[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.