EMERGENCY REPORTING ACT

On 2026-04-20, Representative Rick W. Allen (R-GA-12) delivered a floor speech titled "EMERGENCY REPORTING ACT" in the House. The speech addressed taxes and also covered trade policy, education. It referenced legislation: HR5200.

EMERGENCY REPORTING ACT

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 69 (Monday, April 20, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 69 (Monday, April 20, 2026)] [House] [Pages H2974-H2976] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] EMERGENCY REPORTING ACT Mr. ALLEN. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5200) 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, and for other purposes. The Clerk read the title of the bill. The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 5200 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) Public hearings.-- (A) Requirement.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Commission shall hold not less than 1 public hearing relating to all events during the preceding 1-year period for which the System was activated for not less than 7 days. (B) Inclusion of certain individuals in hearings.--For each public hearing held under subparagraph (A), the Commission shall consider including-- (i) representatives of State governments, local governments, or Indian tribal governments in areas affected by such events; (ii) residents of the areas affected by such events, or consumer advocates; (iii) providers of communications services affected by such events; (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 events. (2) Reports.--Not later than 120 days after the date on which a public hearing held under paragraph (1) concludes, the Commission shall issue a report that includes, with respect to the events to which such hearing relates and to the extent known without requiring the collection of additional information-- (A) 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; (B) the approximate number of users and the amount of communications infrastructure potentially affected by an outage described in subparagraph (A); (C) the number and duration of any outages that prevent emergency communications centers from receiving caller location or number information or receiving emergency calls and routing such calls to emergency service personnel; and (D) any recommendations of the Commission on how to improve the resiliency of affected communications services or networks. (3) Development of reports.--In developing a report required by paragraph (2), the Commission shall consider information collected by the Commission with respect to the events to which such report relates, including information collected through the System and the relevant public hearing. (4) Publication of reports.-- (A) In general.--Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the Commission shall publish each report required by paragraph (2) on the website of the Commission upon the issuance of such report. (B) Exclusion.--In publishing a report under subparagraph (A), the Commission shall exclude information that is otherwise exempt from public disclosure under the [[Page H2975]] rules of the Commission or that was submitted to the Commission with a proper request for confidential treatment as described in section 0.459 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation). (b) Improvements to Network Outage Reporting.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall conduct an investigation and publish on the website of the Commission a report on-- (1) the value to public safety agencies of originating service providers including visual information to improve situational awareness about outages in the notifications provided to emergency communications centers, as required by the rules of the Commission; (2) the volume and nature of 9-1-1 outages that may go unreported under the outage notification thresholds of the Commission; (3) the balance between the value described in paragraph (1) to public safety agencies and the burden and practicality for originating service providers of including visual information in outage notifications as described in such paragraph; and (4) recommended changes to the rules of the Commission to address the matters reported under paragraphs (1) and (2). (c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be construed to provide the Commission or any other person authority over any provider of broadband internet access service beyond what is specifically authorized under this section. (d) Definitions.--In this section: (1) 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). (2) 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). (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) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal Communications Commission. (5) Emergency communications center.-- (A) In general.--The term ``emergency communications center'' means-- (i) a facility that-- (I) is designated to receive a 9-1-1 request for emergency assistance; and (II) performs 1 or more of the functions described in subparagraph (B); or (ii) a public safety answering point (as defined in section 222 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 222)). (B) Functions described.--The functions described in this subparagraph are the following: (i) Processing and analyzing 9-1-1 requests for emergency assistance and information and data related to such requests. (ii) Dispatching appropriate emergency response providers. (iii) Transferring or exchanging 9-1-1 requests for emergency assistance and information and data related to such requests with 1 or more other emergency communications centers and emergency response providers. (iv) Analyzing any communications received from emergency response providers. (v) Supporting incident command functions. (6) Indian tribal government; local government.--The terms ``Indian tribal government'' and ``local government'' have the meanings given such terms in section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122). (7) Interconnected voip service; state.--The terms ``interconnected VoIP service'' and ``State'' have the meanings given such terms in section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153). (8) Outage.--The term ``outage'' has the meaning given such term in section 4.5 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation). (9) System.--The term ``System'' means the Disaster Information Reporting System of the Commission. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Allen) and the gentlewoman from Virginia (Ms. McClellan) each will control 20 minutes. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Georgia. General Leave Mr. ALLEN. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous materials in the Record on the bill. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Georgia? There was no objection. Mr. ALLEN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of this bill, H.R. 5200, the Emergency Reporting Act, led by Representative Matsui. The reliability and resiliency of our emergency communications infrastructure are paramount. This legislation would direct the FCC to hold hearings and issue reports related to 911 outages after natural disasters and to make recommendations to improve outage reporting, bolster resiliency, and enhance coordination with State and local emergency officials. This will help make our communications systems stronger in the face of natural disasters. Madam Speaker, this legislation has strong bipartisan support. I encourage my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time. {time} 1640 Ms. McCLELLAN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5200, the Emergency Reporting Act. This important bill would improve the way we assess communication failures that keep Americans in the dark with no access to 911 or emergency information during and after natural disasters. When disaster strikes, the ability to dial 911 for help or to receive an emergency alert with potentially lifesaving information depends on networks being up and running during that event. The network staying up, in turn, depends on the strength and resiliency of our communications infrastructure and whether networks are being built and maintained to withstand increasingly powerful elements. Every Member of this body represents a district that is susceptible to natural disasters. Hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, flash floods, earthquakes, and many more have destroyed whole communities and decimated infrastructure serving entire regions. Madam Speaker, because we know they will continue to wreak havoc on the places we represent, it is critical that

Referenced legislation: HR5200, HR5200