The House of Representatives passed the bill by a vote of 417-3 earlier this month
Dec 19, 2019 Press Release
Washington, D.C. – Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Ranking Member Greg Walden (R-OR), Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA), and Subcommittee Ranking Member Bob Latta (R-OH) released the following statement today after the Senate passed their anti-robocalls bill, the Pallone-Thune TRACED Act, by voice vote.
The House of Representatives passed the bill by a vote of 417-3 earlier this month:
“We’re delighted the Senate acted quickly to pass this legislation to shutdown illegal robocalls. We’re working hard to help the American people get real relief from these relentless and illegal calls. We look forward to the President signing this overwhelmingly bipartisan legislation into law very soon.”
In May, the Senate passed the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act by a vote of 97-1. In July, the House of Representatives passed the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act by an overwhelming vote of 429-3. There were significant differences between the two bills, which were reconciled as part of a bipartisan, bicameral agreement announced by the House and Senate last month.
The Pallone-Thune TRACED Act:
1) Requires carriers to offer call-authentication technology to consumers and small businesses—in rural and urban America—at no additional charge;
2) Requires opt-in or opt-out robocall blocking be offered at no additional charge to consumers;
3) Gives the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) the ability to step up enforcement actions against unlawful robocalls with a longer statute of limitations and increased fines in certain cases;
4) Pushes the Department of Justice to bring more criminal prosecutions against criminal robocallers;
5) Requires the FCC to work to stop one-ring scams;Helps the FCC and responsible carriers traceback and cutoff suspect phone companies that are responsible for sending vast numbers of unlawful robocalls; and
6) Protects patients, doctors and hospitals from unlawful robocalls.
Click HERE for bill text.
Click HERE for a section-by-section summary.