IB 

Union Calendar No. 133 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3375 

[Report No. 116–173] 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to clarify the prohibitions on 

making robocalls, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 20, 2019 

Mr. PALLONE (for himself, Mr. WALDEN, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, and Mr. LATTA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

JULY 23, 2019 

Additional sponsors: Ms. ESHOO, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. 

MCNERNEY, Mr. WELCH, Mr. LUJA ́N, Mr. TONKO, Ms. CLARKE of New 

York, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mr. SCHRADER, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mrs. DINGELL, 

Mr. VEASEY, Mr. MCEACHIN, Mr. SOTO, Mr. O’HALLERAN, Mr. LONG, 

Mr. WALBERG, Mr. GUTHRIE, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mrs. RODGERS of Washington, Mr. BURGESS, Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Mr. 

DOGGETT, Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas, Mr. MCADAMS, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, 

Mr. ENGEL, Mr. RUSH, Mr. RUIZ, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. SHIMKUS, 

Mr. FLORES, Mr. CARTER of Georgia, Mr. GIANFORTE, Mr. GRIFFITH, 

Ms. DEGETTE, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. KIM, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. ROSE of New York, 

Mr. BRINDISI, Mr. COHEN, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. CARBAJAL, Ms. 

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. FULCHER, Mr. UPTON, 

Mr. OLSON, Mr. COOPER, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. CUELLAR, Ms. NORTON, 

Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. MCKINLEY, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, 

Ms. FINKENAUER, Ms. PINGREE, Ms. HAALAND, Mr. SABLAN, Mr. 

LOWENTHAL, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. KINZINGER, 

Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. MENG, Mr. DELGADO, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. BOST, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. FORTENBERRY, Ms. DEAN, Mr. CRIST, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. TRONE, Mr. 

FLEISCHMANN, Mr. CISNEROS, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. 

LANGEVIN, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, Mr. COX of California, Mr. 

GOTTHEIMER, Ms. WILD, Mr. VAN DREW, Mr. CASE, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. 


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LEVIN of Michigan, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. HORSFORD, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. PANETTA, Mrs. MCBATH, Ms. SPANBERGER, Mr. HECK, Ms. STEVENS, Mr. 

MALINOWSKI, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. ALLRED, Ms. SLOTKIN, 

Mr. PETERS, Mr. SMUCKER, Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky, Mr. PETERSON, 

Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr. LEVIN of California, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. LARSEN

of Washington, Mr. RYAN, Mr. KIND, Ms. SHALALA, Mrs. LESKO, Mr. 

WITTMAN, Ms. SHERRILL, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. 

DESAULNIER, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. 

SIRES, Mr. LEWIS, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mr. 

DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. RICE of South Carolina, Mr. SWALWELL

of California, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. CRAIG, Mr. SMITH of 

Nebraska, Mr. NORCROSS, Mr. ROUDA, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. AXNE, Mr. 

SERRANO, Mr. BUCSHON, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. JOHNSON of 

Ohio, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. 

NEGUSE, Ms. SA ́NCHEZ, Mrs. WALORSKI, Ms. HILL of California, Mr. 

SCHNEIDER, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. NADLER, Mr. MEADOWS, Mrs. TORRES of 

California, Mr. KEATING, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. BEYER, Ms. TORRES

SMALL of New Mexico, Mr. BUCHANAN, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. BALDERSON, 

Mr. WRIGHT, Mr. KUSTOFF of Tennessee, Mr. CLINE, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, 

Mr. RUTHERFORD, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. PAPPAS, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. COSTA, Mr. MORELLE, Ms. 

BONAMICI, Ms. CHENEY, Mr. BURCHETT, Mr. STEWART, Mr. 

RIGGLEMAN, Mr. STAUBER, Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee, Mr. 

MITCHELL, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. CURTIS, Ms. SCANLON, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. 

THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. HAGEDORN, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. PORTER, Mr. GREEN of 

Texas, Mrs. LURIA, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. KILMER, Ms. HOULAHAN, Ms. 

FRANKEL, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER, Mr. BRADY, Mr. 

LAHOOD, Mr. HURD of Texas, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. HARDER of 

California, Mr. BUDD, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. JOHN W. ROSE of Tennessee, 

Mr. MEUSER, Mr. RESCHENTHALER, Ms. TITUS, Mr. LAMB, Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota, Mr. TAYLOR, Mr. KEVIN HERN of Oklahoma, Mr. 

GOSAR, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mrs. MURPHY, Mr. KELLER, Mr. 

HIGGINS of New York, Mr. CASTEN of Illinois, Mr. CLAY, Ms. FUDGE, 

Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. JEFFRIES, Mr. BROWN of Maryland, and Mr. 

GARAMENDI


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JULY 23, 2019 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on June 20, 2019] 


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A BILL 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to clarify the 

prohibitions on making robocalls, and for other purposes. 


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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stopping Bad Robocalls 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CONSUMER PROTECTION REGULATIONS RELATING 

7 TO MAKING ROBOCALLS. 

8 Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment 

9 of this Act, and as appropriate thereafter to ensure that 

10 the consumer protection and privacy purposes of section 

11 227 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227) 

12 remain effective, the Commission shall prescribe such regu13 lations, or amend such existing regulations, regarding calls 

14 made or text messages sent using automatic telephone dial15 ing systems and calls made using an artificial or 

16 prerecorded voice as will, in the judgment of the Commis17 sion, clarify descriptions of automatic telephone dialing 

18 systems and ensure that— 

19 (1) the consumer protection and privacy pur20 poses of such section are effectuated; 

21 (2) calls made and text messages sent using 

22 automatic telephone dialing systems and calls made 

23 using an artificial or prerecorded voice are made or 

24 sent (as the case may be) with consent, unless consent 

25 is not required under or the call or text message is 


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1 exempted by paragraph (1), (2)(B), or (2)(C) of sub2 section (b) of such section; 

3 (3) consumers can withdraw consent for such 

4 calls and text messages; 

5 (4) circumvention or evasion of such section is 

6 prevented; 

7 (5) callers maintain records to demonstrate that 

8 such callers have obtained consent, unless consent is 

9 not required under or the call or text message is ex10 empted by paragraph (1), (2)(B), or (2)(C) of sub11 section (b) of such section, for such calls and text mes12 sages, for a period of time that will permit the Com13 mission to effectuate the consumer protection and pri14 vacy purposes of such section; and 

15 (6) compliance with such section is facilitated. 

16 SEC. 3. CONSUMER PROTECTIONS FOR EXEMPTIONS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 227(b)(2) of the Commu18 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(b)(2)) is amended— 

19 (1) in subparagraph (G)(ii), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

20 and inserting a semicolon; 

21 (2) in subparagraph (H), by striking the period 

22 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

23 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(I) shall ensure that any exemption under 

25 subparagraph (B) or (C) contains requirements 


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1 for calls made in reliance on the exemption with 

2 respect to— 

3 ‘‘(i) the classes of parties that may 

4 make such calls; 

5 ‘‘(ii) the classes of parties that may be 

6 called; and 

7 ‘‘(iii) the number of such calls that a 

8 calling party may make to a particular 

9 called party.’’. 

10 (b) DEADLINE FOR REGULATIONS.—In the case of any 

11 exemption issued under subparagraph (B) or (C) of section 

12 227(b)(2) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

13 227(b)(2)) before the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

14 Commission, shall, not later than 1 year after such date 

15 of enactment, prescribe such regulations, or amend such ex16 isting regulations, as necessary to ensure that such exemp17 tion contains each requirement described in subparagraph 

18 (I) of such section, as added by subsection (a). To the extent 

19 such an exemption contains such a requirement before such 

20 date of enactment, nothing in this section or the amend21 ments made by this section shall be construed to require 

22 the Commission to prescribe or amend regulations relating 

23 to such requirement. 

24 SEC. 4. REPORT ON REASSIGNED NUMBER DATABASE. 

25 (a) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

2 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission 

3 shall submit to Congress, and make publicly available 

4 on the website of the Commission, a report on the sta5 tus of the efforts of the Commission pursuant to the 

6 Second Report and Order in the matter of Advanced 

7 Methods to Target and Eliminate Unlawful Robocalls 

8 (CG Docket No. 17–59; FCC 18–177; adopted on De9 cember 12, 2018). 

10 (2) CONTENTS.—The report required by para11 graph (1) shall describe the efforts of the Commission, 

12 as described in such Second Report and Order, to en13 sure— 

14 (A) the establishment of a database of tele15 phone numbers that have been disconnected, in 

16 order to provide a person making calls subject to 

17 section 227(b) of the Communications Act of 

18 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(b)) with comprehensive and 

19 timely information to enable such person to 

20 avoid making calls without the prior express 

21 consent of the called party because the number 

22 called has been reassigned; 

23 (B) that a person who wishes to use any 

24 safe harbor provided pursuant to such Second 

25 Report and Order with respect to making calls 


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1 must demonstrate that, before making the call, 

2 the person appropriately checked the most recent 

3 update of the database and the database reported 

4 that the number had not been disconnected; and 

5 (C) that if the person makes the demonstra6 tion described in subparagraph (B), the person 

7 will be shielded from liability under section 

8 227(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

9 U.S.C. 227(b)) should the database return an in10 accurate result. 

11 (b) CLARIFICATION OF DEFINITION OF CALLED

12 PARTY.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 227(a) of the Commu14 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(a)) is amended 

15 by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(6) The term ‘called party’ means, with respect 

17 to a call, the current subscriber or customary user of 

18 the telephone number to which the call is made, deter19 mined at the time when the call is made.’’. 

20 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

21 227(d)(3)(B) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

22 U.S.C. 227(d)(3)(B)) is amended— 

23 (A) by striking ‘‘called party’s line’’ each 

24 place it appears and inserting ‘‘telephone line 

25 called’’; and 


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1 (B) by striking ‘‘called party has hung up’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘answering party has hung up’’. 

3 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

4 by this subsection shall apply beginning on the date 

5 on which the database described in the Second Report 

6 and Order in the matter of Advanced Methods to Tar7 get and Eliminate Unlawful Robocalls (CG Docket 

8 No. 17–59; FCC 18–177; adopted on December 12, 

9 2018) becomes fully operational, such that a person 

10 may check the database to determine the last date of 

11 permanent disconnection associated with a phone 

12 number. Nothing in the amendments made by this 

13 subsection shall affect the construction of the law as 

14 it applies before the effective date. 

15 SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT. 

16 (a) NO CITATION REQUIRED TO SEEK FORFEITURE

17 PENALTY.— 

18 (1) FOR ROBOCALL VIOLATIONS.—Section 227(b) 

19 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

20 227(b)) is amended by adding at the end the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(4) NO CITATION REQUIRED TO SEEK FOR23 FEITURE PENALTY.—Paragraph (5) of section 503(b) 

24 shall not apply in the case of a violation made with 

25 the intent to cause such violation of this subsection.’’. 


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1 (2) FOR CALLER IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION

2 VIOLATIONS.—Section 227(e)(5)(A)(iii) of the Com3 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(e)(5)(A)(iii)) 

4 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘Paragraph (5) of section 503(b) shall not apply in 

6 the case of a violation of this subsection.’’. 

7 (b) 4-YEAR STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.— 

8 (1) FOR ROBOCALL VIOLATIONS.—Section 227(b) 

9 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

10 227(b)), as amended by subsection (a), is further 

11 amended by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(5) 4-YEAR STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—Not13 withstanding paragraph (6) of section 503(b), no for14 feiture penalty for violation of this subsection shall be 

15 determined or imposed against any person if the vio16 lation charged occurred more than— 

17 ‘‘(A) 3 years prior to the date of issuance 

18 of the notice required by paragraph (3) of such 

19 section or the notice of apparent liability re20 quired by paragraph (4) of such section (as the 

21 case may be); or 

22 ‘‘(B) if the violation was made with the in23 tent to cause such violation, 4 years prior to the 

24 date of issuance of the notice required by para25 graph (3) of such section or the notice of apparVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 Jul 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3375.RH H3375

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1 ent liability required by paragraph (4) of such 

2 section (as the case may be).’’. 

3 (2) FOR CALLER IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION

4 VIOLATIONS.—Section 227(e)(5)(A)(iv) of the Commu5 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(e)(5)(A)(iv)) is 

6 amended— 

7 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘2-YEAR’’ 

8 and inserting ‘‘4-YEAR’’; and 

9 (B) by striking ‘‘2 years’’ and inserting ‘‘4 

10 years’’. 

11 (c) INCREASED PENALTY FOR ROBOCALL VIOLATIONS

12 WITH INTENT.—Section 227(b) of the Communications Act 

13 of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(b)), as amended by subsections (a) 

14 and (b), is further amended by adding at the end the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(6) INCREASED PENALTY FOR VIOLATIONS WITH

17 INTENT.—In the case of a forfeiture penalty for viola18 tion of this subsection that is determined or imposed 

19 under section 503(b), if such violation was made with 

20 the intent to cause such violation, the amount of such 

21 penalty shall be equal to an amount determined in 

22 accordance with subparagraphs (A) through (F) of 

23 section 503(b)(2) plus an additional penalty not to 

24 exceed $10,000.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

2 Section 227 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

3 U.S.C. 227) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(i) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS ON ROBOCALLS

5 AND TRANSMISSION OF MISLEADING OR INACCURATE CALL6 ER IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION.— 

7 ‘‘(1) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 1 year 

8 after the date of the enactment of this subsection, and 

9 annually thereafter, the Commission, after consulta10 tion with the Federal Trade Commission, shall submit 

11 to Congress a report regarding enforcement by the 

12 Commission of subsections (b), (c), (d), and (e) dur13 ing the preceding calendar year. 

14 ‘‘(2) MATTERS FOR INCLUSION.—Each report re15 quired by paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

16 ‘‘(A) The number of complaints received by 

17 the Commission during each of the preceding five 

18 calendar years, for each of the following cat19 egories: 

20 ‘‘(i) Complaints alleging that a con21 sumer received a call in violation of sub22 section (b) or (c). 

23 ‘‘(ii) Complaints alleging that a con24 sumer received a call in violation of the 

25 standards prescribed under subsection (d). 


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1 ‘‘(iii) Complaints alleging that a con2 sumer received a call in connection with 

3 which misleading or inaccurate caller iden4 tification information was transmitted in 

5 violation of subsection (e). 

6 ‘‘(B) The number of citations issued by the 

7 Commission pursuant to section 503(b) during 

8 the preceding calendar year to enforce subsection 

9 (d), and details of each such citation. 

10 ‘‘(C) The number of notices of apparent li11 ability issued by the Commission pursuant to 

12 section 503(b) during the preceding calendar 

13 year to enforce subsections (b), (c), (d), and (e), 

14 and details of each such notice including any 

15 proposed forfeiture amount. 

16 ‘‘(D) The number of final orders imposing 

17 forfeiture penalties issued pursuant to section 

18 503(b) during the preceding calendar year to en19 force such subsections, and details of each such 

20 order including the forfeiture imposed. 

21 ‘‘(E) The amount of forfeiture penalties or 

22 criminal fines collected, during the preceding 

23 calendar year, by the Commission or the Attor24 ney General for violations of such subsections, 


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1 and details of each case in which such a for2 feiture penalty or criminal fine was collected. 

3 ‘‘(F) Proposals for reducing the number of 

4 calls made in violation of such subsections. 

5 ‘‘(G) An analysis of the contribution by 

6 providers of interconnected VoIP service and 

7 non-interconnected VoIP service that discount 

8 high-volume, unlawful, short-duration calls to 

9 the total number of calls made in violation of 

10 such subsections, and recommendations on how 

11 to address such contribution in order to decrease 

12 the total number of calls made in violation of 

13 such subsections. 

14 ‘‘(3) NO ADDITIONAL REPORTING REQUIRED.— 

15 The Commission shall prepare the report required by 

16 paragraph (1) without requiring the provision of ad17 ditional information from providers of telecommuni18 cations service or voice service (as defined in section 

19 7(d) of the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act).’’. 

20 SEC. 7. REGULATIONS RELATING TO EFFECTIVE CALL AU21 THENTICATION TECHNOLOGY. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

23 of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall prescribe reg24 ulations in WC Docket No. 17–97. 


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1 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR EFFECTIVE CALL AUTHEN2 TICATION TECHNOLOGY.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The regulations required by 

4 subsection (a) shall— 

5 (A) require providers of voice service to im6 plement, within six months after the date on 

7 which such regulations are prescribed, an effec8 tive call authentication technology; and 

9 (B) ensure that voice service providers that 

10 have implemented the effective authentication 

11 technology attest that such provider has deter12 mined, when originating calls on behalf of a call13 ing party, that the calling party number trans14 mitted with such calls has been appropriately 

15 authenticated. 

16 (2) REASSESSMENT OF REGULATIONS.—The 

17 Commission shall reassess such regulations, at least 

18 once every two years, to ensure the regulations remain 

19 effective and up to date with technological capabili20 ties. 

21 (3) EXEMPTION.— 

22 (A) BURDENS AND BARRIERS TO IMPLE23 MENTATION.—The Commission— 


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1 (i) shall include findings on any bur2 dens or barriers to the implementation re3 quired in paragraph (1), including— 

4 (I) for providers of voice service to 

5 the extent the networks of such pro6 viders use time-division multiplexing; 

7 and 

8 (II) for small providers of voice 

9 service and those in rural areas; and 

10 (ii) in connection with such findings, 

11 may exempt from the 6-month time period 

12 described in paragraph (1)(A), for a reason13 able period of time a class of providers of 

14 voice service, or type of voice calls, as nec15 essary for that class of providers or type of 

16 calls to participate in the implementation 

17 in order to address the identified burdens 

18 and barriers. 

19 (B) FULL PARTICIPATION.—The Commis20 sion shall take all steps necessary to address any 

21 issues in the findings and enable as promptly as 

22 possible full participation of all classes of pro23 viders of voice service and types of voice calls to 

24 receive the highest level of attestation. 


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1 (C) ALTERNATIVE METHODOLOGIES.—The 

2 Commission shall identify or develop, in con3 sultation with small providers of service and 

4 those in rural areas, alternative effective meth5 odologies to protect customers from 

6 unauthenticated calls during any exemption 

7 given under subparagraph (A)(ii). Such meth8 odologies shall be provided with no additional 

9 line item charge to customers. 

10 (D) REVISION OF EXEMPTION.—Not less fre11 quently than annually after the first exemption 

12 is issued under this paragraph, the Commission 

13 shall consider revising or extending any exemp14 tion made, may revise such exemption, and shall 

15 issue a public notice with regard to whether such 

16 exemption remains necessary. 

17 (4) ACCURATE IDENTIFICATION.—The regula18 tions required by subsection (a) shall include guide19 lines that providers of voice service may use as part 

20 of the implementation of effective call authentication 

21 technology under paragraph (1) to take steps to en22 sure the calling party is accurately identified. 

23 (5) NO ADDITIONAL COST TO CONSUMERS OR

24 SMALL BUSINESS CUSTOMERS.—The regulations re25 quired by subsection (a) shall prohibit providers of 


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1 voice service from making any additional line item 

2 charges to consumer or small business customer sub3 scribers for the effective call authentication technology 

4 required under paragraph (1). 

5 (6) EVALUATION.—Not later than 2 years after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act, and consistent with 

7 the regulations prescribed under subsection (a), the 

8 Commission shall initiate an evaluation of the success 

9 of the effective call authentication technology required 

10 under paragraph (1). 

11 (7) UNAUTHENTICATED CALLS.—The Commis12 sion shall— 

13 (A) in the regulations required by sub14 section (a), consistent with the regulations pre15 scribed under subsection (k) of section 227 of the 

16 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227), as 

17 added by section 8, help protect subscribers from 

18 receiving unwanted calls from a caller using an 

19 unauthenticated number, through effective means 

20 of enabling the subscriber or provider to block 

21 such calls, with no additional line item charge to 

22 the subscriber; and 

23 (B) take appropriate steps to ensure that 

24 calls originating from a provider of service in an 

25 area where the provider is exempt from the 6- 


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1 month time period described in paragraph 

2 (1)(A) are not wrongly blocked because the calls 

3 are not able to be authenticated. 

4 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after the date 

5 on which the regulations under subsection (a) are pre6 scribed, the Commission shall submit to the Committee on 

7 Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and 

8 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

9 of the Senate, and make publicly available on its website, 

10 a report on the implementation of subsection (b), which 

11 shall include— 

12 (1) an analysis of the extent to which providers 

13 of a voice service have implemented the effective call 

14 authentication technology, including whether the 

15 availability of necessary equipment and equipment 

16 upgrades has impacted such implementation; and 

17 (2) an assessment of the effective call authentica18 tion technology, as being implemented under sub19 section (b), in addressing all aspects of call authen20 tication. 

21 (d) VOICE SERVICE DEFINED.—In this section, the 

22 term ‘‘voice service’’— 

23 (1) means any service that is interconnected with 

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1 sources from the North American Numbering Plan or 

2 any successor to the North American Numbering Plan 

3 adopted by the Commission under section 251(e)(1) of 

4 the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

5 251(e)(1)); and 

6 (2) includes— 

7 (A) transmissions from a telephone fac8 simile machine, computer, or other device to a 

9 telephone facsimile machine; and 

10 (B) without limitation, any service that en11 ables real-time, two-way voice communications, 

12 including any service that requires internet pro13 tocol-compatible customer premises equipment 

14 (commonly known as ‘‘CPE’’) and permits out15 bound calling, whether or not the service is one16 way or two-way voice over internet protocol. 

17 SEC. 8. STOP ROBOCALLS. 

18 (a) INFORMATION SHARING REGARDING ROBOCALL

19 AND SPOOFING VIOLATIONS.—Section 227 of the Commu20 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227), as amended by sec21 tion 6, is further amended by adding at the end the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(j) INFORMATION SHARING.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months 

25 after the date of the enactment of this subsection, the 


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1 Commission shall prescribe regulations to establish a 

2 process that streamlines the ways in which a private 

3 entity may voluntarily share with the Commission 

4 information relating to— 

5 ‘‘(A) a call made or a text message sent in 

6 violation of subsection (b); or 

7 ‘‘(B) a call or text message for which mis8 leading or inaccurate caller identification infor9 mation was caused to be transmitted in violation 

10 of subsection (e). 

11 ‘‘(2) TEXT MESSAGE DEFINED.—In this sub12 section, the term ‘text message’ has the meaning given 

13 such term in subsection (e)(8).’’. 

14 (b) ROBOCALL BLOCKING SERVICE.—Section 227 of 

15 the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227), as 

16 amended by section 6 and subsection (a) of this section, is 

17 further amended by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(k) ROBOCALL BLOCKING SERVICE.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

20 the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Com21 mission shall take a final agency action to ensure the 

22 robocall blocking services provided on an opt-out or 

23 opt-in basis pursuant to the Declaratory Ruling of 

24 the Commission in the matter of Advanced Methods to 

25 Target and Eliminate Unlawful Robocalls (CG DockVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 Jul 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3375.RH H3375

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1 et No. 17–59; FCC 19–51; adopted on June 6, 

2 2019)— 

3 ‘‘(A) are provided with transparency and 

4 effective redress options for both— 

5 ‘‘(i) consumers; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) callers; and 

7 ‘‘(B) are provided with no additional line 

8 item charge to consumers and no additional 

9 charge to callers for resolving complaints related 

10 to erroneously blocked calls. 

11 ‘‘(2) TEXT MESSAGE DEFINED.—In this sub12 section, the term ‘text message’ has the meaning given 

13 such term in subsection (e)(8).’’. 

14 (c) STUDY ON INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS FOR

15 CERTAIN VOIP SERVICE PROVIDERS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall conduct 

17 a study regarding whether to require a provider of 

18 covered VoIP service to— 

19 (A) provide to the Commission contact in20 formation for such provider and keep such infor21 mation current; and 

22 (B) retain records relating to each call 

23 transmitted over the covered VoIP service of such 

24 provider that are sufficient to trace such call 

25 back to the source of such call. 


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1 (2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 18 

2 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

3 Commission shall submit to Congress a report on the 

4 results of the study conducted under paragraph (1). 

5 (3) COVERED VOIP SERVICE DEFINED.—In this 

6 subsection, the term ‘‘covered VoIP service’’ means a 

7 service that— 

8 (A) is an interconnected VoIP service (as 

9 defined in section 3 of the Communications Act 

10 of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153)); or 

11 (B) would be an interconnected VoIP service 

12 (as so defined) except that the service permits 

13 users to terminate calls to the public switched 

14 telephone network but does not permit users to 

15 receive calls that originate on the public switched 

16 telephone network. 

17 (d) TRANSITIONAL RULE REGARDING DEFINITION OF

18 TEXT MESSAGE.—Paragraph (2) of subsection (j) of section 

19 227 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227), 

20 as added by subsection (a) of this section, and paragraph 

21 (2) of subsection (k) of such section 227, as added by sub22 section (b) of this section, shall apply before the effective 

23 date of the amendment made to subsection (e)(8) of such 

24 section 227 by subparagraph (C) of section 503(a)(2) of di25 vision P of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 


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1 (Public Law 115–141) as if such amendment was already 

2 in effect. 

3 SEC. 9. PROVISION OF EVIDENCE OF CERTAIN ROBOCALL 

4 VIOLATIONS TO ATTORNEY GENERAL. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—If the Chief of the Enforcement Bu6 reau of the Commission obtains evidence that suggests a 

7 willful, knowing, and repeated robocall violation with an 

8 intent to defraud, cause harm, or wrongfully obtain any9 thing of value, the Chief of the Enforcement Bureau shall 

10 provide such evidence to the Attorney General. 

11 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 

12 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually 

13 thereafter, the Commission shall publish on its website and 

14 submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 

15 House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 

16 Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report that— 

17 (1) states the number of instances during the 

18 preceding year in which the Chief of the Enforcement 

19 Bureau provided the evidence described in subsection 

20 (a) to the Attorney General; and 

21 (2) contains a general summary of the types of 

22 robocall violations to which such evidence relates. 

23 (c) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec24 tion shall be construed to affect the ability of the CommisVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 Jul 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3375.RH H3375

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1 sion or the Chief of the Enforcement Bureau under other 

2 law— 

3 (1) to refer a matter to the Attorney General; or 

4 (2) to pursue or continue pursuit of an enforce5 ment action in a matter with respect to which the 

6 Chief of the Enforcement Bureau provided the evi7 dence described in subsection (a) to the Attorney Gen8 eral. 

9 (d) ROBOCALL VIOLATION DEFINED.—In this section, 

10 the term ‘‘robocall violation’’ means a violation of sub11 section (b) or (e) of section 227 of the Communications Act 

12 of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227). 

13 SEC. 10. PROTECTION FROM ONE-RING SCAMS. 

14 (a) INITIATION OF PROCEEDING.—Not later than 120 

15 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commis16 sion shall initiate a proceeding to protect called parties 

17 from one-ring scams. 

18 (b) MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED.—As part of the 

19 proceeding required by subsection (a), the Commission shall 

20 consider how the Commission can— 

21 (1) work with Federal and State law enforce22 ment agencies to address one-ring scams; 

23 (2) work with the governments of foreign coun24 tries to address one-ring scams; 


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1 (3) in consultation with the Federal Trade Com2 mission, better educate consumers about how to avoid 

3 one-ring scams; 

4 (4) incentivize voice service providers to stop 

5 calls made to perpetrate one-ring scams from being 

6 received by called parties, including consideration of 

7 adding identified one-ring scam type numbers to the 

8 Commission’s existing list of permissible categories for 

9 carrier-initiated blocking; 

10 (5) work with entities that provide call-blocking 

11 services to address one-ring scams; and 

12 (6) establish obligations on international gate13 way providers that are the first point of entry for 

14 these calls into the United States, including potential 

15 requirements that such providers verify with the for16 eign originator the nature or purpose of calls before 

17 initiating service. 

18 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 

19 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission 

20 shall publish on its website and submit to the Committee 

21 on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives 

22 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor23 tation of the Senate a report on the status of the proceeding 

24 required by subsection (a). 

25 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) ONE-RING SCAM.—The term ‘‘one-ring scam’’ 

2 means a scam in which a caller makes a call and al3 lows the call to ring the called party for a short dura4 tion, in order to prompt the called party to return the 

5 call, thereby subjecting the called party to charges. 

6 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the meaning 

7 given such term in section 3 of the Communications 

8 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153). 

9 (3) VOICE SERVICE.—The term ‘‘voice service’’ 

10 has the meaning given such term in section 227(e)(8) 

11 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

12 227(e)(8)). This paragraph shall apply before the ef13 fective date of the amendment made to such section by 

14 subparagraph (C) of section 503(a)(2) of division P 

15 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (Public 

16 Law 115–141) as if such amendment was already in 

17 effect. 

18 SEC. 11. INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, in consulta20 tion with the Commission, shall convene an interagency 

21 working group to study the enforcement of section 227(b) 

22 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(b)). 

23 (b) DUTIES.—In carrying out the study under sub24 section (a), the interagency working group shall— 


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1 (1) determine whether, and if so how, any Fed2 eral law, including regulations, policies, and prac3 tices, or budgetary or jurisdictional constraints in4 hibit the enforcement of such section; 

5 (2) identify existing and potential Federal poli6 cies and programs that encourage and improve co7 ordination among Federal departments and agencies 

8 and States, and between States, in the enforcement 

9 and prevention of the violation of such section; 

10 (3) identify existing and potential international 

11 policies and programs that encourage and improve 

12 coordination between countries in the enforcement 

13 and prevention of the violation of such section (and 

14 laws of foreign countries prohibiting similar conduct); 

15 and 

16 (4) consider— 

17 (A) the benefit and potential sources of ad18 ditional resources for the Federal enforcement 

19 and prevention of the violation of such section; 

20 (B) whether memoranda of understanding 

21 regarding the enforcement and prevention of the 

22 violation of such section should be established be23 tween— 

24 (i) the States; 


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1 (ii) the States and the Federal Govern2 ment; and 

3 (iii) the Federal Government and for4 eign governments; 

5 (C) whether a process should be established 

6 to allow States to request Federal subpoenas 

7 from the Commission with respect to the enforce8 ment of such section; 

9 (D) whether increased criminal penalties for 

10 the violation of such section (including increas11 ing the amount of fines and increasing the max12 imum term of imprisonment that may be im13 posed to a period greater than 2 years) are ap14 propriate; 

15 (E) whether regulation of any entity that 

16 enters into a business arrangement with a car17 rier for the specific purpose of carrying, routing, 

18 or transmitting a call that constitutes a viola19 tion of such section would assist in the successful 

20 enforcement and prevention of the violation of 

21 such section; and 

22 (F) the extent to which the prosecution of 

23 certain violations of such section (which result in 

24 economic, physical, or emotional harm) pursuant 

25 to any Department of Justice policy may inhibit 


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1 or otherwise interfere with the prosecution of 

2 other violations of such section. 

3 (c) MEMBERS.—The interagency working group shall 

4 be composed of such representatives of Federal departments 

5 and agencies as the Attorney General considers appropriate, 

6 which may include— 

7 (1) the Department of Commerce (including the 

8 National Telecommunications and Information Ad9 ministration); 

10 (2) the Department of State; 

11 (3) the Department of Homeland Security; 

12 (4) the Commission; 

13 (5) the Federal Trade Commission; and 

14 (6) the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protec15 tion. 

16 (d) NON-FEDERAL STAKEHOLDERS.—In carrying out 

17 the study under subsection (a), the interagency working 

18 group shall consult with such non-Federal stakeholders as 

19 the Attorney General determines have relevant expertise, in20 cluding the National Association of Attorneys General. 

21 (e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 9 months 

22 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the interagency 

23 working group shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, 

24 Science, and Transportation and the Committee on the Ju25 diciary of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and 


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1 Commerce and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House 

2 of Representatives a report on the findings of the study 

3 under subsection (a), including— 

4 (1) any recommendations regarding the enforce5 ment and prevention of the violation of such section; 

6 and 

7 (2) a description of what process, if any, rel8 evant Federal departments and agencies have made in 

9 implementing the recommendations under paragraph 

10 (1). 

11 SEC. 12. COMMISSION DEFINED. 

12 In this Act, the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Federal 

13 Communications Commission. 

14 SEC. 13. ANNUAL ROBOCALL REPORT. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

16 of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 

17 Commission shall make publicly available on the website 

18 of the Commission, and submit to the Committee on Energy 

19 and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the 

20 Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation of the 

21 Senate, a report on the status of private-led efforts to trace 

22 back the origin of suspected unlawful robocalls by the reg23 istered consortium and the participation of voice service 

24 providers in such efforts. 


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1 (b) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The report required 

2 under subsection (a) shall include, at minimum, the fol3 lowing: 

4 (1) A description of private-led efforts to trace 

5 back the origin of suspected unlawful robocalls by the 

6 registered consortium and the actions taken by the 

7 registered consortium to coordinate with the Commis8 sion. 

9 (2) A list of voice service providers identified by 

10 the registered consortium that participated in pri11 vate-led efforts to trace back the origin of suspected 

12 unlawful robocalls through the registered consortium. 

13 (3) A list of each voice service provider that re14 ceived a request from the registered consortium to 

15 participate in private-led efforts to trace back the ori16 gin of suspected unlawful robocalls and refused to 

17 participate, as identified by the registered consortium. 

18 (4) The reason, if any, each voice service pro19 vider identified by the registered consortium provided 

20 for not participating in private-led efforts to trace 

21 back the origin of suspected unlawful robocalls. 

22 (5) A description of how the Commission may 

23 use the information provided to the Commission by 

24 voice service providers or the registered consortium 

25 that have participated in private-led efforts to trace 


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1 back the origin of suspected unlawful robocalls in the 

2 enforcement efforts by the Commission. 

3 (c) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.—Not later than 210 

4 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annu5 ally thereafter, the Commission shall issue a notice to the 

6 public seeking additional information from voice service 

7 providers and the registered consortium of private-led ef8 forts to trace back the origin of suspected unlawful robocalls 

9 necessary for the report by the Commission required under 

10 subsection (a). 

11 (d) REGISTRATION OF CONSORTIUM OF PRIVATE-LED

12 EFFORTS TO TRACE BACK THE ORIGIN OF SUSPECTED UN13 LAWFUL ROBOCALLS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

15 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission 

16 shall issue rules to establish a registration process for 

17 the registration of a single consortium that conducts 

18 private-led efforts to trace back the origin of suspected 

19 unlawful robocalls. The consortium shall meet the fol20 lowing requirements: 

21 (A) Be a neutral third-party competent to 

22 manage the private-led effort to trace back the 

23 origin of suspected unlawful robocalls in the 

24 judgement of the Commission. 


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1 (B) Maintain a set of written best practices 

2 about the management of such efforts and re3 garding providers of voice services’ participation 

4 in private-led efforts to trace back the origin of 

5 suspected unlawful robocalls. 

6 (C) Consistent with section 222(d)(2) of the 

7 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

8 222(d)(2)), any private-led efforts to trace back 

9 the origin of suspected unlawful robocalls con10 ducted by the third-party focus on ‘‘fraudulent, 

11 abusive, or unlawful’’ traffic. 

12 (D) File a notice with the Commission that 

13 the consortium intends to conduct private-led ef14 forts to trace back in advance of such registra15 tion. 

16 (2) ANNUAL NOTICE BY THE COMMISSION SEEK17 ING REGISTRATIONS.—Not later than 120 days after 

18 the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually 

19 thereafter, the Commission shall issue a notice to the 

20 public seeking the registration described in paragraph 

21 (1). 

22 (e) LIST OF VOICE SERVICE PROVIDERS.—The Com23 mission may publish a list of voice service providers and 

24 take appropriate enforcement action based on information 

25 obtained from the consortium about voice service providers 


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1 that refuse to participate in private-led efforts to trace back 

2 the origin of suspected unlawful robocalls, and other infor3 mation the Commission may collect about service providers 

4 that are found to originate or transmit substantial amounts 

5 of illegal calls. 

6 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 (1) PRIVATE-LED EFFORT TO TRACE BACK.—The 

8 term ‘‘private-led effort to trace back’’ means an effort 

9 made by the registered consortium of voice service 

10 providers to establish a methodology for determining 

11 the origin of a suspected unlawful robocall. 

12 (2) REGISTERED CONSORTIUM.—The term ‘‘reg13 istered consortium’’ means the consortium registered 

14 under subsection (d). 

15 (3) SUSPECTED UNLAWFUL ROBOCALL.—The 

16 term ‘‘suspected unlawful robocall’’ means a call that 

17 the Commission or a voice service provider reasonably 

18 believes was made in violation of subsection (b) or (e) 

19 of section 227 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

20 U.S.C. 227). 

21 (4) VOICE SERVICE.—The term ‘‘voice service’’— 

22 (A) means any service that is inter23 connected with the public switched telephone net24 work and that furnishes voice communications to 

25 an end user using resources from the North 


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1 American Numbering Plan or any successor to 

2 the North American Numbering Plan adopted by 

3 the Commission under section 251(e)(1) of the 

4 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

5 251(e)(1)); and 

6 (B) includes— 

7 (i) transmissions from a telephone fac8 simile machine, computer, or other device to 

9 a telephone facsimile machine; and 

10 (ii) without limitation, any service 

11 that enables real-time, two-way voice com12 munications, including any service that re13 quires internet protocol-compatible customer 

14 premises equipment (commonly known as 

15 ‘‘CPE’’) and permits out-bound calling, 

16 whether or not the service is one-way or 

17 two-way voice over internet protocol. 

18 SEC. 14. HOSPITAL ROBOCALL PROTECTION GROUP. 

19 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 

20 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall 

21 establish an advisory committee to be known as the ‘‘Hos22 pital Robocall Protection Group’’. 

23 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Group shall be composed only 

24 of the following members: 


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1 (1) An equal number of representatives from 

2 each of the following: 

3 (A) Voice service providers that serve hos4 pitals. 

5 (B) Companies that focus on mitigating un6 lawful robocalls. 

7 (C) Consumer advocacy organizations. 

8 (D) Providers of one-way voice over internet 

9 protocol services described in subsection 

10 (e)(4)(B)(ii). 

11 (E) Hospitals. 

12 (F) State government officials focused on 

13 combatting unlawful robocalls. 

14 (2) One representative of the Commission. 

15 (3) One representative of the Federal Trade 

16 Commission. 

17 (c) ISSUANCE OF BEST PRACTICES.—Not later than 

18 180 days after the date on which the Group is established 

19 under subsection (a), the Group shall issue best practices 

20 regarding the following: 

21 (1) How voice service providers can better com22 bat unlawful robocalls made to hospitals. 

23 (2) How hospitals can better protect themselves 

24 from such calls, including by using unlawful robocall 

25 mitigation techniques. 


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1 (3) How the Federal Government and State gov2 ernments can help combat such calls. 

3 (d) PROCEEDING BY FCC.—Not later than 180 days 

4 after the date on which the best practices are issued by the 

5 Group under subsection (c), the Commission shall conclude 

6 a proceeding to assess the extent to which the voluntary 

7 adoption of such best practices can be facilitated to protect 

8 hospitals and other institutions. 

9 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 (1) GROUP.—The term ‘‘Group’’ means the Hos11 pital Robocall Protection Group established under 

12 subsection (a). 

13 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the meaning 

14 given such term in section 3 of the Communications 

15 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153). 

16 (3) VOICE SERVICE.—The term ‘‘voice service’’— 

17 (A) means any service that is inter18 connected with the public switched telephone net19 work and that furnishes voice communications to 

20 an end user using resources from the North 

21 American Numbering Plan or any successor to 

22 the North American Numbering Plan adopted by 

23 the Commission under section 251(e)(1) of the 

24 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

25 251(e)(1)); and 


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1 (B) includes— 

2 (i) transmissions from a telephone fac3 simile machine, computer, or other device to 

4 a telephone facsimile machine; and 

5 (ii) without limitation, any service 

6 that enables real-time, two-way voice com7 munications, including any service that re8 quires internet protocol-compatible customer 

9 premises equipment (commonly known as 

10 ‘‘CPE’’) and permits out-bound calling, 

11 whether or not the service is one-way or 

12 two-way voice over internet protocol. 


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Union Calendar No. 133 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3375 

[Report No. 116–173] 

A BILL 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to clarother purposes. ify the prohibitions on making robocalls, and for 

JULY 23, 2019 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


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