S 725 United States Senate · 119th Congress

Enhancing First Response Act

The Enhancing First Response Act requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to issue detailed reports after major disasters that activate the Disaster Information Reporting System for at least 7 days. These reports must track outages in broadband, mobile, and emergency communication services (including 911 systems), estimate affected users, and include public hearings with local officials, providers, and first responders within 8 months. The FCC must publish a final report within 12 months, containing outage data and recommendations to improve network resilience. This bill directly affects communication providers, public safety agencies, and disaster response systems by standardizing outage reporting and accountability.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Sep 2025
Senate Passage
Sep 2025
House Passage
President
Introduced Feb 25, 2025 Last action Sep 11, 2025
Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
10
Key actions
4
Committee
3
Sep 10, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S6555; text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR S6555)
upper
Sep 10, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent.
upper
Sep 2, 2025
Upper · Passed
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Reported by Senator Cruz with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 119-59.
upper
Apr 30, 2025
Upper · Passed
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
upper
Feb 25, 2025
Committee
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
upper
Feb 25, 2025
Introduced
Introduced in Senate
upper
1 primary · 12 co-sponsors

Sponsors