S 725 · Enhancing First Response Act
Held at the desk.
- Introduced
- Feb 25, 2025
- Latest action
- Sep 11, 2025
- Sponsor
- Sen. Amy Klobuchar [D-MN]
- Policy area
- Science, Technology, Communications
- Cosponsors
- 12
Summary
Enhancing First Response Act This bill requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to report on certain activations of the Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS). DIRS is a reporting system that is activated during severe weather and other events impacting communications service and enables communications providers to report outages and other degradations to service. If the system was activated for at least seven days, the FCC must issue a preliminary report that includes information about the number, duration, and nature of all associated outages. The FCC must also hold at least one public field hearing in the area affected by the event, and it must issue a final report that includes recommendations for improving the resiliency of affected networks or recovery efforts. Separately, the FCC must publish a general report on (1) the volume and nature of 9-1-1 outages that are not required to be reported under current outage notification rules, and (2) the value to public safety agencies of the inclusion of visual information in outage notifications from communications providers. The bill also requires the Office of Management and Budget, by 30 days after the bill's enactment, to categorize public safety telecommunicators as a protective service occupation under the Standard Occupational Classification System. Finally, the Office of the Inspector General of the FCC is directed to publish a report on the implementation of Kari’s Law, which requires multiline telephone systems to be preconfigured to allow users to dial 9-1-1 directly from any phone without dialing any additional code or prefix.
Recent actions
- Sep 11, 2025 Held at the desk.
- Sep 11, 2025 Received in the House.
- Sep 11, 2025 Message on Senate action sent to the House.
- Sep 10, 2025 Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S6555; text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR S6555)
- Sep 10, 2025 Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent.
- Sep 2, 2025 Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 146.
- Sep 2, 2025 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Reported by Senator Cruz with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 119-59.
- Sep 2, 2025 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Reported by Senator Cruz with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 119-59.
Votes
No recorded votes are available for this bill.