[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 30 (Thursday, February 15, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S1169]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 411--RECOGNIZING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST 9-
                     1-1 CALL IN THE UNITED STATES

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

                              S. Res. 411

       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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