Calling Card Consumer Protection Act

Floor Speech

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3993, the Calling Card Consumer Protection Act. I congratulate my colleague Mr. Engel for introducing it.

Today, more than 276 million American households--89 percent of the U.S. population--have cell phones. But prepaid calling cards remain a huge industry--worth $4 billion in 2007.

They are particularly popular among college students, as well as military personnel and immigrant communities--people who frequently make international calls.

My district is one of the most diverse and international in the Nation. Almost one-third, 31.6 percent, of my constituents are foreign-born, first-generation American residents. So calling cards are very important for them.

Unfortunately, the calling card industry is full of deceptive advertising and hidden fees. A card may say it is worth 250 minutes, but you may get 200 or 100 once you actually use it. Too often, calling cards have no information listed about connection fees, varying rates-per-minute, fees charged each week that you do not use the card, or even fees for just hanging up. When those fees aren't fully disclosed to consumers, we have a serious problem.

Earlier this year, in the wake of the devastating earthquake in Haiti, I heard from many of my Haitian constituents who were using calling cards to try to reach their loved ones. Because of the high fees placed on the cards and the lack of clarity about fees and terms, they were going through dozens of cards without ever having a call connected.

At the time, I sent letters to a number of calling card companies. I encouraged them to reach out to their local Haitian communities and to give refunds or issue free cards to customers who bought their cards and had the time run out before the call connected.

Mr. Engel's bill would ensure that fees, rates, expiration dates or limitations of calling cards are clearly and fully disclosed to consumers. This is an important consumer protection bill and I encourage all of my colleagues to support it.

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