H.R. 1455 · Where this bill is now
In the Senate
Passed the House Jul 14, 2025. Received Jul 15, 2025; no Senate vote yet
What this bill does
In plain words · AI-written from the official summaryEstablishes legal authority for telecom research institute
This bill puts the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS) on official legal footing. ITS is the part of the federal government that does research and engineering work on telecommunications. The bill also requires ITS to work on new technologies that help emergency responders find people trapped in confined spaces like mines, where regular radio communication doesn't work well.
How it affects you
This change is mostly behind-the-scenes. If you're a miner or work in a confined space, the new emergency tracking technology development could eventually make rescue efforts faster and more effective. For most people, the main effect is establishing clearer legal authority for the government's telecom research work that happens already.
Read the official summary (Introduced in House, Feb 21, 2025)
Institute for Telecommunication Sciences Codification Act or the ITS Codification Act
This bill provides statutory authority for the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS), which serves as the telecommunications research and engineering arm of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
The bill also directs ITS to establish an initiative to support the development of emergency communication and tracking technologies for use in locating trapped individuals in confined spaces (e.g., underground mines) where conventional radio communication is limited.
Written by AI (Claude) using only the official summary by the Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress’s nonpartisan research staff. It can miss nuance, so check the official summary and the bill text for details.
1st SessionH. R. 1455
AN ACT
ITS Codification Act
Sponsor: Rep. Earl L. "Buddy" Carter (R-GA-1) · Introduced Feb 21, 2025 · Science, Technology, Communications · 4 versions of the text
Sources: Congress.gov actions and votes · bill text from GovInfo · latest official action Jul 15, 2025: “Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.”
Sections
The wording of this bill hasn’t changed across its 4 official versions.