,,ii  #aacth ,,congress  #b;d ,session  
,s4 #babe  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,march #ac1    
#bjad ,mr4 ,johnson of ,south ,dakota   
introduced the following bill2 which was
 read twice and referred to the         
,committee on ,commerce1 ,science1 and  
,transportation  ,a ,,bill  ,to amend   
the ,communications ,act of #aicd 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 communications4  #a4  ,short    
title  ,this ,act may be cited as the   
,public ,safety and ,economic ,security 
,communications ,act of #bjad4  #b4     
,ensuring the integrity of voice        
communications  ,part ,,ii of title ,,ii
 of the ,communications ,act of #aicd   
7#dg ,u4,s4,c4 #bea et seq47 is amended 
by adding at the end the following3     
#bfb4  ,ensuring the integrity of voice 
communications  7a7  ,registration and  
compliance by intermediate providers    

,an intermediate provider that offers or
 holds itself out as offering the       
capability to transmit covered voice    
communications from one destination to  
another and that charges any rate to any
 other entity 7including an affiliated  
entity7 for the transmission shall--    
7#a7 register with the ,commission2 and 
7#b7 comply with the service quality    
standards for such transmission to be   
established by the ,commission under    
subsection 7c77#a77;,b74  7b7  ,required
 use of registered intermediate         
providers  ,a covered provider may not  
use an intermediate provider to transmit
 covered voice communications unless    
such intermediate provider is registered
 under subsection 7a77#a74  7c7         
,commission rules  7#a7  ,in general    
,not later than #ahj days after the date
 of the enactment of this section1 the  
,commission shall promulgate rules to   
establish--  7,a7 a registry to record  
registrations under subsection 7a77#a72 
and  7,b7 service quality standards for 

the transmission of covered voice       
communications by intermediate          
providers4  7#b7  ,requirements  ,in    
promulgating the rules required by      
paragraph 7#a71 the ,commission shall-- 
7,a7 ensure the integrity of the        
transmission of covered voice           
communications to all customers in the  
,united ,states2 and  7,b7 prevent      
unjust or unreasonable discrimination   
among areas of the ,united ,states in   
the delivery of covered voice           
communications4  7d7  ,public           
availability of registry  ,the          
,commission shall make the registry     
established under subsection            
7c77#a77;,a7 publicly available on the  
website of the ,commission4  7e7  ,scope
 of application  ,the requirements of   
this section shall apply regardless of  
the format by which any communication or
 service is provided1 the protocol or   
format by which the transmission of such
 communication or service is achieved1  
or the regulatory classification of such

 communication or service4  7f7  ,rule  
of construction  ,nothing in this       
section shall be construed to affect the
 regulatory classification of any       
communication or service4  7g7          
,definitions  ,in this section3  7#a7   
,covered provider ,the term covered     
provider has the meaning given the term 
in section #fd4baja of title #dg1 ,code 
of ,federal ,regulations1 or any        
successor thereto4  7#b7 ,covered voice 
communication  ,the term covered voice  
communication means a voice             
communication 7including any related    
signaling information7 that is          
generated--  7,a7 from the placement of 
a call from a connection using a ,north 
,american ,numbering ,plan resource or a
 call placed to a connection using such 
a numbering resource2 and  7,b7 through 
any service provided by a covered       
provider4  7#c7  ,intermediate provider 
,the term intermediate provider means   
any entity that--  7,a7 carries or      
processes traffic that is generated from

 the placement of a call from a         
connection using a ,north ,american     
,numbering ,plan resource or a call     
placed to a connection using such a     
numbering resource2 and  7,b7 does not  
itself originate or terminate such      
traffic in the context of the carriage  
or processing4  4