Delgado Co-Sponsors Comprehensive Bipartisan Bill to Combat Robocalls
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Representative Antonio Delgado (NY-19) announced co-sponsorship of H.R. 3375, the bipartisan Stopping Bad Robocalls Act to bring much needed relief to NY-19 and Americans from abusive robocall practices. Last year, an estimated 47.8 billion robocalls were placed nationwide, more than double the number of robocalls placed the previous year. Illegal robocalls affect American life in increasingly harmful ways, from scams to defraud consumers to disrupting our health care system and beyond.
“Is anyone not sick and tired of spam robocalls? Congress is long overdue to address the robocall epidemic, and I’m proud to be part of the solution and co-sponsor the bipartisan Stopping Bad Robocalls Act,” Delgado said. “This bill ensures that every call Americans get is verified and it allows the blocking of robocalls without an extra charge. It also ensures the Federal Communications Commission will enact strong consumer protections and quickly go after scammers. I will continue to fight to bring this comprehensive, bipartisan bill to the House floor in the coming months to crack down on harmful spam robocalls.”
The bipartisan Stopping Bad Robocalls Act:
- Requires that phone carriers implement call authentication technology so consumers can trust their caller ID again, with no additional line-item for consumers, and includes a process to help rural carriers implement this technology.
- Allows carriers to offer call blocking services to consumers, with no additional line charge, on an opt-out basis with transparency safeguards to make sure important calls aren’t inadvertently blocked.
- Directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to issue rules to protect consumers from calls they didn’t agree to receive and to ensure consumers can withdraw consent.
- Requires the FCC to enact safeguards so companies can’t abuse robocall exemptions.
- Ensures the FCC has the authority and the tools to take strong, quick action when it tracks down robocallers, including by extending the statute of limitations from one year to three, and in some instances four, years for callers violating robocall prohibitions.
- Mandates the FCC to submit a report to Congress on the implementation of its reassigned numbers database to make sure the Commission is effectively protecting consumers from unwanted calls.
The Stopping Bad Robocalls Act is endorsed by a number of consumer advocate organizations including AARP, the National Consumer Law Center, and Consumer Reports.