[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2204 Reported in Senate (RS)]

<DOC>





                                                       Calendar No. 585
116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2204

                          [Report No. 116-292]

  To allow the Federal Communications Commission to carry out a pilot 
    program under which voice service providers could block certain 
                automated calls, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 23, 2019

  Mr. Crapo (for himself and Ms. Klobuchar) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
                      Science, and Transportation

                           November 16, 2020

               Reported by Mr. Wicker, with an amendment
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To allow the Federal Communications Commission to carry out a pilot 
    program under which voice service providers could block certain 
                automated calls, and for other purposes.

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

<DELETED>SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    This Act may be cited as the ``Data Analytics Robocall 
Technology Act of 2019'' or the ``DART Act of 2019''.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (a) Definitions.--In this section--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) the term ``Commission'' means the Federal 
        Communications Commission;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) the term ``gateway provider'' means a voice 
        service provider that, with respect to a consumer--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) does not have a direct relationship 
                with the consumer; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) offers an entry point onto the public 
                switched telephone network with respect to a call made 
                by the consumer;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) the term ``originating provider''--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) means a voice service provider that 
                permits a subscriber to originate a call that may be 
                transmitted on the public switched telephone network; 
                and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) includes a gateway provider;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (4) the term ``public safety answering point'' has 
        the meaning given the term in section 222(h) of the 
        Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 222(h)); and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (5) the term ``voice service'' means any service 
        that--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) is interconnected with the public 
                switched telephone network; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) furnishes voice communications to an 
                end user using resources from the North American 
                Numbering Plan or any successor to the North American 
                Numbering Plan adopted by the Commission under section 
                251(e)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 
                251(e)(1)).</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) Pilot Program.--Beginning not later than 18 months 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission may carry out a 
1-year pilot program under which, notwithstanding any other provision 
of law or regulation--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) a voice service provider may, except as 
        provided in paragraph (5)--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) use data analytics and caller 
                identification authentication procedures to identify 
                any call that the voice service provider reasonably 
                believes is highly likely to be unlawful; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) block a call identified under 
                subparagraph (A);</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) the Commission may not penalize a voice 
        service provider that, while acting in good faith under 
        paragraph (1), inadvertently blocks a lawful call;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) the Commission shall establish a process 
        through which--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) a caller that originates a call that a 
                voice service provider blocks under paragraph (1)(B) 
                may quickly report to the voice service provider that 
                the caller believes that the call should not have been 
                blocked; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) a voice service provider that receives 
                a report under subparagraph (A) shall evaluate--
                </DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (i) whether the call to which the 
                        report relates should have been blocked; 
                        and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (ii) the means by which to address 
                        future calls from the number to which the 
                        report relates;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (4) each voice service provider shall designate a 
        single point of contact to whom a caller may submit a report 
        described in paragraph (3);</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (5) a voice service provider that blocks a call 
        under paragraph (1)(B) shall maintain a list of numbers that 
        are not eligible to be blocked, including any number used--
        </DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) for outgoing calls by a public safety 
                answering point or a similar facility that is 
                designated to originate or route emergency 
                calls;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) to originate calls from a government 
                entity, such as a call generated during an emergency; 
                and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (C) by a school, or a similar institution, 
                to provide school-related notifications, such as a 
                notification regarding--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (i) a weather-related closure; 
                        or</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (ii) the existence of an emergency 
                        affecting a school or students attending a 
                        school;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (6) a voice service provider--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) may obtain, upon affirmative consent 
                provided by a consumer, a list of numbers from which 
                the consumer is willing to receive calls;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) shall, with respect to a consumer who 
                provides to the provider a list described in 
                subparagraph (A), block each call made to the consumer 
                from a number that is not on the list; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (C) may not share a list obtained under 
                subparagraph (A) with the Commission or any other voice 
                service provider; and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (7) the Commission shall ensure that no consumer 
        incurs any cost relating to the pilot program.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (c) Evaluation of Pilot Program.--If the Commission 
establishes the pilot program under subsection (b), after the 
expiration of the pilot program, the Commission may--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) make a determination regarding the 
        effectiveness of the pilot program; and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) if the Commission determines under paragraph 
        (1) that the pilot program was effective, make the pilot 
        program permanent with any adjustments that the Commission 
        determines to be necessary.</DELETED>

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Data Analytics Robocall Technology 
Act of 2019'' or the ``DART Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act--
            (1) the term ``Commission'' means the Federal 
        Communications Commission;
            (2) the term ``covered ruling'' means the ``Declaratory 
        Ruling and Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the 
        matter of Advanced Methods to Target and Eliminate Unlawful 
        Robocalls'', adopted by the Commission on June 6, 2019 (FCC 19-
        51; CG Docket No. 17-59);
            (3) the term ``public safety answering point'' has the 
        meaning given the term in section 222(h) of the Communications 
        Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 222(h)); and
            (4) the term ``voice service'' means any service that--
                    (A) is interconnected with the public switched 
                telephone network; and
                    (B) furnishes voice communications to an end user 
                using resources from the North American Numbering Plan 
                or any successor to the North American Numbering Plan 
                adopted by the Commission under section 251(e)(1) of 
                the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 251(e)(1)).

SEC. 3. RULEMAKING.

     Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Commission shall initiate a rulemaking to consider establishing a 
process under which the Commission shall maintain a list of numbers 
that are not eligible to be blocked by a voice service provider, which 
may include a number used--
            (1) for outgoing calls by a public safety answering point 
        or a similar facility that is designated to originate or route 
        emergency calls;
            (2) to originate calls from a government entity, such as a 
        call generated during an emergency;
            (3) by a school, or a similar institution, to provide 
        school-related notifications, such as a notification 
        regarding--
                    (A) a weather-related closure; or
                    (B) the existence of an emergency affecting a 
                school or students attending a school; and
            (4) for similar or emergency purposes, as determined 
        appropriate by the Commission.

SEC. 4. REPORTS ON DEPLOYMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF CALL BLOCKING AND 
              CALLER ID AUTHENTICATION.

    Not later than 180 days after the date on which the Commission 
receives any report under paragraph 90 of the covered ruling, the 
Commission shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
of the House of Representatives--
            (1) an analysis by the Commission with respect to the 
        effectiveness of various categories of call blocking tools, as 
        evaluated in the report; and
            (2) any legislative recommendations of the Commission 
        relating to the report.

SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

    Nothing in this Act may be construed to impede or delay the 
analysis by the Commission of the most effective means by which to 
maintain and administer a list of numbers that may not be blocked 
(referred to in the covered ruling as a ``Critical Calls List''), as 
considered in the covered ruling.
                                                       Calendar No. 585

116th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                                S. 2204

                          [Report No. 116-292]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

  To allow the Federal Communications Commission to carry out a pilot 
    program under which voice service providers could block certain 
                automated calls, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                           November 16, 2020

                       Reported with an amendment