[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 126 (Monday, July 19, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H3642-H3644]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        EMERGENCY REPORTING ACT

  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 1250) to direct the Federal Communications Commission to 
issue reports after activation of the Disaster Information Reporting 
System and to make improvements to network outage reporting.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1250

       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 ``Emergency Reporting Act''.

     SEC. 2. REPORTS AFTER ACTIVATION OF DISASTER INFORMATION 
                   REPORTING SYSTEM; IMPROVEMENTS TO NETWORK 
                   OUTAGE REPORTING.

       (a) Reports After Activation of Disaster Information 
     Reporting System.--
       (1) Preliminary report.--
       (A) In general.--Not later than 6 weeks after the 
     deactivation of the Disaster Information Reporting System 
     with respect to an event for which the System was activated 
     for at least 7 days, the Commission shall issue a preliminary 
     report on, with respect to such event and to the extent 
     known--
       (i) the number and duration of any outages of--

       (I) broadband internet access service;
       (II) interconnected VoIP service;
       (III) commercial mobile service; and
       (IV) commercial mobile data service;

       (ii) the approximate number of users or the amount of 
     communications infrastructure potentially affected by an 
     outage described in clause (i);
       (iii) the number and duration of any outages at public 
     safety answering points that prevent public safety answering 
     points from receiving emergency calls and routing such calls 
     to emergency service personnel; and
       (iv) any additional information determined appropriate by 
     the Commission.
       (B) Development of report.--The Commission shall develop 
     the report required by subparagraph (A) using information 
     collected by the Commission, including information collected 
     by the Commission through the System.
       (2) Public field hearings.--
       (A) Requirement.--Not later than 8 months after the 
     deactivation of the Disaster Information Reporting System 
     with respect to an event for which the System was activated 
     for at least 7 days, the Commission shall hold at least 1 
     public field hearing in the area affected by such event.
       (B) Inclusion of certain individuals in hearings.--For each 
     public field hearing held under subparagraph (A), the 
     Commission shall consider including--
       (i) representatives of State government, local government, 
     or Indian Tribal governments in areas affected by such event;
       (ii) residents of the areas affected by such event, or 
     consumer advocates;
       (iii) providers of communications services affected by such 
     event;
       (iv) faculty of institutions of higher education;
       (v) representatives of other Federal agencies;
       (vi) electric utility providers;
       (vii) communications infrastructure companies; and
       (viii) first responders, emergency managers, or 9-1-1 
     directors in areas affected by such event.
       (3) Final report.--Not later than 12 months after the 
     deactivation of the Disaster Information Reporting System 
     with respect to an event for which the System was activated 
     for at least 7 days, the Commission shall issue a final 
     report that includes, with respect to such event--
       (A) the information described under paragraph (1)(A); and
       (B) any recommendations of the Commission on how to improve 
     the resiliency of affected communications or networks 
     recovery efforts.
       (4) Development of reports.--In developing a report 
     required under this subsection, the Commission shall consider 
     information collected by the Commission, including 
     information collected by the Commission through the System, 
     and any public hearing described in paragraph (2) with 
     respect to the applicable event.
       (5) Publication.--The Commission shall publish each report, 
     excluding information that is otherwise exempt from public 
     disclosure under the rules of the Commission, issued under 
     this subsection on the website of the Commission upon the 
     issuance of such report.
       (b) Improvements to Network Outage Reporting.--Not later 
     than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
     Commission shall conduct a proceeding and, after public 
     notice and an opportunity for comment, adopt rules to--
       (1) determine the circumstances under which to require 
     service providers subject to the 9-1-1 regulations 
     established under part 9 of title 47, Code of Federal 
     Regulations, to submit a timely notification, (in an easily 
     accessible format that facilities situational awareness) to 
     public safety answering points regarding communications 
     service disruptions within the assigned territories of such 
     public safety answering points that prevent--
       (A) the origination of 9-1-1 calls;
       (B) the delivery of Automatic Location Information; or
       (C) Automatic Number Identification;
       (2) require such notifications to be made; and
       (3) specify the appropriate timing of such notification.

[[Page H3643]]

       (c) Definitions.--In this section:
       (1) Automatic location information; automatic number 
     identification.--The terms ``Automatic Location Information'' 
     and ``Automatic Number Identification'' have the meaning 
     given those terms in section 9.3 of title 47, Code of Federal 
     Regulations, or any successor regulation.
       (2) Broadband internet access service.--The term 
     ``broadband internet access service'' has the meaning given 
     such term in section 8.1(b) of title 47, Code of Federal 
     Regulations, or any successor regulation.
       (3) Commercial mobile service.--The term ``commercial 
     mobile service'' has the meaning given such term in section 
     332(d) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 332(d)).
       (4) Commercial mobile data service.--The term ``commercial 
     mobile data service'' has the meaning given such term in 
     section 6001 of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation 
     Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1401).
       (5) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal 
     Communications Commission.
       (6) Indian tribal government; local government.--The terms 
     ``Indian Tribal government'' and ``Indian Tribal Government'' 
     have the meaning given those terms in section 102 of the 
     Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 
     Act (42 U.S.C. 5121).
       (7) Interconnected voip service.--The term ``interconnected 
     VoIP service'' has the meaning given such term in section 3 
     of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153).
       (8) Public safety answering point.--The term ``public 
     safety answering point'' has the meaning given such term in 
     section 222 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 
     222).
       (9) State.--The term ``State'' has the meaning given such 
     term in section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
     U.S.C. 153).

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Pallone) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Latta) each will 
control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey.


                             General Leave

  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on H.R. 1250.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New Jersey?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1250, the Emergency 
Reporting Act. This is an important and timely piece of legislation as 
many of our Western States are currently experiencing devastating 
wildfires, and as we enter another Atlantic hurricane season, 
obviously, it is important in my area as well.
  We rely on our communication devices every day, but it is critical 
that we have a signal or a connection during an emergency. In our world 
today, connectivity isn't a luxury; it is essential to ensuring our 
collective safety. Often, it can be the difference between life and 
death.
  It is the responsibility of the Federal Communications Commission to 
ensure that Americans stay connected when it matters most and that 
communication providers are prepared for whatever disasters might come 
their way. So if we want to improve the reliability of the 
communication networks, we must begin with better data.
  The Disaster Information Reporting Systems, or DIRS, was launched by 
the FCC in 2007 so that the communication providers could report the 
status of communications systems during disasters.
  In some cases, DIRS is activated in advance of a potential storm as a 
precautionary measure. In more extreme cases, DIRS is activated in the 
lead-up to a disaster and stays active for days on end. That is because 
networks can go on- and offline even after a storm's end.
  Under this bill, the FCC would be required to conduct an analysis of 
any disaster or event for which DIRS is activated by the FCC and stays 
active for a minimum of 7 days.
  First, the FCC would be required to issue a preliminary report within 
6 weeks after the date DIRS is deactivated, and this report would 
include detailed information about the number of outages, whether 
communications infrastructure was affected, and how many 911 centers 
were affected by service outages.
  The bill would then require the FCC to hold a field hearing not later 
than 8 months after the Commission deactivates DIRS. By making sure the 
FCC gets out of Washington and sees and hears real stories from the 
impacted areas, the FCC will get the opportunity to examine these 
events, the outages they cause, and how we can prevent them from 
happening in the future.
  I commend Representative Matsui, a senior leader of our committee, 
for her leadership on this bill and her passion for improving 
communications resiliency and reliability.
  I also thank my Republican colleagues for working with us to move 
this bill through the Energy and Commerce Committee and out of the full 
House last Congress. This is a good bill that will help us make our 
communication systems more resilient in the future.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the measure and look 
forward to its consideration by the Senate and the President, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LATTA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1250, the Emergency 
Reporting Act, that was introduced by Representatives Matsui, 
Bilirakis, Eshoo, Thompson, and Huffman.
  Today's legislation will allow 911 centers across the country to have 
access to confidential information on potential 911 outages, subject to 
appropriate safeguards.
  In times of disaster, 911 public safety answering points do not 
always know that 911 calls may not be going through. The Federal 
Communications Commission, the FCC, currently collects information on 
the status of communications infrastructure and communications network 
outage information. They make that information available to the 
Department of Homeland Security to coordinate overall emergency 
response efforts within a State between State and local first 
responders.
  Given the sensitive nature of this data to both national security and 
commercial competitiveness, this information is confidential. However, 
as first responders work to ensure the 911 system can seamlessly get 
back online and route calls to the neighboring call centers, access to 
this confidential information is important.
  This bill would help make timely outage information available to help 
first responders on the ground restore service as quickly as possible.
  The bill also requires the FCC to hold a field hearing in areas in 
which the Commission's Disaster Information Reporting System, DIRS, is 
activated for more than 7 days and to provide an initial and final 
report on the status of communication networks.
  The FCC only activates the DIRS system for significant natural 
disasters, such as major hurricanes or wildfires, and the bill limits 
these types of reports to only areas where damage was significant and 
sustained.
  This is an important bill to the resiliency of public safety 
networks, and I urge my colleagues to support the measure.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. PALLONE. I have no speakers, so the gentleman from Ohio may 
proceed.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LATTA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill is, again, a very important piece of 
legislation that has come out of the Energy and Commerce Committee. It 
is important to make sure that we do have that resiliency out there for 
our 911 system, which is so important to that person picking up that 
phone call but also who is receiving it on the other end.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask the House to pass the legislation, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I again urge my colleagues on both sides of 
the aisle to support this important legislation, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1250.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. ROSENDALE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to section 3(s) of House Resolution 
8, the yeas and nays are ordered.

[[Page H3644]]

  Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this motion 
are postponed.

                          ____________________