[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 411 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 411

Recognizing the 50th anniversary of the first 9-1-1 call in the United 
                                States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 15, 2018

  Ms. Klobuchar (for herself, Mr. Burr, and Mr. Nelson) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
                      Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Recognizing the 50th anniversary of the first 9-1-1 call in the United 
                                States.

Whereas, prior to the 1960s, the United States did not have a single designated 
        telephone number for the people of the United States to call for help in 
        times of emergency;
Whereas, in late 1967 and early 1968, the Federal Communications Commission and 
        the American Telephone and Telegraph Company developed a proposal to 
        make the digits 9-1-1 the emergency code throughout the United States;
Whereas, on February 16, 1968, the first 9-1-1 call was placed in Haleyville, 
        Alabama;
Whereas, in 1999, Congress passed the Wireless Communications and Public Safety 
        Act of 1999 (47 U.S.C. 615 et seq.), designating 9-1-1 as the national 
        emergency telephone number;
Whereas, by the end of the 20th century, nearly 93 percent of the population of 
        the United States, and 96 percent of the land area of the United States, 
        was covered by some type of 9-1-1 service;
Whereas the availability of 9-1-1 as a national emergency number has contributed 
        to the saving of an untold number of lives in the United States;
Whereas the people of the United States are educated from a young age to rely 
        upon the 9-1-1 systems of the United States to reach help in an 
        emergency;
Whereas the takers of 9-1-1 calls, known as public safety telecommunicators, 
        dedicate their lives to answering 9-1-1 calls and helping others;
Whereas those public safety telecommunicators are critical to ensuring the 
        safety of the general public and first responders;
Whereas, every day, public safety telecommunicators--

    (1) help to save and to protect lives;

    (2) direct help to where it is needed most; and

    (3) provide medical instruction, comfort, and reassurance; and

Whereas ongoing efforts to modernize 9-1-1 systems--

    (1) will ensure the 9-1-1 infrastructure of the United States remains 
resilient, robust, and innovative; and

    (2) will empower public safety telecommunicators to make increasingly 
critical contributions to the safety and security of the general public, as 
well as first responders: Now, therefore, be it

    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) honors the 50th anniversary of the first 9-1-1 call and 
        the establishment of 9-1-1 as the nationwide emergency number;
            (2) praises public safety telecommunicators for their 
        lifesaving work;
            (3) recognizes the importance of the 9-1-1 systems of the 
        United States and the need for robust and reliable access to 
        those systems; and
            (4) encourages the people of the United States to celebrate 
        the 50th anniversary of 9-1-1 and the lifesaving contributions 
        of public safety telecommunicators and first responders 
        facilitated by 9-1-1 systems.
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