Enhancing First Response Act

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.

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Timeline

1. 25 February 2025

   Introduced

   Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

   Source: IntroReferral

2. 25 February 2025

   Introduced

   Introduced in Senate

   Source: IntroReferral

3. 30 April 2025

   Reported

   Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.

   Source: Committee

4. 2 September 2025

   Calendars

   Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 146.

   Source: Calendars

5. 2 September 2025

   Reported

   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.

   Source: Committee

6. 2 September 2025

   Reported

   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.

   Source: Committee

7. 10 September 2025

   Passed

   Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S6555; text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR S6555)

   Source: Floor

8. 10 September 2025

   Passed

   Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent.

   Source: Floor

9. 11 September 2025

   Floor

   Held at the desk.

   Source: Floor

10. 11 September 2025

    Floor

    Received in the House.

    Source: Floor

11. 11 September 2025

    Floor

    Message on Senate action sent to the House.

    Source: Floor

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

No version snapshots stored. Document URLs remain at the source.

Documents

4 official files

• Engrossed in Senate

  Engrossed in Senate · EN · 10 September 2025

  DownloadOpen at official source

• Reported to Senate

  Reported to Senate · EN · 2 September 2025

  DownloadOpen at official source

• Introduced in Senate

  Introduced in Senate · EN · 25 February 2025

  DownloadOpen at official source

• Introduced in Senate

  summary · EN · 25 February 2025

  Open at official source

Sponsors

• Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN] · D · Sponsor
• Sen. Blackburn, Marsha [R-TN] · R · Sponsor
• Sen. Heinrich, Martin [D-NM] · D · Sponsor
• Sen. Sullivan, Dan [R-AK] · R · Sponsor
• Sen. Luján, Ben Ray [D-NM] · D · Sponsor
• Sen. Capito, Shelley Moore [R-WV] · R · Sponsor
• Sen. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA] · D · Sponsor
• Sen. Budd, Ted [R-NC] · R · Sponsor
• Sen. King, Angus S., Jr. [I-ME] · I · Sponsor
• Sen. Thune, John [R-SD] · R · Sponsor
• Sen. Kelly, Mark [D-AZ] · D · Sponsor
• Sen. Crapo, Mike [R-ID] · R · Cosponsor
• Sen. Cantwell, Maria [D-WA] · D · Cosponsor
• · sscm00 · Standing

Related records

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