H.R. 7132 · 117th Congress

Safe Connections Act of 2022

Introduced on Mar 17, 2022 by Ann M. Kuster (D-NH-2). 8 cosponsors, 1 of them from another party. Became Public Law 117-223.

Stage
Became law
Public Law 117-223
Introduced
Mar 17, 2022
Cosponsors
8
1 from the other party
Policy area
Science, Technology, Communications
Open in the Congress explorerCongress.govAlert me

Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. Reported by committee
  3. Passed one chamber
  4. Passed both chambers
  5. Sent to the President
  6. Became law

Official title

To preserve safe access to communications services for survivors of domestic violence and other crimes, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Administrative law and regulatory procedures
  • Domestic violence and child abuse
  • Human trafficking
  • Internet, web applications, social media
  • Right of privacy
  • Telephone and wireless communication

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Public Law, Dec 7, 2022). Public domain.

Safe Connections Act of 2022

This act establishes requirements concerning access to communication services for survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking, and related harms.

At a survivor's request, a mobile service provider must separate from a shared mobile service contract the survivor's line (and the line of any individual in the survivor's care) from the abuser's line unless separation is operationally or technologically infeasible. A survivor requesting this must (1) verify through appropriate documentation that an individual under the contract committed or allegedly committed an act of domestic violence, trafficking, or a related criminal act against the survivor; and (2) assume financial responsibility for services after a line separation.

A provider may not charge fees or impose other requirements on such requests. Additionally, a provider must

  • separate the line within two business days of receiving a request;
  • allow requests to be made remotely (if feasible);
  • meet conditions related to confidentiality of, disposal of, and other matters concerning communications about requests; and
  • make information about the process for requests available through consumer-facing communications (e.g., websites).

The act (1) provides liability protection for providers' acts or omissions undertaken to comply with such requests, and (2) requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to adopt rules for these requests.

Additionally, the FCC must (1) expand access to federally subsidized communication services for survivors facing financial hardship, and (2) evaluate this expanded access.

The FCC must also consider rules requiring communication service providers to omit from consumer-facing logs calls and texts to hotlines for domestic violence and similar issues while retaining internal records.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

Ann M. KusterD-NH-2Sponsor

Democrats · 7

Republicans · 1

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

No recorded roll call on this measure: it moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, or has not reached the floor.

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Mar 17, 2022Introduced in House
  2. Mar 17, 2022Introduced in House
  3. Mar 17, 2022 · HouseReferred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
  4. Mar 18, 2022 · HouseReferred to the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology.
  5. Jun 15, 2022 · HouseSubcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
  6. Jun 15, 2022 · HouseForwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee by the Yeas and Nays: 29 - 0 .
  7. Jul 13, 2022 · HouseCommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
  8. Jul 13, 2022 · HouseOrdered to be Reported by the Yeas and Nays: 53 - 0.
  9. Jul 26, 2022Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Energy and Commerce. H. Rept. 117-438.
  10. Jul 26, 2022 · HouseReported (Amended) by the Committee on Energy and Commerce. H. Rept. 117-438.
  11. Jul 26, 2022 · HousePlaced on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 342.
  12. Jul 26, 2022 · HouseMr. Doyle, Michael F. moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
  13. Jul 26, 2022 · HouseConsidered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H7103-7106)
  14. Jul 26, 2022 · HouseDEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 7132.
  15. Jul 26, 2022 · HouseAt the conclusion of debate, the Yeas and Nays were demanded and ordered. Pursuant to the provisions of clause 8, rule XX, the Chair announced that further proceedings on the motion would be postponed.
  16. Jul 27, 2022 · HousePursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 1254, proceedings on H.R. 7132 are considered vacated.
  17. Jul 27, 2022Passed/agreed to in House: Pursuant to section 5 of H. Res. 1254, and the motion offered by Mr. Kildee, the following bills passed under suspension of the rules: H.R. 623, as amended; H.R. 3952, as amended; H.R. 3962, as amended; H.R. 4551; H.R. 5313, as amended; H.R. 6933; H.R. 7132, as amended; H.R. 7361; H.R. 7569; H.R. 7624, as amended; H.R. 7733, as amended; and H.R. 7981, as amended.(consideration: CR H7197-7211, H7219-7220, H7223-7237; text: 07/26/2022 CR H7103-7105)
  18. Jul 27, 2022 · HousePursuant to section 5 of H. Res. 1254, and the motion offered by Mr. Kildee, the following bills passed under suspension of the rules: H.R. 623, as amended; H.R. 3952, as amended; H.R. 3962, as amended; H.R. 4551; H.R. 5313, as amended; H.R. 6933; H.R. 7132, as amended; H.R. 7361; H.R. 7569; H.R. 7624, as amended; H.R. 7733, as amended; and H.R. 7981, as amended. (consideration: CR H7197-7211, H7219-7220, H7223-7237; text: 07/26/2022 CR H7103-7105)
  19. Jul 28, 2022 · SenateReceived in the Senate, read twice.
  20. Nov 17, 2022Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.(consideration: CR S6770)
  21. Nov 17, 2022 · SenatePassed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S6770)
  22. Nov 25, 2022 · SenateMessage on Senate action sent to the House.
  23. Dec 2, 2022Presented to President.
  24. Dec 2, 2022 · HousePresented to President.
  25. Dec 7, 2022Signed by President.
  26. Dec 7, 2022Signed by President.
  27. Dec 7, 2022Became Public Law No: 117-223.
  28. Dec 7, 2022Became Public Law No: 117-223.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 6, 2026 · loaded Oct 6, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 6, 2026 · loaded Oct 6, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.