MATSUI AND BILIRAKIS INTRODUCE PAIR OF BILLS TO STRENGTHEN EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-CA-07) and Congressman Gus Bilirakis (R-FL-12) introduced a pair of bipartisan bills to improve the reliability and resiliency of America’s emergency communications networks. Together, the Emergency Reporting Act and the Kari’s Law Reporting Act would ensure that Americans can count on strong, effective, and modern 9-1-1 systems when disaster strikes.
“Emergencies can happen anywhere, at any time – and in those moments, every second counts,” said Congresswoman Matsui. “That’s why we are introducing these bipartisan bills to make sure Americans can always rely on our 9-1-1 system. The Emergency Reporting Act will strengthen the resiliency of our networks during disasters like California’s wildfires and better equip first responders to protect our communities. The Kari’s Law Reporting Act will ensure that critical protections Congress already enacted are working as intended, and that no American is ever prevented from reaching 9-1-1 in their time of need. Taken together, these bills are a strong step forward to modernize our emergency communications system, improve public safety, and save lives.”
“It is vital that we review the communication infrastructure in place after a major weather event to maximize coordinated public safety information during a future crisis,” said Congressman Bilirakis. “These systems must be reliable and standardized to allow for an effective response from local, state and federal leaders as they recover. Our legislation helps to ensure we are ready to achieve that paramount goal.”
Emergency Reporting Act
With wildfire seasons growing longer and more severe in California and across the country, resilient and reliable communication networks are essential to protecting communities, helping families stay connected, and giving first responders the tools they need to act swiftly. The Emergency Reporting Act would strengthen 9-1-1 networks by requiring the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to issue reports following major natural disasters on the extent to which people were unable to reach 9-1-1, and to develop recommendations to improve outage reporting, resiliency, and coordination with state and local officials. The bill also directs the FCC to review unreported outages and develop recommendations for mobile carriers to better notify 9-1-1 centers of disruptions, ensuring that first responders are not left in the dark during life-threatening events.
Kari’s Law Reporting Act
The Kari’s Law Reporting Act would build on the 2018 Kari’s Law by requiring the FCC to report on the extent to which multi-line telephone system (MLTS) manufacturers and vendors have complied with the requirement that callers be able to reach 9-1-1 directly without dialing additional digits. Kari’s Law was enacted after the tragic murder of Kari Hunt in 2013, when her daughter’s repeated attempts to call 9-1-1 from a hotel phone failed because the system required dialing “9” before any call.
The bills have the support of the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO), the world’s largest organization of public safety communications professionals.
“The public deserves reliable access to 9-1-1 during emergencies,” said Mel Maier, CEO and executive director of APCO International. “APCO applauds Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA) and Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) for leading efforts to strengthen our nation’s 9-1-1 systems. The Emergency Reporting Act and the Kari’s Law Reporting Act lay the groundwork to improve communications during crises and help first responders protect their communities. Together these bipartisan, zero-cost bills will ensure emergency communications centers have the information they need to perform their lifesaving work.”
Full text of the Emergency Reporting Act is available HERE.
Full text of the Kari’s Law Reporting Act is available HERE.
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