Underwood Works to Combat Robocalls | Representative Lauren Underwood
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Underwood Works to Combat Robocalls

July 2, 2019

Bipartisan legislation to protect Americans from abusive robocall practices

WASHINGTON— Today, Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (IL-14) announced her co-sponsorship of the bipartisan Stopping Bad Robocalls Act (H.R. 3375) to bring needed relief to Illinoisans from abusive robocall practices. Last year, an estimated 47.8 billion robocalls were placed nationwide, an increase of 17 billion calls over previous years. Illinois remains one of the top ten states impacted by robocalls, receiving more than 158.5 million so far in 2019. Illegal robocalls affect American life in increasingly harmful ways, from scams to defraud consumers, to disruptions to our health care system, and much more.

"Illinoisans are sick and tired of spam robocalls. I'm supporting the bipartisan Stopping Bad Robocalls Act to help end irritating robocalls," said Underwood. "This bill requires that consumers be able to screen and block robocalls without being charged extra by their phone carrier. I'm hopeful we'll be able to pass this bipartisan bill to provide consumers the relief we all want."

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.

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