Washington, DC -Energy and Commerce Committee Republican Leader Greg Walden (R-OR) and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Republican Leader Bob Latta (R-OH) released the following statement after the House passed the Preserving Home and Office Numbers in Emergencies (PHONE) Act to prevent families from losing their landline phone numbers after natural disasters.
“From wildfires in the West to hurricanes in the South, natural disasters have impacted the lives of many Americans. The last thing families should worry about when displaced from their leveled homes is whether they need to get a new landline phone number. The PHONE Act builds on the FCC’s existing process to give families suffering from natural disasters this certainty," said Walden and Latta. “We thank our House colleagues for working with us to make improvements to this legislation, and we look forward to working with Senate colleagues to further improve the bill."
Background:
Today, the House of Representatives passed the PHONE Act (H.R. 1289 ), which would ensure that a landline phone number will not be reassigned after a declared natural disaster and other conditions are met except at the request of the subscriber. The bill also allows one to cancel service cost-free during this time and subscribe again with the same number in the same local area.
