[Senate Report 119-59]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 146
119th Congress } { Report
SENATE
1st Session } { 119-59
_______________________________________________________________________
ENHANCING FIRST RESPONSE ACT
__________
R E P O R T
of the
COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND
TRANSPORTATION
on
S. 725
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
September 2, 2025.--Ordered to be printed
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U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
59-010 WASHINGTON : 2025
SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
one hundred nineteenth congress
first session
TED CRUZ, Texas, Chairman
JOHN THUNE, South Dakota MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota
DEB FISCHER, Nebraska BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii
JERRY MORAN, Kansas EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts
DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska GARY C. PETERS, Michigan
MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin
TODD YOUNG, Indiana TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois
TED BUDD, North Carolina JACKY ROSEN, Nevada
ERIC SCHMITT, Missouri BEN RAY LUJAN, New Mexico
JOHN CURTIS, Utah JOHN W. HICKENLOOPER, Colorado
BERNIE MORENO, Ohio JOHN FETTERMAN, Pennsylvania
TIM SHEEHY, Montana ANDY KIM, New Jersey
SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia LISA BLUNT ROCHESTER, Delaware
CYNTHIA M. LUMMIS, Wyoming
Brad Grantz, Majority Staff Director
Lila Harper Helms, Democratic Staff Director
Calendar No. 146
119th Congress } { Report
SENATE
1st Session } { 119-59
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ENHANCING FIRST RESPONSE ACT
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September 2, 2025.--Ordered to be printed
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Mr. Cruz, from the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 725]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, to
which was referred the bill (S. 725) 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, to categorize public
safety telecommunicators as a protective service occupation
under the Standard Occupational Classification system, and for
other purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably
thereon with an amendment, in the nature of a substitute, and
recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of S. 725, Enhancing First Response Act, is to
require the Federal Communications Commission to hold a public
hearing concerning activations of at least 7 days of the
Disaster Information Reporting System, to issue a report
following each hearing, to issue a report on potential
improvements to network outage reporting, and to issue a report
on compliance with Kari's Law,\1\ as well as for the Office of
Management and Budget to categorize public safety
telecommunicators as a protective service occupation under the
Standard Occupational Classification system.
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\1\Kari's Law Act of 2017, Public Law 115-127, 132 Stat. 326
(2018).
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BACKGROUND AND NEEDS
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) established the
Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) on September 11,
2007, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.\2\ DIRS is a
system the FCC activates to primarily track network and
cellular phone outages in a disaster area. DIRS works by having
network providers submit outage information during major
disasters, as well as information on subsequent recovery
efforts. DIRS currently collects information from wireline,
wireless, broadcast, cable, interconnected VoIP, and broadband
service providers.\3\ DIRS was activated six times in 2022,
five times in 2023, seven times in 2024, and twice already this
year.\4\ The FCC compiles the data it collects via DIRS and, in
addition to providing network status information to Federal
emergency management officials, publishes reports of aggregated
outage and restoration information.\5\
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\2\``Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS),'' Federal
Communications Commission, https://www.fcc.gov/general/disaster-
information-reporting-system-dirs-0; Federal Communications Commission,
``Resilient Networks,'' Second Report and Order and Second Further
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, FCC Record, vol. 39 (2024), no. 1, p.
623, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-FCC-Rcd-V39No1/pdf/GPO-
FCC-Rcd-V39No1.pdf.
\3\Ibid.
\4\``Incident Management and Investigations,'' Federal
Communications Commission, https://www.fcc.gov/incident-management-and-
investigations.
\5\Supra note 2.
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The Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) System is
managed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and used
by the Federal Government to classify workers into occupational
categories for data collection purposes, wherein workers are
classified into 867 detailed occupations.\6\ The SOC System was
last revised in 2018 and contains 23 major groups, one of which
is referred to as protective service occupations.\7\ Public
safety telecommunicators, a designation that includes 911
operators, are classified within the major group as office and
administrative support occupations.\8\ On June 12, 2024, OMB
published a Federal Register notice announcing the SOC System's
possible revision in 2028.\9\
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\6\``Standard Occupational Classification,'' U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics, https://www.bls.gov/soc/.
\7\``2018 Standard Occupational Classification System,'' U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, https://www.bls.gov/soc/2018/
major_groups.htm.
\8\Ibid.
\9\Office of Management and Budget, ``Statistical Policy Directive
No. 10 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC)--Request for Comments
on Possible Revision for 2028,'' Federal Register, vol. 89, no. 114
(June 12, 2024), p. 49911, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-
06-12/pdf/2024-12825.pdf.
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Kari's Law\10\ was enacted on February 16, 2018, following
the tragedy of a woman who was killed in a hotel room by her
estranged husband while their children listened in on the other
side of the door.\11\ The children attempted but ultimately
were unable to dial 911 due to the hotel phone system's
requirement to dial 9 before reaching an outside line.\12\
Kari's Law requires multi-line telephone system vendors, such
as those who service hotels, to allow users to dial 911
directly without the need for additional digits, including
prefixes or trunk codes.\13\
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\10\ Kari's Law Act of 2017, Public Law 115-127, 132 Stat. 326
(2018).
\11\``The Personal Story Behind Kari's Law,'' Federal
Communications Commission, https://www.fcc.gov/news-events/podcast/
personal-story-behind-karis-law.
\12\Ibid.
\13\Kari's Law, supra note 10.
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SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS
S. 725 would require the FCC to do the following:
Conduct not less than one annual public hearing
concerning all DIRS activations that lasted at least 7
days;
Within 120 days of each public hearing, issue a
report concerning the number and duration of certain
outages and related information;
Not later than 1 year after enactment, issue a
report on the value to public safety agencies of
providing visual information to improve awareness of
outages in the notifications provided to public safety
answering points (i.e., 911 call center), the volume
and nature of 911 outages that may currently go
unreported under the FCC's notification outage
thresholds, the balance between the value of providing
visual information and the burden and practicality of
providing it, and any recommended changes to FCC rules
that would address either of the first two of these
concerns; and
Issue a report on multi-line telephone manufacturers
and vendors' compliance with Kari's Law.
Separate from the FCC, S. 725 would require OMB to
reclassify public safety telecommunicators as a protective
service occupation under the SOC System.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
S. 725 was introduced on February 25, 2025, by Senator
Klobuchar (for herself and Senators Blackburn, Heinrich,
Sullivan, Lujan, Capito, Markey, Budd, King, Thune, and Kelly)
and was referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation of the Senate. Senators Crapo and Cantwell are
additional cosponsors. On April 30, 2025, the Committee met in
open Executive Session and, by voice vote, ordered S. 725
reported favorably with an amendment (in the nature of a
substitute).
S. 725 is a combination of two prior House bills: the 911
Saves Act, which was reintroduced in the 119th Congress, and
the Emergency Reporting Act, which was last introduced in the
118th Congress.
H.R. 637, the 911 SAVES Act, a partial House companion bill
to S. 725, was introduced on January 22, 2025, by
Representative Torres (CA) (for herself and Representative
Fitzpatrick) and was referred to the Committee on Education and
Workforce of the House of Representatives. Twenty-three
Representatives are additional cosponsors.
118th Congress
H.R. 7043, the Emergency Reporting Act, was introduced on
January 18, 2024, by Representative Matsui (for herself and
Representative Bilirakis), and was referred to the Committee on
Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives.
H.R. 6319, the 911 SAVES Act of 2024, was introduced on
November 8, 2023, by Representative Torres (for herself and
Representative Fitzpatrick), and was referred to the Committee
on Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives.
There were 136 additional cosponsors. On July 10, 2024, that
Committee met in open Executive Session and, by a vote of 42-0,
ordered H.R. 6319 reported favorably with an amendment.
117th Congress
H.R. 1250, the Emergency Reporting Act, was introduced on
February 23, 2021, by Representative Matsui (for herself and
Representatives Bilirakis, Eshoo, Thompson, and Huffman), and
was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the
House of Representatives. Representative Taylor was an
additional cosponsor. On July 20, 2021, H.R. 1250 passed the
House under suspension of the rules.
H.R. 2351, the 911 SAVES Act, was introduced on April 1,
2021, by Representative Torres (for herself and 50 other
Representatives), and was referred to the Committee on
Education and Labor of the House of Representatives. Eighty
Representatives were additional cosponsors.
S. 1175, a Senate companion to H.R. 2351, was introduced on
April 15, 2021, by Senator Burr (for himself and Senator
Klobuchar), and was referred to the Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate. Senators
Ernst, Blumenthal, Manchin, Cortez Masto, Hassan, Crapo, Risch,
Thune, Blackburn, Cramer, Brown, Capito, Coons, and Tester were
additional cosponsors.
ESTIMATED COSTS
In accordance with paragraph 11(a) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate and section 403 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee provides the
following cost estimate, prepared by the Congressional Budget
Office:
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S. 725 would require the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) to hold an annual public hearing and issue a report about
all the disasters within the past year that caused its Disaster
Information Reporting System to be activated for at least seven
days. In addition, the bill would require the FCC to report on
network outages and on the extent to which manufacturers and
vendors of multi-line telephone systems have complied with a
requirement that users of such systems may call 9-1-1 without
dialing any additional digits. Finally, S. 725 would require
the Office of Management and Budget to reclassify public safety
telecommunicators as a protective service occupation under the
Standard Occupational Classification within 30 days of
enactment.
Using information about the cost of similar provisions, CBO
estimates that implementing S. 725 would cost $1 million over
the 2025-2030 period. However, because the FCC is authorized to
collect fees each year sufficient to offset the appropriated
costs of its regulatory activities, CBO estimates that the net
cost to the FCC would be negligible, assuming appropriation
actions consistent with that authority.
If the FCC increases annual fee collections to offset the
costs of implementing provisions in the bill, S. 725 would
increase the cost of an existing private-sector mandate on
entities required to pay those fees. CBO estimates that the
incremental cost of the mandate would be small and would fall
well below the annual threshold established in the Unfunded
Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) for private-sector mandates ($206
million in 2025, adjusted annually for inflation).
S. 725 contains no intergovernmental mandates as defined in
UMRA.
The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are David Hughes
(for federal costs) and Rachel Austin (for mandates). The
estimate was reviewed by Christina Hawley Anthony, Deputy
Director of Budget Analysis.
Phillip L. Swagel,
Director, Congressional Budget Office.
REGULATORY IMPACT STATEMENT
In accordance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee provides the
following evaluation of the regulatory impact of the
legislation, as reported:
Number of Persons Covered
S. 725 would likely require the collection of information
from multi-line telephone system manufacturers and vendors for
the report on compliance with Kari's Law. Public safety
telecommunicators would be reclassified as a protective service
occupation under the SOC System, so the number of public safety
telecommunicators would be impacted. The report in S. 725
related to DIRS activations would not require the collection of
additional information (and thus is unlikely to affect
additional persons). However, the collection of some
information from public safety answering points may be required
for the report on potential improvements to network outage
alerts.
Economic Impact
S. 725 is not expected to have an adverse impact on the
Nation's economy.
Privacy
S. 725 would not impact the personal privacy of
individuals.
Paperwork
The Committee does not anticipate a major increase in
paperwork burdens for private individuals or businesses
resulting from the passage of this legislation. S. 725 states
that for reports issued following a public hearing, the FCC may
not require the collection of additional information beyond
what is already collected by the FCC. The collection of some
information from public safety answering points may be required
for the report on potential improvements to network outage
alerts. Additionally, the report on Kari's Law compliance would
likely require the collection of information from multi-line
telephone system manufacturers and vendors.
CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING
In compliance with paragraph 4(b) of rule XLIV of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee provides that no
provisions contained in the bill, as reported, meet the
definition of congressionally directed spending items under the
rule.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1. Short title.
This section would provide that the bill may be cited as
the ``Enhancing First Response Act''.
Section 2. Reports after activation of Disaster Information Reporting
System; improvements to network outage reporting.
This section would define the terms ``Automatic Location
Information'', ``Automatic Number Identification'', ``broadband
internet access service'', ``commercial mobile service'',
``commercial mobile data service'', ``Commission'', ``Indian
tribal government'', ``local government'', ``interconnected
VoIP service'', ``multi-line telephone system'', ``outage'',
``public safety answering point'', ``State'', and ``System''.
This section would require the FCC to hold no less than one
public hearing per year regarding each time within the past
year the DIRS system was activated for at least 7 days. The FCC
would be required to consider including individuals from State
and local government, the telecommunications industry, the
first responder community, among others, at the public hearing.
Within 120 days of each public hearing, the FCC would also
be required to issue a report with the number and duration of
known outages for broadband internet access service,
interconnected VoIP service, commercial mobile service, and
commercial mobile data service. The report would also be
required to include the approximate number of users and the
amount of communications infrastructure potentially affected by
any outages, the number and duration of any outages preventing
public safety answering points from receiving caller location
or number information and routing such calls to emergency
service personnel, and any FCC recommendations on how to
improve the resiliency of affected networks and network
recovery efforts. When issuing the report, the FCC would be
required to exempt from public disclosure company-specific
information, as well as information submitted with a proper
request for confidential treatment.
Lastly, this section would require the FCC, within 1 year
of enactment, to investigate and publish a report on the
following:
The value to public safety agencies of originating
service providers including visual information to
improve awareness about outages in the notifications
provided to public safety answering points;
The volume and nature of 911 outages that may go
unreported under the FCC's notification outage
thresholds;
The balance between the value of providing visual
information and the burden and practicality of
providing it; and
Recommended changes to FCC rules that would address
either of the first two concerns.
Section 3. Reporting of public safety telecommunicators as protective
service occupations.
This section would state multiple congressional findings
concerning the value of public safety telecommunicators, the
purpose of the SOC System, and the purpose of reclassifying
public safety telecommunicators within the SOC System.
Lastly, this section would require the Director of OMB,
within 30 days of enactment, to categorize public safety
telecommunicators as a protective service occupation under the
SOC System.
Section 4. Report on implementation of the Kari's Law Act of 2017.
This section would require the FCC to publish a report
regarding compliance with Kari's Law no later than 180 days
after enactment. The report would be required to include the
extent to which multi-line telephone system manufacturers and
vendors have complied with Kari's Law, potential difficulties
and obstacles with compliance, recommendations, if necessary,
on how the FCC can improve enforcement, and legislative
recommendations to Congress, if necessary, with potential fixes
to any issues raised therein.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee states that the
bill as reported would make no change to existing law.
[all]