Votes to Pass the Bipartisan “Stopping Bad Robocalls Act”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. House of Representatives today voted to pass legislation co-sponsored by Congressman Fred Keller (PA-12) to stop abusive robocalling.
“Robocalls are annoying, abusive, and quite frankly out of control,” Keller said. “This year alone, the average person has already received 89 robocalls. I’m glad to have worked to pass the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act and hopefully end the robocall epidemic in this country once and for all.”
Last year, Americans received nearly 50 billion robocalls. While these calls are annoying, they also heighten the chance of being scammed or defrauded. Some studies estimate that nearly half of all calls this year will be scam calls.
H.R. 3375, the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act:
- Requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to adopt critical consumer protections and to report to Congress on its progress against illegal robocallers.
- Gives the FCC up to four years to catch illegal callers and streamlines the FCC’s ability to quickly fine first-time offenders.
- Supports the rapid implementation of new technologies to make sure that every call is authenticated, and illegal calls are blocked.
- Allows the blocking of illegal robocalls in a reasonable manner by providers without an extra line-item charge to consumers.
- Establishes a Hospital Robocall Working Group to shield our health care system from illegal robocalls.
