[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 157 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 157

   Expressing the sense of the Senate that telephone service must be 
  improved in rural areas of the United States and that no entity may 
   unreasonably discriminate against telephone users in those areas.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 23, 2013

Ms. Klobuchar (for herself, Mr. Johnson of South Dakota, Mrs. Fischer, 
    Mr. Sanders, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Merkley, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Pryor, Mr. 
Grassley, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Enzi, Ms. Baldwin, and Mr. Thune) submitted 
   the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                 Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Expressing the sense of the Senate that telephone service must be 
  improved in rural areas of the United States and that no entity may 
   unreasonably discriminate against telephone users in those areas.

Whereas all people in the United States rely on quality, efficient, and 
        dependable telephone service in many aspects of life, including 
        conducting business, securing the safety of the public, and connecting 
        families;
Whereas multiple surveys conducted by the National Exchange Carrier Association 
        revealed that complaints of uncompleted telephone calls persist, with 
        the most recent survey in October 2012 indicating a 41 percent increase 
        in uncompleted calls between March and September of the same year;
Whereas the National Exchange Carrier Association and rural telecommunications 
        carriers in April 2012 supplied information that--

    (1) 6.4 percent of calls to rural areas failed, but only 0.5 percent of 
calls to urban areas failed; and

    (2) 11 percent of calls to rural areas were either poor quality or were 
delayed, compared to only 5 percent in urban areas;

Whereas the Federal Communications Commission was made aware of an issue 
        regarding telephone service connection in rural areas in November 2010 
        and has since issued a declaratory ruling and a notice of proposed 
        rulemaking with respect to the issue and has reached a settlement with 
        one telecommunications carrier;
Whereas, in a declaratory ruling in February 2012, the Federal Communications 
        Commission made it clear that blocking or otherwise restricting 
        telephone service is a violation of section 201(b) of the Communications 
        Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 201(b)), which prohibits unjust or unreasonable 
        practices, and section 202(a) of that Act (47 U.S.C. 202(a)), which 
        outlines the duty of a telecommunications carrier to refrain from 
        discrimination;
Whereas actions by the Federal Communications Commission have not significantly 
        decreased the prevalence of telephone calls being rerouted by 
        telecommunications carriers and some States are seeing an increase in 
        complaints as of April 2013;
Whereas telephone communications are vital to keeping rural areas of the United 
        States competitive in the economy, and a low rate of telephone call 
        completion results in economic injury to rural businesses, including 
        farmers, trucking companies, and suppliers who have seen thousands of 
        dollars in business lost when telephone calls are not completed;
Whereas the safety of the public is at risk from a lack of quality telephone 
        communications, including 911 services;
Whereas schools depend on telephone calls to notify students and parents of 
        emergencies, and health care centers depend on telecommunications 
        services to save lives and to communicate with rural patients;
Whereas small, local telecommunications carriers are losing valuable, multi-line 
        business subscribers because of a lack of quality telecommunications 
        services, which is financially detrimental to those carriers and 
        adversely affects the rural communities served by those carriers; and
Whereas it may cost a telecommunications carrier serving a rural area hundreds 
        of dollars to investigate each complaint of an uncompleted telephone 
        call: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) all providers must appropriately complete calls to all 
        areas of the United States regardless of the technology used by 
        the providers;
            (2) no entity may unreasonably discriminate against 
        telephone users in rural areas of the United States; and
            (3) the Federal Communications Commission should--
                    (A) aggressively pursue those that violate the 
                rules of the Federal Communications Commission and 
                create these problems, and impose swift and meaningful 
                enforcement actions to discourage--
                            (i) practices leading to telephone calls 
                        not being completed in rural areas of the 
                        United States; and
                            (ii) unreasonable discrimination against 
                        telephone users in rural areas of the United 
                        States; and
                    (B) move forward with clear, comprehensive, and 
                enforceable actions in order to establish a robust and 
                definitive solution to discrimination against telephone 
                users in rural areas of the United States.
                                 <all>