Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in support of S. 151, the TRACED Act.

In 2018 alone, phone numbers with 517 and 734 area codes in my district received over 223 million robocalls. I know. I received a bunch of them.

Not only are these calls bothersome and unwelcome, but they often lead to scams that prey on the most vulnerable. One such scam is the one-ring scam, which attempts to trick consumers into paying huge fees for return phone calls.

S. 151 includes important legislation that I worked to have included which will end the harmful practice of one-ring scams.

Mr. Speaker, robocalls are not only a nuisance; they pose a threat to individuals' privacy and security. S. 151, the TRACED Act, will help put a stop to these harmful practices by empowering phone carriers to implement call authentication technologies so consumers can trust their caller ID with no additional cost.

It will also expand and streamline the FCC's enforcement authority to take strong and quick action when it tracks down robocallers and levy fines against those bad actors.

In the end, Mr. Speaker, this legislation will put a stop to these predatory actors behind harmful robocalls and put consumers back in charge of their phones.

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