House Approves Gordon’s Bill To Shore Up 911 Service

November 13, 2007, WASHINGTON – The U.S. House of Representatives approved U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon’s legislation to shore up 911 services so people can access 911 during an emergency regardless of where they live or what kind of phone technology they use.

“If someone in Gallatin makes a 911 call, they should be routed to a call center in Sumner County rather than one in California,” said Gordon. “Internet phone service providers and other non-traditional phone services need access to the 911 networks to make sure emergency calls get to the right location. In an emergency, time wasted can mean lives lost.”

Today, the House approved Gordon’s bill, H.R. 3403, the 911 Modernization and Public Safety Act. The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.

The bill would give Internet phone providers direct access to the 911 system, enabling them to provide full 911 service to consumers. Wireless phone companies received access to the 911 system through similar legislation in the past.

The need for the legislation came to Gordon’s attention when 911 call center workers from Tennessee told the congressman they were receiving emergency calls from other parts of the country. The problem left Tennessee’s 911 workers scrambling to reach emergency workers in another state.

“Tennessee residents are fortunate to have a reliable 911 network to answer their emergency calls,” said Gordon. “Other parts of the country aren’t as fortunate and need this legislation to address these gaps. About 98 million Americans live in areas where Internet phone providers do not have access to the 911 network.”

Gordon’s bill also requires the 911 Implementation and Coordination Office to develop a national plan to quickly move the nation from the current 911 system to an interoperable Internet protocol-based emergency response network that can handle voice, video and data traffic.

“It’s common sense to ensure public safety whenever possible,” said Gordon. “We have an opportunity here to incorporate Internet phones into the nation’s 911 system, improve 911 services for the deaf community, and modernize 911 for the digital age. If we do this properly, we may avoid repeating these access problems in the future when new technologies are developed.”