untitled

PUBLIC LAW 116–172—OCT. 17, 2020

NATIONAL SUICIDE HOTLINE

DESIGNATION ACT OF 2020

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134 STAT. 832 PUBLIC LAW 116–172—OCT. 17, 2020

Public Law 116–172

116th Congress

An Act

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to designate 9–8–8 as the universal

telephone number for the purpose of the national suicide prevention and mental

health crisis hotline system operating through the National Suicide Prevention

Lifeline and through the Veterans Crisis Line, and for other purposes.

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 ‘‘National Suicide Hotline Designa-

tion Act of 2020’’.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds the following:

(1) According to the American Foundation for Suicide

Prevention, on average, there are 129 suicides per day in the

United States.

(2) To prevent future suicides, it is critical to transition

the cumbersome, existing 10-digit National Suicide Hotline to

a universal, easy-to-remember, 3-digit phone number and con-

nect people in crisis with life-saving resources.

(3) It is essential that people in the United States have

access to a 3-digit national suicide hotline across all geographic

locations.

(4) The designated suicide hotline number will need to

be both familiar and recognizable to all people in the United

States.

SEC. 3. UNIVERSAL TELEPHONE NUMBER FOR NATIONAL SUICIDE

PREVENTION AND MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS HOTLINE

SYSTEM.

(a) I

ENERAL

.—Section 251(e) of the Communications Act

of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 251(e)) is amended by adding at the end the

following:

‘‘(4) U

NIVERSAL TELEPHONE NUMBER FOR NATIONAL SUICIDE

PREVENTION AND MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS HOTLINE SYSTEM

.—

9–8–8 is designated as the universal telephone number within

the United States for the purpose of the national suicide preven-

tion and mental health crisis hotline system operating through

the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline maintained by the

Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use

under section 520E–3 of the Public Health Service Act (42

U.S.C. 290bb–36c) and through the Veterans Crisis Line main-

tained by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs under section

1720F(h) of title 38, United States Code.’’.

47 USC 251 note.

47 USC 609 note.

National Suicide

Hotline

Designation Act

of 2020.

Oct. 17, 2020

[S. 2661]

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134 STAT. 833 PUBLIC LAW 116–172—OCT. 17, 2020

(b) E

FFECTIVE

ATE

.—The amendment made by subsection (a)

shall take effect on the date that is 1 year after the date of

enactment of this Act.

EQUIRED

EPORT

.—Not later than 180 days after the date

of enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health

and Substance Use and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall

jointly submit a report that details the resources necessary to

make the use of 9–8–8, as designated under paragraph (4) of section

251(e) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 251(e)), as

added by subsection (a) of this section, operational and effective

across the United States to—

(1) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor-

tation of the Senate;

(2) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate;

(3) the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House

of Representatives; and

(4) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep-

resentatives.

SEC. 4. STATE AUTHORITY OVER FEES.

(a) A

UTHORITY

.—

(1) I

N GENERAL

.—Nothing in this Act, any amendment

made by this Act, the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.

151 et seq.), or any Commission regulation or order may prevent

the imposition and collection of a fee or charge applicable

to a commercial mobile service or an IP-enabled voice service

specifically designated by a State, a political subdivision of

a State, an Indian Tribe, or village or regional corporation

serving a region established pursuant to the Alaska Native

Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) for 9–8–8 related

services, if the fee or charge is held in a sequestered account

to be obligated or expended only in support of 9–8–8 services,

or enhancements of such services, as specified in the provision

of State or local law adopting the fee or charge.

(2) U

SE OF 9

–

8 FUNDS

.—A fee or charge collected under

this subsection shall only be imposed, collected, and used to

pay expenses that a State, a political subdivision of a State,

an Indian Tribe, or village or regional corporation serving a

region established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settle-

ment Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) is expected to incur that

are reasonably attributed to—

(A) ensuring the efficient and effective routing of calls

made to the 9–8–8 national suicide prevention and mental

health crisis hotline to an appropriate crisis center; and

(B) personnel and the provision of acute mental health,

crisis outreach and stabilization services by directly

responding to the 9–8–8 national suicide prevention and

mental health crisis hotline.

(b) F

CCOUNTABILITY

EPORT

.—To ensure efficiency, trans-

parency, and accountability in the collection and expenditure of

a fee or charge for the support or implementation of 9–8–8 services,

not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this

Act, and annually thereafter, the Commission shall submit to the

Committees on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and Appro-

priations of the Senate and the Committees on Energy and Com-

merce and Appropriations of the House of Representatives a report

that—

47 USC 251a.

47 USC 251 note.

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134 STAT. 834 PUBLIC LAW 116–172—OCT. 17, 2020

(1) details the status in each State, political subdivision

of a State, Indian Tribe, or village or regional corporation

serving a region established pursuant to the Alaska Native

Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) of the collection

and distribution of such fees or charges; and

(2) includes findings on the amount of revenues obligated

or expended by each State, political subdivision of a State,

Indian Tribe, or village or regional corporation serving a region

established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement

Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) for any purpose other than the

purpose for which any such fees or charges are specified.

EFINITIONS

.—In this section:

(1) C

OMMERCIAL MOBILE SERVICE

.—The term ‘‘commercial

mobile service’’ has the meaning given that term under section

332(d) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 332(d)).

(2) C

OMMISSION

.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Fed-

eral Communications Commission.

(3) IP-

ENABLED VOICE SERVICE

.—The term ‘‘IP-enabled voice

service’’ shall include—

(A) an interconnected VoIP service, as defined in sec-

tion 9.3 of the title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations,

or any successor thereto; and

(B) a one-way interconnected VoIP service.

(4) S

TATE

.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the meaning given that

term in section 7 of the Wireless Communications and Public

Safety Act of 1999 (47 U.S.C. 615b).

SEC. 5. LOCATION IDENTIFICATION REPORT.

(a) I

ENERAL

.—Not later than 180 days after the date of

the enactment of this Act, the Federal Communications Commission

shall submit to the appropriate committees a report that examines

the feasibility and cost of including an automatic dispatchable loca-

tion that would be conveyed with a 9–8–8 call, regardless of the

technological platform used and including with calls from multi-

line telephone systems (as defined in section 6502 of the Middle

Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1471)).

(b) D

EFINITIONS

.—In this section:

(1) A

PPROPRIATE COMMITTEES

.—The term ‘‘appropriate

committees’’ means the following:

(A) The Committee on Commerce, Science, and

Transportation of the Senate.

(B) The Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and

Pensions of the Senate.

House of Representatives.

(2) D

ISPATCHABLE LOCATION

.—The term ‘‘dispatchable loca-

tion’’ means the street address of the calling party and addi-

tional information such as room number, floor number, or

similar information necessary to adequately identify the loca-

tion of the calling party.

SEC. 6. REPORT ON CERTAIN TRAINING PROGRAMS.

(a) S

ENSE OF

ONGRESS

.—It is the sense of Congress that—

(1) youth who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or

queer (referred to in this section as ‘‘LGBTQ’’) are more than

4 times more likely to contemplate suicide than their peers,

with 1 in 5 LGBTQ youth and more than 1 in 3 transgender

youth reporting attempting suicide;

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134 STAT. 835 PUBLIC LAW 116–172—OCT. 17, 2020

(2) American Indian and Alaska Natives have the highest

rate of suicide of any racial or ethnic group in the United

States with a suicide rate over 3.5 times higher than the

racial or ethnic group with the lowest rate, with the suicide

rate increasing, since 1999, by 139 percent for American Indian

women and 71 percent for men;

(3) between 2001 and 2015, the suicide death rate in rural

counties in the United States was 17.32 per 100,000 individuals,

which is significantly greater than the national average, and

the data shows that between that same time period, suicide

rates increased for all age groups across all counties in the

United States, with the highest rates and the greatest increases

being in more rural counties; and

(4) the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services

Administration must be equipped to provide specialized

resources to these and other high-risk populations.

(b) R

EPORT

.—Not later than 180 days after the date of enact-

ment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and

Substance Use shall submit to the Committee on Commerce,

Science, and Transportation of the Senate, the Committee on

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, and the

Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representa-

tives a report that—

(1) details a strategy, to be developed in consultation with

the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National

Institute of Mental Health, and organizations capable of pro-

viding nationwide suicide prevention and crisis services for

LGBTQ youth, minorities, rural individuals, or other high-

risk populations, for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health

Services Administration to offer, support, or provide technical

assistance to training programs for National Suicide Prevention

Lifeline counselors to increase competency in serving high-

risk populations; and

(2) includes recommendations regarding—

(A) the facilitation of access to services that are pro-

vided to specially trained staff and partner organizations

for LGBTQ youth, minorities, rural individuals, and other

high-risk populations; and

(B) a strategy for optimally implementing an

Integrated Voice Response, or other equally effective

mechanism, to allow National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

callers who are LGBTQ youth, minorities, rural individuals,

Recommenda-

tions.

Strategy.

Consultation.

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134 STAT. 836 PUBLIC LAW 116–172—OCT. 17, 2020

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 2661:

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 166 (2020):

May 13, considered and passed Senate.

Sept. 21, considered and passed House.

or members of other high-risk populations to access specialized

services.

Approved October 17, 2020.

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