Making Communities Resilient Against Scammers is Critical

Floor Speech

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Mr. STEIL. Mr. Speaker, in 2018 an estimated 47 billion spam robocalls were placed in the United States. Americans lost $1.5 billion to fraud last year. Weekly, sometimes daily, our phones are flooded with spam calls. Not only are these calls annoying, but these criminals trick people into giving away personal information such as their Social Security number or bank information.

Robocalls affect everyone from Janesville to Kenosha to Racine and everywhere in between.

Last month I held an identity theft fraud prevention workshop in southeast Wisconsin. More than 200 residents attended and received useful tips from Federal and State agencies on how to protect themselves from fraud. Making communities resilient from scammers is critical.

Robocalls are becoming more sophisticated every day. It is becoming easier for Americans to fall victim to scamming. That is why Congress must act.

Today the House is voting on a bill I cosponsored, the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act, or the TRACED Act.

The TRACED Act strengthens penalties for criminals who conduct spam robocalls. This bill also requires telecommunications companies to develop new ways to certify all calls are from legitimate people. Working together with phone companies, consumer groups, and the Federal Government will protect our community--and go after the bad guys.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense, nonpartisan bill. We Must Recommit to Ending the Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic

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Mr. STEIL. Mr. Speaker, this week we recommit ourselves to ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic. We have made progress to prevent infections and enhance treatment, but more work must be done.

Supporting the Global Fund and fully funding its programs is an important piece of the puzzle. The Global Fund is a partnership organization that works with governments and private sectors to end the AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria epidemics. By developing low-cost, high-impact treatments and technologies, we can save lives.

Since the creation of the Global Fund in 2002, deaths caused by these diseases have been reduced by one-third each year in countries where the Global Fund invests. I was proud to cosponsor the bill and see the House support the Global Fund.

This is an important issue to many across southeast Wisconsin. Earlier this year, I met with Pastor Bob Griffith and Pastor Lawrence Kirby to discuss the United States' commitment to battling these health epidemics, whether that be at home in southeast Wisconsin or throughout the world.

Pastor Griffith's and Pastor Kirby's work in the Racine and Kenosha communities is admirable. They advocate for those in poverty and for our global community dealing with these diseases.

We thank Pastor Griffith and Pastor Kirby for their dedication to this cause, for bringing awareness to the fight.

We must continue working together and ensure education, treatment, and assistance is available to those who need it.

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