[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2345 Reported in House (RH)]

<DOC>





                                                 Union Calendar No. 646
115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 2345

                          [Report No. 115-836]

     To require the Federal Communications Commission to study the 
 feasibility of designating a simple, easy-to-remember dialing code to 
  be used for a national suicide prevention and mental health crisis 
                            hotline system.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 3, 2017

   Mr. Stewart (for himself, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mr. 
 McKinley, Mrs. Napolitano, Ms. Sinema, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Thompson of 
 Pennsylvania, and Mr. Bishop of Utah) introduced the following bill; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

                             July 18, 2018

Additional sponsors: Mr. Ryan of Ohio, Mr. O'Rourke, Ms. Barragan, Mr. 
  Donovan, Mr. Raskin, Mr. Curbelo of Florida, Mr. Joyce of Ohio, Mr. 
Katko, Ms. Eshoo, Ms. Judy Chu of California, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Kilmer, 
Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Brady of Pennsylvania, Ms. Rosen, Mr. 
  Rokita, Mr. Rutherford, Mr. Fortenberry, Mr. Roe of Tennessee, Mr. 
  Lawson of Florida, Mr. Messer, Mr. Schneider, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. 
Beyer, Mr. Jones, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Hastings, Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Tonko, 
    Ms. Norton, Mr. Visclosky, Mr. Bacon, Mr. Cooper, Mr. Brat, Mr. 
 Cicilline, Mr. LoBiondo, Mr. Wilson of South Carolina, Mr. Graves of 
Louisiana, Mr. Flores, Mr. Wittman, Mr. LaHood, Mr. Lamborn, Mr. Thomas 
   J. Rooney of Florida, Mr. Newhouse, Mr. Rouzer, Mr. Walberg, Mr. 
   LaMalfa, Mr. Hultgren, Mr. Wenstrup, Mr. Cole, Mr. Pittenger, Mr. 
Allen, Mr. Moulton, Mr. Babin, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Mr. Calvert, 
  Mr. Curtis, Mrs. Love, Mr. Frelinghuysen, Mr. Young of Alaska, Mr. 
 Perlmutter, Ms. Pingree, Mr. Rush, Mr. Rodney Davis of Illinois, Ms. 
 Clarke of New York, Mr. Foster, Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, 
 Mr. Pocan, Mr. Yarmuth, Mr. Gallego, Mr. Bilirakis, Mr. Shimkus, Mrs. 
   Wagner, Mr. Costello of Pennsylvania, Mr. Olson, Mrs. Carolyn B. 
  Maloney of New York, Mr. Loebsack, Mrs. Comstock, Mr. Aguilar, Mr. 
Crawford, Mr. Lance, Mrs. Brooks of Indiana, Mr. Carbajal, Ms. Michelle 
Lujan Grisham of New Mexico, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Young of Iowa, Mr. Hunter, 
Mr. Lowenthal, Ms. Lofgren, Mr. Bishop of Michigan, Mr. Gianforte, Mrs. 
Blackburn, Mr. Swalwell of California, Mr. Ross, Mr. Brown of Maryland, 
 Mrs. Dingell, Mrs. Demings, Mr. Stivers, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Correa, Mr. 
 Posey, Mr. Griffith, Ms. DelBene, Miss Rice of New York, Mr. Walden, 
  Mr. Emmer, Mr. Jenkins of West Virginia, and Mrs. Murphy of Florida

                             July 18, 2018

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on May 3, 
                                 2017]


_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To require the Federal Communications Commission to study the 
 feasibility of designating a simple, easy-to-remember dialing code to 
  be used for a national suicide prevention and mental health crisis 
                            hotline system.


 


    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``National Suicide Hotline Improvement 
Act of 2018''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act--
            (1) the term ``Commission'' means the Federal 
        Communications Commission;
            (2) the term ``covered dialing code'' means a simple, easy-
        to-remember, 3-digit dialing code; and
            (3) the term ``N11 dialing code'' means an abbreviated 
        dialing code consisting of 3 digits, of which--
                    (A) the first digit may be any digit other than 
                ``1'' or ``0''; and
                    (B) each of the last 2 digits is ``1''.

SEC. 3. STUDIES AND REPORTS.

    (a) Primary Study.--
            (1) In general.--The Commission, in coordination with the 
        Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use and the 
        Secretary of Veterans Affairs, shall conduct a study that--
                    (A) examines the feasibility of designating an N11 
                dialing code or other covered dialing code to be used 
                for a national suicide prevention and mental health 
                crisis hotline system; and
                    (B) analyzes the effectiveness of the National 
                Suicide Prevention Lifeline as of the date on which the 
                study is initiated, including how well the lifeline is 
                working to address the needs of veterans.
            (2) Requirements.--
                    (A) Commission.--In conducting the study under 
                paragraph (1), the Commission shall--
                            (i) consider--
                                    (I) each of the N11 dialing codes, 
                                including the codes that are used for 
                                other purposes; and
                                    (II) other covered dialing codes;
                            (ii) consult with the North American 
                        Numbering Council; and
                            (iii) review the information provided by 
                        the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and 
                        Substance Use and the Secretary of Veterans 
                        Affairs under subparagraphs (B) and (C), 
                        respectively, of this paragraph.
                    (B) SAMHSA study and report to assist commission.--
                To assist the Commission in conducting the study under 
                paragraph (1), the Assistant Secretary for Mental 
                Health and Substance Use shall analyze and, not later 
                than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
                report to the Commission on--
                            (i) the potential impact of the designation 
                        of an N11 dialing code, or other covered 
                        dialing code, for a suicide prevention and 
                        mental health crisis hotline system on--
                                    (I) suicide prevention;
                                    (II) crisis services; and
                                    (III) other suicide prevention and 
                                mental health crisis hotlines, 
                                including--
                                            (aa) the National Suicide 
                                        Prevention Lifeline; and
                                            (bb) the Veterans Crisis 
                                        Line; and
                            (ii) possible recommendations for improving 
                        the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 
                        generally, which may include--
                                    (I) increased public education and 
                                awareness; and
                                    (II) improved infrastructure and 
                                operations.
                    (C) VA study and report to assist commission.--To 
                assist the Commission in conducting the study under 
                paragraph (1), the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 
                study and, not later than 180 days after the date of 
                enactment of this Act, report to the Commission on how 
                well the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and the 
                Veterans Crisis Line, as in effect on the date on which 
                the study is initiated, is working to address the needs 
                of veterans.
    (b) Primary Commission Report.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Commission, in coordination with the 
        Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use and the 
        Secretary of Veterans Affairs, shall submit a report on the 
        study conducted under subsection (a) that recommends whether a 
        particular N11 dialing code or other covered dialing code 
        should be used for a national suicide prevention and mental 
        health crisis hotline system to--
                    (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
                Transportation of the Senate;
                    (B) the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
                Pensions of the Senate;
                    (C) the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the 
                Senate;
                    (D) the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 
                House of Representatives; and
                    (E) the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House 
                of Representatives.
            (2) Additional contents.--If the report submitted by the 
        Commission under paragraph (1) recommends that a dialing code 
        should be used, the report shall also--
                    (A) outline the logistics of designating such a 
                dialing code;
                    (B) estimate the costs associated with designating 
                such a dialing code, including--
                            (i) the costs incurred by service 
                        providers, including--
                                    (I) translation changes in the 
                                network; and
                                    (II) cell site analysis and 
                                reprogramming by wireless carriers; and
                            (ii) the costs incurred by States and 
                        localities;
                    (C) provide recommendations for designating such a 
                dialing code;
                    (D) provide a cost-benefit analysis comparing the 
                recommended dialing code with the National Suicide 
                Prevention Lifeline, as in effect on the date on which 
                the report is submitted; and
                    (E) make other recommendations, as appropriate, for 
                improving the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 
                generally, which may include--
                            (i) increased public education and 
                        awareness; and
                            (ii) improved infrastructure and 
                        operations.
                                                 Union Calendar No. 646

115th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                               H. R. 2345

                          [Report No. 115-836]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

     To require the Federal Communications Commission to study the 
 feasibility of designating a simple, easy-to-remember dialing code to 
  be used for a national suicide prevention and mental health crisis 
                            hotline system.

_______________________________________________________________________

                             July 18, 2018

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed