[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 202 (Thursday, December 7, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S5853]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. PADILLA (for himself, Mr. Tillis, and Ms. Klobuchar):
  S. 3444. A bill to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to improve 
the accessibility of 9-8-8, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
  Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I rise to introduce the bipartisan 
Local 9-8-8 Response Act. This legislation would boost our continued 
efforts to improve access to and accuracy of mental health crisis 
response through the 9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Lifeline.
  In an effort to ensure a quick response by a mental health 
professional for those in crisis, this legislation requires calls and 
messages to the lifeline to be routed by the call center geographically 
nearest to the caller rather than by area code. This eliminates an 
unnecessary handoff, while still protecting user privacy, so users can 
receive the care they need as quickly and safely as possible.
  This bill also requires carriers to allow calls and texts to the 9-8-
8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline even if the plan is inactive or the 
carrier is experiencing service interruptions or failures, just as is 
done currently with 9-1-1 calls. Further, this bill requires multiline 
systems like hotel and office phones to support the direct dialing of 
9-8-8 rather than requiring a caller to dial 9 or another number before 
dialing 9-8-8.
  Significant progress has been made in increasing access to quality 
mental health care in America. The 9-8-8 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline has 
been critical for supporting Americans in crisis. However, the current 
system routes you to a call center based on your area code rather than 
where you are actually calling from. This is a huge problem if a call 
center needs to send a mental health response team to help a caller 
that might be thousands of miles away in another city.
  I would like to thank Senator Tillis for introducing this important 
legislation with me. I would also like to thank Congressman Cardenas 
for leading this legislation in the House of Representatives, and I 
look forward to working with my colleagues to enact the Local 9-8-8 
Response Act as soon as possible.

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