The Congressional NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus, a United States Congress caucus, works to improve the 9-1-1 phone system and emergency response systems. The caucus is headed by Congressman John Shimkus (R-IL) and Congresswoman Anna Eshoo (D-CA).
Contents
History
The caucus was formed on February 25, 2003 by Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT), Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Congressman Shimkus and Congresswoman Eshoo. The original name of the caucus was the "Congressional E9-1-1 Caucus". It was formed to "educate lawmakers, constituents and communities about the importance of citizen-activated emergency response systems".
On February 16, 2011, the caucus was registered as an official organization for the 112th Congress. The name was changed to the NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus.
Members
The E9-1-1 Institute lists the following caucus members for the 112th Congress:
Senate members
Activity
In 2012, Co-Chairs Shimkus and Eshoo announced that a caucus-supported bill, the Next Generation 9-1-1 Advancement Act (HR 2629), was included in the payroll tax holiday legislation that was passed by Congress. The bill, as passed in the larger tax bill, provided matching grants to organizations to support 9-1-1- call centers being able to receive voice, text, image, and video data.
In February 2014, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) supported a proposal that would create standards requiring wireless providers to give information about a caller's location to public safety personnel. The caucus, through Co-Chair Shimkus, supported the proposal.
NG9-1-1- Institute
The NG9-1-1 Institute is a non-profit organization located at 317 Massachusetts Avenue, Washington, DC, whose mission it is to provide support (administrative and policy-related) to the caucus. Every year, the institute gives awards to people and groups for contributions to improving 9-1-1 services.