Improving Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act of 2016
Latest action · Nov 16, 2016 Read twice. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 668.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedMay 21, 2015
- Passed HouseNov 14, 2016
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Improving Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act of 2016
(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require intermediate providers that offer the capability to transmit voice communications and signaling information from one destination to another, and that charge a rate to any other entity (including an affiliated entity) for such a transmission, to: (1) register with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and (2) comply with service quality standards to be established by the FCC.
An "intermediate provider" is an entity that: (1) enters a business arrangement with a long-distance voice service provider that makes the initial call path choice for more than 100,000 domestic retail subscriber lines, or with another intermediate provider, to carry, route, or transmit voice traffic from a call placed from or to an end user connection using a North American Numbering Plan resource; and (2) does not itself (directly or in conjunction with an affiliate) serve as such a long-distance initial call path choice provider in the context of originating or terminating a given call.
The bill prohibits such long-distance providers (including local exchange carriers, interexchange carriers, commercial mobile radio services, interconnected voice over Internet Protocol [VoIP] services, and certain non-interconnected VoIP services) from using an intermediate provider to transmit voice communications and signals unless the intermediate provider is so registered.
The FCC must: (1) ensure the integrity of the transmission of voice communications to all customers in the United States, (2) prevent unjust or unreasonable discrimination among areas of the United States in the delivery of such voice communications, and (3) make a registry of intermediate providers publicly available on the FCC website.
The bill shall not be construed to preempt or expand the authority of a state agency or public utility commission to collect data, or enforce state law and regulations, regarding the completion of intrastate voice communications.
Certain long-distance providers that make initial call path choices are exempt from service quality standards that the FCC is required to establish under this bill if they certify under a safe harbor provision in existing FCC rules that they monitor the performance of, or do not use, intermediate providers.
Cosponsors 16
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from May 21, 2015 to Sep 20, 2016; 6 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-MN | Collin C. Peterson | Original | May 21, 2015 |
| D-IA | David Loebsack | Original | May 21, 2015 |
| D-WI | Mark Pocan | Original | May 21, 2015 |
| D-VT | Peter Welch | Original | May 21, 2015 |
| D-MN | Richard M. Nolan | Original | May 21, 2015 |
| R-MT | Ryan K. Zinke | Original | May 21, 2015 |
| R-MO | Blaine Luetkemeyer | Sep 24, 2015 | |
| R-WI | Sean P. Duffy | Oct 9, 2015 | |
| D-WI | Ron Kind | Oct 21, 2015 | |
| R-MO | Sam Graves | Oct 21, 2015 | |
| R-CA | Doug LaMalfa | Dec 8, 2015 | |
| D-AZ | Ann Kirkpatrick | Feb 4, 2016 | |
| R-ND | Kevin Cramer | Jul 7, 2016 | |
| R-SD | Kristi L. Noem | Sep 8, 2016 | |
| R-OH | Robert E. Latta | Sep 8, 2016 | |
| R-UT | Chris Stewart | Sep 20, 2016 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Energy and Commerce Committee | Referred May 21, 2015Markup Sep 21, 2016Reported Nov 14, 2016 |
| Communications and Technology Subcommittee | Referred May 22, 2015Markup Sep 13, 2016Reported Sep 13, 2016 |
Actions 18
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Nov 16, 2016Read twice. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 668.
- Nov 15, 2016Received in the Senate.
- Nov 14, 2016Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Energy and Commerce. H. Rept. 114-805.
- Nov 14, 2016Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 629.
- Nov 14, 2016Mr. Burgess moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
In the Congressional Record 1
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| House | Debate and remarks H6127–H6129Text printed H6127 | David Young R-IA, Earl L. "Buddy" Carter R-GA, Janice D. Schakowsky D-IL, Michael C. Burgess R-TX | Nov 14, 2016 |
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Committee report
Congressional Budget Office cost estimate
- Oct 13, 2016H.R. 2566, Improving Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act of 2016As ordered reported by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on September 21, 2016
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 161, no. 79, May 21, 2015, page H3564.
Printed hearings 1
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serial No. 114-166 | RURAL CALL QUALITY AND RELIABILITY46 pages | Energy and Commerce Committee | Sep 8, 2016 |
Related bills 2
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 253 | Federal Communications Commission Consolidated Reporting Act of 2015 | Related bill | Sep 28, 2016 |
| S 827 | Improving Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act of 2016 | Identical bill | Nov 28, 2016 |
Titles 3
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to ensure the integrity of voice communications and to prevent unjust or unreasonable discrimination among areas of the United States in the delivery of such communications.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Improving Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act of 2015
- Short Titles as Passed House
- Improving Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act of 2016
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications.
Text 4
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Nov 16, 2016Placed on Calendar Senate
- Nov 14, 2016Reported in House
- Nov 14, 2016Engrossed in House
- May 21, 2015Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
