Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. LATTA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden), the Republican leader of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for yielding me time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this bipartisan legislation to combat illegal robocalls. With an estimated 48 billion robocalls each year, it is time for Congress to take swift action against illegal robocalls and give Americans the security of knowing their incoming calls are legitimate.

That is why we introduced the bipartisan STOP Robocalls Act, which is included in the legislation before us today. Our bill would give phone companies and the Federal Communications Commission the tools they need to fight back against illegal robocalls. Private companies will be able to block fraudulent calls before they get to your phones, all with consumer control and no additional line-item charges.

Our provision also provides and improves information-sharing to enhance the FCC's ability to track and stop illegal robocall spoofing operations. As technology continues to evolve, so do the tactics that bad actors use to spoof numbers illegally to make fraudulent robocalls. We must allow these companies and the FCC to keep pace.

While we are all tired of annoying and illegal robocall scams, there are also legitimate users of autodialing technologies that must be preserved. The bill before us today rightly recognizes those important proconsumer messages. From school closures to bank fraud alerts, there are voice and text messages that consumers want, and those should not be blocked.

This is strong bipartisan legislation, and I am pleased to have worked with Chairman Pallone, Republican leader Walden, and subcommittee Chairman Doyle on this bill to improve consumer trust in our phone system.

I urge all of our colleagues to support this measure.

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