[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2661 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
S.2661
One Hundred Sixteenth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Friday,
the third day of January, two thousand and twenty
An Act
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to designate 9-8-8 as the
universal telephone number for the purpose of the national suicide
prevention and mental health crisis hotline system operating through the
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and through the Veterans Crisis
Line, and for other purposes.
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 Designation
Act of 2020''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) According to the American Foundation for Suicide
Prevention, on average, there are 129 suicides per day in the
United States.
(2) To prevent future suicides, it is critical to transition
the cumbersome, existing 10-digit National Suicide Hotline to a
universal, easy-to-remember, 3-digit phone number and connect
people in crisis with life-saving resources.
(3) It is essential that people in the United States have
access to a 3-digit national suicide hotline across all geographic
locations.
(4) The designated suicide hotline number will need to be both
familiar and recognizable to all people in the United States.
SEC. 3. UNIVERSAL TELEPHONE NUMBER FOR NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION AND
MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS HOTLINE SYSTEM.
(a) In General.--Section 251(e) of the Communications Act of 1934
(47 U.S.C. 251(e)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(4) Universal telephone number for national suicide
prevention and mental health crisis hotline system.--9-8-8 is
designated as the universal telephone number within the United
States for the purpose of the national suicide prevention and
mental health crisis hotline system operating through the National
Suicide Prevention Lifeline maintained by the Assistant Secretary
for Mental Health and Substance Use under section 520E-3 of the
Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb-36c) and through the
Veterans Crisis Line maintained by the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs under section 1720F(h) of title 38, United States Code.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall
take effect on the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of
this Act.
(c) Required Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and
Substance Use and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall jointly
submit a report that details the resources necessary to make the use of
9-8-8, as designated under paragraph (4) of section 251(e) of the
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 251(e)), as added by subsection
(a) of this section, operational and effective across the United States
to--
(1) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of
the Senate;
(2) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate;
(3) the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of
Representatives; and
(4) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives.
SEC. 4. STATE AUTHORITY OVER FEES.
(a) Authority.--
(1) In general.--Nothing in this Act, any amendment made by
this Act, the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.),
or any Commission regulation or order may prevent the imposition
and collection of a fee or charge applicable to a commercial mobile
service or an IP-enabled voice service specifically designated by a
State, a political subdivision of a State, an Indian Tribe, or
village or regional corporation serving a region established
pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601
et seq.) for 9-8-8 related services, if the fee or charge is held
in a sequestered account to be obligated or expended only in
support of 9-8-8 services, or enhancements of such services, as
specified in the provision of State or local law adopting the fee
or charge.
(2) Use of 9-8-8 funds.--A fee or charge collected under this
subsection shall only be imposed, collected, and used to pay
expenses that a State, a political subdivision of a State, an
Indian Tribe, or village or regional corporation serving a region
established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43
U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) is expected to incur that are reasonably
attributed to--
(A) ensuring the efficient and effective routing of calls
made to the 9-8-8 national suicide prevention and mental health
crisis hotline to an appropriate crisis center; and
(B) personnel and the provision of acute mental health,
crisis outreach and stabilization services by directly
responding to the 9-8-8 national suicide prevention and mental
health crisis hotline.
(b) Fee Accountability Report.--To ensure efficiency, transparency,
and accountability in the collection and expenditure of a fee or charge
for the support or implementation of 9-8-8 services, not later than 2
years after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually
thereafter, the Commission shall submit to the Committees on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation and Appropriations of the Senate and the
Committees on Energy and Commerce and Appropriations of the House of
Representatives a report that--
(1) details the status in each State, political subdivision of
a State, Indian Tribe, or village or regional corporation serving a
region established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement
Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) of the collection and distribution of
such fees or charges; and
(2) includes findings on the amount of revenues obligated or
expended by each State, political subdivision of a State, Indian
Tribe, or village or regional corporation serving a region
established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43
U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) for any purpose other than the purpose for
which any such fees or charges are specified.
(c) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Commercial mobile service.--The term ``commercial mobile
service'' has the meaning given that term under section 332(d) of
the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 332(d)).
(2) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal
Communications Commission.
(3) IP-enabled voice service.--The term ``IP-enabled voice
service'' shall include--
(A) an interconnected VoIP service, as defined in section
9.3 of the title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations, or any
successor thereto; and
(B) a one-way interconnected VoIP service.
(4) State.--The term ``State'' has the meaning given that term
in section 7 of the Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act
of 1999 (47 U.S.C. 615b).
SEC. 5. LOCATION IDENTIFICATION REPORT.
(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Federal Communications Commission shall
submit to the appropriate committees a report that examines the
feasibility and cost of including an automatic dispatchable location
that would be conveyed with a 9-8-8 call, regardless of the
technological platform used and including with calls from multi-line
telephone systems (as defined in section 6502 of the Middle Class Tax
Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1471)).
(b) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Appropriate committees.--The term ``appropriate
committees'' means the following:
(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 Energy and Commerce of the House of
Representatives.
(2) Dispatchable location.--The term ``dispatchable location''
means the street address of the calling party and additional
information such as room number, floor number, or similar
information necessary to adequately identify the location of the
calling party.
SEC. 6. REPORT ON CERTAIN TRAINING PROGRAMS.
(a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) youth who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer
(referred to in this section as ``LGBTQ'') are more than 4 times
more likely to contemplate suicide than their peers, with 1 in 5
LGBTQ youth and more than 1 in 3 transgender youth reporting
attempting suicide;
(2) American Indian and Alaska Natives have the highest rate of
suicide of any racial or ethnic group in the United States with a
suicide rate over 3.5 times higher than the racial or ethnic group
with the lowest rate, with the suicide rate increasing, since 1999,
by 139 percent for American Indian women and 71 percent for men;
(3) between 2001 and 2015, the suicide death rate in rural
counties in the United States was 17.32 per 100,000 individuals,
which is significantly greater than the national average, and the
data shows that between that same time period, suicide rates
increased for all age groups across all counties in the United
States, with the highest rates and the greatest increases being in
more rural counties; and
(4) the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration must be equipped to provide specialized resources to
these and other high-risk populations.
(b) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use
shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
of the Senate, the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
of the Senate, and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of
Representatives a report that--
(1) details a strategy, to be developed in consultation with
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National
Institute of Mental Health, and organizations capable of providing
nationwide suicide prevention and crisis services for LGBTQ youth,
minorities, rural individuals, or other high-risk populations, for
the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to
offer, support, or provide technical assistance to training
programs for National Suicide Prevention Lifeline counselors to
increase competency in serving high-risk populations; and
(2) includes recommendations regarding--
(A) the facilitation of access to services that are
provided to specially trained staff and partner organizations
for LGBTQ youth, minorities, rural individuals, and other high-
risk populations; and
(B) a strategy for optimally implementing an Integrated
Voice Response, or other equally effective mechanism, to allow
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline callers who are LGBTQ
youth, minorities, rural individuals, or members of other high-
risk populations to access specialized services.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.