Washington, D.C. - Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) released the following statement after the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act (H.R. 3375 ) was favorably reported, as amended, to the full House of Representatives by a vote of 48-0. Pallone introduced the bill with Ranking Member Greg Walden (R-OR), Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA) and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Ranking Member Bob Latta (R-OH). The bill was favorably reported out of the Communications and Technology Subcommittee last month, as amended, by voice vote:
“Today, the American people are one step closer to reclaiming control of their phones from annoying and illegal robocalls. I’m proud of the strong support the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act received in Committee today, and thank Ranking Members Walden and Latta and Chairman Doyle for working with me on this legislation to end the robocall epidemic. This legislation will ensure every call Americans get is verified by Caller ID and that consumers can block calls they don’t want. I look forward to having the full House vote on our bill soon."
H.R. 3375, the “Stopping Bad Robocalls Act," would require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to adopt critical consumer protections, require all carriers, over time, to implement a new technology to make sure that caller-ID information is appropriately authenticated with no additional line item charge for consumers on their bill, allow the blocking of calls in a reasonable manner without an extra charge, and more.
Manager’s Amendment to H.R. 3375 offered by Pallone and Walden was adopted by voice vote.
* The amendment makes technical changes to the bill and includes transparency and redress for erroneously blocked calls.
Amendment to H.R. 3375 offered by Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) and Michael Burgess (R-TX) was adopted by voice vote.
* The amendment requires the FCC to establish a Hospital Robocall Working Group to, among other things, issue best practices to help voice service providers combat unlawful robocalls made to hospitals and to help hospitals protect themselves from robocalls. The amendment also requires the FCC to initiate a proceeding to determine whether the voluntary adoption of the practices can be facilitated.
Amendment to H.R. 3375 offered by Reps. Bill Flores (R-TX) and Jerry McNerney (D-CA) was adopted by voice vote.
* The amendment allows the FCC to assess an additional $10,000 penalty for a robocall violation if the offender acted with intent to cause the violation.
