Preserving Home and Office Numbers in Emergencies Act of 2020

Floor Speech

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Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the bipartisan PHONE Act, a bill I started working on more than two years ago.

The PHONE Act is an example of listening to our constituents who have been survivors of a natural disaster and using the power of legislation to address the aftermath.

After the devastating 2017 wildfires, one of my constituents contacted my office to let us know of a problem unique to natural disasters. My constituent was one of more than 6,000 households who lost a home or business to the wildfire. This family was a long-time part of our community and they wanted to rebuild. What they learned was that, during the rebuilding process, they would lose the phone number they had for years. This may seem like something small--a phone number, but to my constituent, this was part of the fabric of their lives and of their home.

Unfortunately, the FCC could not save the phone number long enough to rebuild. So many of our Districts are facing wildfires, hurricanes, powerful windstorms and flooding. We must do everything we can to help survivors reclaim their lives.

Displaced survivors must find temporary housing, connect with family members, replace lost documents, apply for disaster assistance, and begin the long process of repairing and rebuilding homes. We may not be able to help rebuild or pick up the pieces, but this small gesture-- reserving a phone number--can bring the tiniest sense of a return to normalcy.

Preserving home phone numbers means survivors have one less worry. It's one less burden. It is the least we can do to help the folks in our communities who face such devastation.

I thank the Committee for its work to bring this bill to the Floor and I urge my colleagues to vote yes.

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