 not later than 180 days after— 5 ‘‘(aa) if there is not enacted 6 a law authorizing the action by 7 the President under subsection 8 (a), (b), (c), or (d) to which such 9 notification relates to take effect 10 or to be extended (as the case 11 may be), the date on which the 12 48-hour period begins; or 13 ‘‘(bb) if there is enacted 14 such a law, the date on which 15 such action ceases to have any 16 force or effect under such law (or 17 any subsequent law authorizing 18 such action to be extended). 19 ‘‘(D) INDEPENDENT ANALYSIS.—Con- 20 sistent with the protection of intelligence 21 sources and methods, each Commissioner of the 22 Commission may transmit to Congress an inde- 23 pendent analysis regarding any matter included 24 in a notification transmitted by the President 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:53 Nov 13, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8659.IH H8659 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 8659 IH under subparagraph (A) or related judgments 1 of the President or facts supplied by the Presi- 2 dent. 3 ‘‘(3) EFFECTIVENESS OF ACTION.—Unless 4 there is enacted a law authorizing an action by the 5 President under subsection (a), (b), (c), or (d) to 6 take effect or to be extended (as the case may be)— 7 ‘‘(A) if the President fails to transmit to 8 each congressional leader and each senior Gov- 9 ernment official a notification with respect to 10 such action as required by paragraph (2), such 11 action shall cease to have any force or effect at 12 the time that is 12 hours after the President 13 takes such action; and 14 ‘‘(B) if the President transmits to each 15 congressional leader and each senior Govern- 16 ment official a notification with respect to such 17 action as required by paragraph (2), such ac- 18 tion shall cease to have any force or effect at, 19 and may not take effect after, the end of the 20 48-hour period. 21 ‘‘(4) PROCEDURES FOR EXPEDITED CONGRES- 22 SIONAL CONSIDERATION.— 23 ‘‘(A) FAST TRACK CONSIDERATION IN THE 24 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:53 Nov 13, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8659.IH H8659 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 8659 IH ‘‘(i) RECONVENING.—Upon receipt of 1 a notification under paragraph (2), the 2 Speaker, if the House would otherwise be 3 adjourned, shall notify the Members of the 4 House that, pursuant to this paragraph, 5 the House shall convene as soon as the 6 Speaker deems practicable. 7 ‘‘(ii) PLACEMENT ON CALENDAR.— 8 Upon introduction in the House, the ap- 9 proval legislation shall be placed imme- 10 diately on the calendar. 11 ‘‘(iii) PROCEEDING TO CONSIDER- 12 ATION.—It shall be in order at any time 13 during the 48-hour period immediately to 14 move to proceed to consider the approval 15 legislation in the House. All points of order 16 against the motion are waived. Such a mo- 17 tion shall not be in order after the House 18 has disposed of a motion to proceed on the 19 approval legislation. The previous question 20 shall be considered as ordered on the mo- 21 tion to its adoption without intervening 22 motion. The motion shall not be debatable. 23 A motion to reconsider the vote by which 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:53 Nov 13, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8659.IH H8659 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 8659 IH the motion is disposed of shall not be in 1 order. 2 ‘‘(iv) CONSIDERATION.—The approval 3 legislation shall be considered as read. All 4 points of order against the approval legis- 5 lation and against its consideration are 6 waived. The previous question shall be con- 7 sidered as ordered on the approval legisla- 8 tion to its passage without intervening mo- 9 tion except two hours of debate equally di- 10 vided and controlled by the proponent and 11 an opponent. A motion to reconsider the 12 vote on passage of the approval legislation 13 shall not be in order. 14 ‘‘(B) FAST TRACK CONSIDERATION IN THE 15 SENATE.— 16 ‘‘(i) RECONVENING.—Upon receipt of 17 a notification under paragraph (2), if the 18 Senate has adjourned or recessed for more 19 than 2 days, the majority leader of the 20 Senate, after consultation with the minor- 21 ity leader of the Senate, shall notify the 22 Members of the Senate that, pursuant to 23 this paragraph, the Senate shall convene 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:53 Nov 13, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8659.IH H8659 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 8659 IH as soon as the majority leader deems prac- 1 ticable. 2 ‘‘(ii) PLACEMENT ON CALENDAR.— 3 Upon introduction in the Senate, the ap- 4 proval legislation shall be placed imme- 5 diately on the calendar. 6 ‘‘(iii) FLOOR CONSIDERATION.— 7 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Notwith- 8 standing Rule XXII of the Standing 9 Rules of the Senate, it is in order at 10 any time during the 48-hour period to 11 move to proceed to the consideration 12 of the approval legislation, and all 13 points of order against the approval 14 legislation (and against consideration 15 of the legislation) are waived. The mo- 16 tion to proceed is not debatable. The 17 motion is not subject to a motion to 18 postpone. A motion to reconsider the 19 vote by which the motion is agreed to 20 or disagreed to shall not be in order. 21 If a motion to proceed to the consider- 22 ation of the approval legislation is 23 agreed to, the approval legislation 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:53 Nov 13, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8659.IH H8659 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 8659 IH shall remain the unfinished business 1 until disposed of. 2 ‘‘(II) CONSIDERATION.—Consid- 3 eration of the approval legislation, and 4 of all debatable motions and appeals 5 in connection therewith, shall be lim- 6 ited to not more than 4 hours, which 7 shall be divided equally between the 8 majority and minority leaders or their 9 designees. A motion further to limit 10 consideration is in order and not de- 11 batable. An amendment to, or a mo- 12 tion to postpone, or a motion to pro- 13 ceed to the consideration of other 14 business, or a motion to recommit the 15 approval legislation is not in order. 16 ‘‘(III) VOTE ON PASSAGE.—The 17 vote on passage shall occur imme- 18 diately following the conclusion of the 19 debate on the approval legislation, and 20 a single quorum call at the conclusion 21 of the debate if requested in accord- 22 ance with the rules of the Senate. 23 ‘‘(IV) RULINGS OF THE CHAIR 24 ON PROCEDURE.—Appeals from the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:53 Nov 13, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8659.IH H8659 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 14 •HR 8659 IH decisions of the Chair relating to the 1 application of the rules of the Senate, 2 as the case may be, to the procedure [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]