II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3375 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 25, 2019 

Received 

AN ACT 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to clarify the 

prohibitions on making robocalls, and for other purposes. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stopping Bad 

3 Robocalls Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. CONSUMER PROTECTION REGULATIONS RELATING 

5 TO MAKING ROBOCALLS. 

6 Not later than 6 months after the date of the enact7 ment of this Act, and as appropriate thereafter to ensure 

8 that the consumer protection and privacy purposes of sec9 tion 227 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

10 227) remain effective, the Commission shall prescribe such 

11 regulations, or amend such existing regulations, regarding 

12 calls made or text messages sent using automatic tele13 phone dialing systems and calls made using an artificial 

14 or prerecorded voice as will, in the judgment of the Com15 mission, clarify descriptions of automatic telephone dialing 

16 systems and ensure that— 

17 (1) the consumer protection and privacy pur18 poses of such section are effectuated; 

19 (2) calls made and text messages sent using 

20 automatic telephone dialing systems and calls made 

21 using an artificial or prerecorded voice are made or 

22 sent (as the case may be) with consent, unless con23 sent is not required under or the call or text mes24 sage is exempted by paragraph (1), (2)(B), or (2)(C) 

25 of subsection (b) of such section; 


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1 (3) consumers can withdraw consent for such 

2 calls and text messages; 

3 (4) circumvention or evasion of such section is 

4 prevented; 

5 (5) callers maintain records to demonstrate that 

6 such callers have obtained consent, unless consent is 

7 not required under or the call or text message is ex8 empted by paragraph (1), (2)(B), or (2)(C) of sub9 section (b) of such section, for such calls and text 

10 messages, for a period of time that will permit the 

11 Commission to effectuate the consumer protection 

12 and privacy purposes of such section; and 

13 (6) compliance with such section is facilitated. 

14 SEC. 3. CONSUMER PROTECTIONS FOR EXEMPTIONS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 227(b)(2) of the Commu16 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(b)(2)) is amended— 

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

18 and inserting a semicolon; 

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

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

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

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

23 subparagraph (B) or (C) contains requirements 

24 for calls made in reliance on the exemption with 

25 respect to— 


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

2 make such calls; 

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

4 called; and 

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

6 calling party may make to a particular 

7 called party.’’. 

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

9 any exemption issued under subparagraph (B) or (C) of 

10 section 227(b)(2) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

11 U.S.C. 227(b)(2)) before the date of the enactment of this 

12 Act, the Commission, shall, not later than 1 year after 

13 such date of enactment, prescribe such regulations, or 

14 amend such existing regulations, as necessary to ensure 

15 that such exemption contains each requirement described 

16 in subparagraph (I) of such section, as added by sub17 section (a). To the extent such an exemption contains such 

18 a requirement before such date of enactment, nothing in 

19 this section or the amendments made by this section shall 

20 be construed to require the Commission to prescribe or 

21 amend regulations relating to such requirement. 

22 SEC. 4. REPORT ON REASSIGNED NUMBER DATABASE. 

23 (a) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

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

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1 sion shall submit to Congress, and make publicly 

2 available on the website of the Commission, a report 

3 on the status of the efforts of the Commission pur4 suant to the Second Report and Order in the matter 

5 of Advanced Methods to Target and Eliminate Un6 lawful Robocalls (CG Docket No. 17–59; FCC 18– 

7 177; adopted on December 12, 2018). 

8 (2) CONTENTS.—The report required by para9 graph (1) shall describe the efforts of the Commis10 sion, as described in such Second Report and Order, 

11 to ensure— 

12 (A) the establishment of a database of tele13 phone numbers that have been disconnected, in 

14 order to provide a person making calls subject 

15 to section 227(b) of the Communications Act of 

16 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(b)) with comprehensive 

17 and timely information to enable such person to 

18 avoid making calls without the prior express 

19 consent of the called party because the number 

20 called has been reassigned; 

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

22 safe harbor provided pursuant to such Second 

23 Report and Order with respect to making calls 

24 must demonstrate that, before making the call, 

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1 cent update of the database and the database 

2 reported that the number had not been discon3 nected; and 

4 (C) that if the person makes the dem5 onstration described in subparagraph (B), the 

6 person will be shielded from liability under sec7 tion 227(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 

8 (47 U.S.C. 227(b)) should the database return 

9 an inaccurate result. 

10 (b) CLARIFICATION OF DEFINITION OF CALLED

11 PARTY.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 227(a) of the Com13 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(a)) is 

14 amended by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(6) The term ‘called party’ means, with re16 spect to a call, the current subscriber or customary 

17 user of the telephone number to which the call is 

18 made, determined at the time when the call is 

19 made.’’. 

20 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

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

22 (47 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 Re6 port and Order in the matter of Advanced Methods 

7 to Target and Eliminate Unlawful Robocalls (CG 

8 Docket No. 17–59; FCC 18–177; adopted on De9 cember 12, 2018) becomes fully operational, such 

10 that a person may check the database to determine 

11 the last date of permanent disconnection associated 

12 with a phone number. Nothing in the amendments 

13 made by this subsection shall affect the construction 

14 of the law as 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 

19 227(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

20 U.S.C. 227(b)) is amended by adding at the end the 

21 following: 

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

24 503(b) shall not apply in the case of a violation 


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1 made with the intent to cause such violation of this 

2 subsection.’’. 

3 (2) FOR CALLER IDENTIFICATION INFORMA4 TION VIOLATIONS.—Section 227(e)(5)(A)(iii) of the 

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

6 227(e)(5)(A)(iii)) is amended by adding at the end 

7 the following: ‘‘Paragraph (5) of section 503(b) shall 

8 not apply in the case of a violation of this sub9 section.’’. 

10 (b) FOUR-YEAR STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.— 

11 (1) FOR ROBOCALL VIOLATIONS.—Section 

12 227(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

13 U.S.C. 227(b)), as amended by subsection (a), is 

14 further amended by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(5) FOUR-YEAR STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.— 

16 Notwithstanding paragraph (6) of section 503(b), no 

17 forfeiture penalty for violation of this subsection 

18 shall be determined or imposed against any person 

19 if the violation charged occurred more than— 

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

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

22 section or the notice of apparent liability re23 quired by paragraph (4) of such section (as the 

24 case may be); or 


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1 ‘‘(B) if the violation was made with the in2 tent to cause such violation, 4 years prior to the 

3 date of issuance of the notice required by para4 graph (3) of such section or the notice of ap5 parent liability required by paragraph (4) of 

6 such section (as the case may be).’’. 

7 (2) FOR CALLER IDENTIFICATION INFORMA8 TION VIOLATIONS.—Section 227(e)(5)(A)(iv) of the 

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

10 227(e)(5)(A)(iv)) is amended— 

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

12 and inserting ‘‘4-YEAR’’; and 

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

14 years’’. 

15 (c) INCREASED PENALTY FOR ROBOCALL VIOLA16 TIONS WITH INTENT.—Section 227(b) of the Communica17 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(b)), as amended by sub18 sections (a) and (b), is further amended by adding at the 

19 end the following: 

20 ‘‘(6) INCREASED PENALTY FOR VIOLATIONS

21 WITH INTENT.—In the case of a forfeiture penalty 

22 for violation of this subsection that is determined or 

23 imposed under section 503(b), if such violation was 

24 made with the intent to cause such violation, the 

25 amount of such penalty shall be equal to an amount 


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1 determined in accordance with subparagraphs (A) 

2 through (F) of section 503(b)(2) plus an additional 

3 penalty not to exceed $10,000.’’. 

4 SEC. 6. ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

5 Section 227 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

6 U.S.C. 227) is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

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

9 AND TRANSMISSION OF MISLEADING OR INACCURATE

10 CALLER IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION.— 

11 ‘‘(1) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 1 

12 year after the date of the enactment of this sub13 section, and annually thereafter, the Commission, 

14 after consultation with the Federal Trade Commis15 sion, shall submit to Congress a report regarding en16 forcement by the Commission of subsections (b), (c), 

17 (d), and (e) during the preceding calendar year. 

18 ‘‘(2) MATTERS FOR INCLUSION.—Each report 

19 required by paragraph (1) shall include the fol20 lowing: 

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

22 the Commission during each of the preceding 5 

23 calendar years, for each of the following cat24 egories: 


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1 ‘‘(i) Complaints alleging that a con2 sumer received a call in violation of sub3 section (b) or (c). 

4 ‘‘(ii) Complaints alleging that a con5 sumer received a call in violation of the 

6 standards prescribed under subsection (d). 

7 ‘‘(iii) Complaints alleging that a con8 sumer received a call in connection with 

9 which misleading or inaccurate caller iden10 tification information was transmitted in 

11 violation of subsection (e). 

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

13 Commission pursuant to section 503(b) during 

14 the preceding calendar year to enforce sub15 section (d), and details of each such citation. 

16 ‘‘(C) The number of notices of apparent li17 ability issued by the Commission pursuant to 

18 section 503(b) during the preceding calendar 

19 year to enforce subsections (b), (c), (d), and 

20 (e), and details of each such notice including 

21 any proposed forfeiture amount. 

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

23 forfeiture penalties issued pursuant to section 

24 503(b) during the preceding calendar year to 


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1 enforce such subsections, and details of each 

2 such order including the forfeiture imposed. 

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

4 criminal fines collected, during the preceding 

5 calendar year, by the Commission or the Attor6 ney General for violations of such subsections, 

7 and details of each case in which such a for8 feiture penalty or criminal fine was collected. 

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

10 calls made in violation of such subsections. 

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

12 providers of interconnected VoIP service and 

13 non-interconnected VoIP service that discount 

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

15 the total number of calls made in violation of 

16 such subsections, and recommendations on how 

17 to address such contribution in order to de18 crease the total number of calls made in viola19 tion of such subsections. 

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

21 The Commission shall prepare the report required by 

22 paragraph (1) without requiring the provision of ad23 ditional information from providers of telecommuni24 cations service or voice service (as defined in section 

25 7(d) of the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act).’’. 


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1 SEC. 7. REGULATIONS RELATING TO EFFECTIVE CALL AU2 THENTICATION TECHNOLOGY. 

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

4 date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall pre5 scribe regulations in WC Docket No. 17–97. 

6 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR EFFECTIVE CALL AUTHEN7 TICATION TECHNOLOGY.— 

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

9 subsection (a) shall— 

10 (A) require providers of voice service to im11 plement, within 6 months after the date on 

12 which such regulations are prescribed, an effec13 tive call authentication technology; and 

14 (B) ensure that voice service providers that 

15 have implemented the effective authentication 

16 technology attest that such provider has deter17 mined, when originating calls on behalf of a 

18 calling party, that the calling party number 

19 transmitted with such calls has been appro20 priately authenticated. 

21 (2) REASSESSMENT OF REGULATIONS.—The 

22 Commission shall reassess such regulations, at least 

23 once every 2 years, to ensure the regulations remain 

24 effective and up to date with technological capabili25 ties. 

26 (3) EXEMPTION.— 


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1 (A) BURDENS AND BARRIERS TO IMPLE2 MENTATION.—The Commission— 

3 (i) shall include findings on any bur4 dens or barriers to the implementation re5 quired in paragraph (1), including— 

6 (I) for providers of voice service 

7 to the extent the networks of such 

8 providers use time-division multi9 plexing; and 

10 (II) for small providers of voice 

11 service and those in rural areas; and 

12 (ii) in connection with such findings, 

13 may exempt from the 6-month time period 

14 described in paragraph (1)(A), for a rea15 sonable period of time a class of providers 

16 of voice service, or type of voice calls, as 

17 necessary for that class of providers or 

18 type of calls to participate in the imple19 mentation in order to address the identi20 fied burdens and barriers. 

21 (B) FULL PARTICIPATION.—The Commis22 sion shall take all steps necessary to address 

23 any issues in the findings and enable as 

24 promptly as possible full participation of all 

25 classes of providers of voice service and types of 


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1 voice calls to receive the highest level of attesta2 tion. 

3 (C) ALTERNATIVE METHODOLOGIES.—The 

4 Commission shall identify or develop, in con5 sultation with small providers of service and 

6 those in rural areas, alternative effective meth7 odologies to protect customers from 

8 unauthenticated calls during any exemption 

9 given under subparagraph (A)(ii). Such meth10 odologies shall be provided with no additional 

11 line item charge to customers. 

12 (D) REVISION OF EXEMPTION.—Not less 

13 frequently than annually after the first exemp14 tion is issued under this paragraph, the Com15 mission shall consider revising or extending any 

16 exemption made, may revise such exemption, 

17 and shall issue a public notice with regard to 

18 whether such exemption remains necessary. 

19 (4) ACCURATE IDENTIFICATION.—The regula20 tions required by subsection (a) shall include guide21 lines that providers of voice service may use as part 

22 of the implementation of effective call authentication 

23 technology under paragraph (1) to take steps to en24 sure the calling party is accurately identified. 


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1 (5) NO ADDITIONAL COST TO CONSUMERS OR

2 SMALL BUSINESS CUSTOMERS.—The regulations re3 quired by subsection (a) shall prohibit providers of 

4 voice service from making any additional line item 

5 charges to consumer or small business customer sub6 scribers for the effective call authentication tech7 nology required under paragraph (1). 

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

9 the date of enactment of this Act, and consistent 

10 with the regulations prescribed under subsection (a), 

11 the Commission shall initiate an evaluation of the 

12 success of the effective call authentication technology 

13 required under paragraph (1). 

14 (7) UNAUTHENTICATED CALLS.—The Commis15 sion shall— 

16 (A) in the regulations required by sub17 section (a), consistent with the regulations pre18 scribed under subsection (k) of section 227 of 

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

20 227), as added by section 8, help protect sub21 scribers from receiving unwanted calls from a 

22 caller using an unauthenticated number, 

23 through effective means of enabling the sub24 scriber or provider to block such calls, with no 


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1 additional line item charge to the subscriber; 

2 and 

3 (B) take appropriate steps to ensure that 

4 calls originating from a provider of service in 

5 an area where the provider is exempt from the 

6 6-month time period described in paragraph 

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

8 are not able to be authenticated. 

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

10 on which the regulations under subsection (a) are pre11 scribed, the Commission shall submit to the Committee 

12 on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives 

13 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor14 tation of the Senate, and make publicly available on its 

15 website, a report on the implementation of subsection (b), 

16 which shall include— 

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

18 of a voice service have implemented the effective call 

19 authentication technology, including whether the 

20 availability of necessary equipment and equipment 

21 upgrades has impacted such implementation; and 

22 (2) an assessment of the effective call authen23 tication technology, as being implemented under 

24 subsection (b), in addressing all aspects of call au25 thentication. 


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

2 term ‘‘voice service’’— 

3 (1) means any service that is interconnected 

4 with the public switched telephone network and that 

5 furnishes voice communications to an end user using 

6 resources from the North American Numbering Plan 

7 or any successor to the North American Numbering 

8 Plan adopted by the Commission under section 

9 251(e)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

10 U.S.C. 251(e)(1)); and 

11 (2) includes— 

12 (A) transmissions from a telephone fac13 simile machine, computer, or other device to a 

14 telephone facsimile machine; and 

15 (B) without limitation, any service that en16 ables real-time, two-way voice communications, 

17 including any service that requires internet pro18 tocol-compatible customer premises equipment 

19 (commonly known as ‘‘CPE’’) and permits out20 bound calling, whether or not the service is one21 way or two-way voice over internet protocol. 

22 SEC. 8. STOP ROBOCALLS. 

23 (a) INFORMATION SHARING REGARDING ROBOCALL

24 AND SPOOFING VIOLATIONS.—Section 227 of the Commu25 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227), as amended by 


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1 section 6, is further amended by adding at the end the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(j) INFORMATION SHARING.— 

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

5 after the date of the enactment of this subsection, 

6 the Commission shall prescribe regulations to estab7 lish a process that streamlines the ways in which a 

8 private entity may voluntarily share with the Com9 mission information relating to— 

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

11 violation of subsection (b); or 

12 ‘‘(B) a call or text message for which mis13 leading or inaccurate caller identification infor14 mation was caused to be transmitted in viola15 tion of subsection (e). 

16 ‘‘(2) TEXT MESSAGE DEFINED.—In this sub17 section, the term ‘text message’ has the meaning 

18 given such term in subsection (e)(8).’’. 

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

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

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

22 is further amended by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(k) ROBOCALL BLOCKING SERVICE.— 

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

25 the date of the enactment of this subsection, the 


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1 Commission shall take a final agency action to en2 sure the robocall blocking services provided on an 

3 opt-out or opt-in basis pursuant to the Declaratory 

4 Ruling of the Commission in the matter of Advanced 

5 Methods to Target and Eliminate Unlawful 

6 Robocalls (CG Docket No. 17–59; FCC 19–51; 

7 adopted on June 6, 2019)— 

8 ‘‘(A) are provided with transparency and 

9 effective redress options for both— 

10 ‘‘(i) consumers; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) callers; and 

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

13 item charge to consumers and no additional 

14 charge to callers for resolving complaints re15 lated to erroneously blocked calls. 

16 ‘‘(2) TEXT MESSAGE DEFINED.—In this sub17 section, the term ‘text message’ has the meaning 

18 given such term in subsection (e)(8).’’. 

19 (c) STUDY ON INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS FOR

20 CERTAIN VOIP SERVICE PROVIDERS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall con22 duct a study regarding whether to require a provider 

23 of covered VoIP service to— 


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1 (A) provide to the Commission contact in2 formation for such provider and keep such in3 formation current; and 

4 (B) retain records relating to each call 

5 transmitted over the covered VoIP service of 

6 such provider that are sufficient to trace such 

7 call back to the source of such call. 

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

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

10 the Commission shall submit to Congress a report 

11 on the results of the study conducted under para12 graph (1). 

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

14 subsection, the term ‘‘covered VoIP service’’ means 

15 a service that— 

16 (A) is an interconnected VoIP service (as 

17 defined in section 3 of the Communications Act 

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

19 (B) would be an interconnected VoIP serv20 ice (as so defined) except that the service per21 mits users to terminate calls to the public 

22 switched telephone network but does not permit 

23 users to receive calls that originate on the pub24 lic switched telephone network. 


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1 (d) TRANSITIONAL RULE REGARDING DEFINITION

2 OF TEXT MESSAGE.—Paragraph (2) of subsection (j) of 

3 section 227 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

4 U.S.C. 227), as added by subsection (a) of this section, 

5 and paragraph (2) of subsection (k) of such section 227, 

6 as added by subsection (b) of this section, shall apply be7 fore the effective date of the amendment made to sub8 section (e)(8) of such section 227 by subparagraph (C) 

9 of section 503(a)(2) of division P of the Consolidated Ap10 propriations Act, 2018 (Public Law 115–141) as if such 

11 amendment was already in effect. 

12 SEC. 9. PROVISION OF EVIDENCE OF CERTAIN ROBOCALL 

13 VIOLATIONS TO ATTORNEY GENERAL. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—If the Chief of the Enforcement 

15 Bureau of the Commission obtains evidence that suggests 

16 a willful, knowing, and repeated robocall violation with an 

17 intent to defraud, cause harm, or wrongfully obtain any18 thing of value, the Chief of the Enforcement Bureau shall 

19 provide such evidence to the Attorney General. 

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

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

22 thereafter, the Commission shall publish on its website 

23 and submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

24 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 


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1 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a 

2 report that— 

3 (1) states the number of instances during the 

4 preceding year in which the Chief of the Enforce5 ment Bureau provided the evidence described in sub6 section (a) to the Attorney General; and 

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

8 robocall violations to which such evidence relates. 

9 (c) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec10 tion shall be construed to affect the ability of the Commis11 sion or the Chief of the Enforcement Bureau under other 

12 law— 

13 (1) to refer a matter to the Attorney General; 

14 or 

15 (2) to pursue or continue pursuit of an enforce16 ment action in a matter with respect to which the 

17 Chief of the Enforcement Bureau provided the evi18 dence described in subsection (a) to the Attorney 

19 General. 

20 (d) ROBOCALL VIOLATION DEFINED.—In this sec21 tion, the term ‘‘robocall violation’’ means a violation of 

22 subsection (b) or (e) of section 227 of the Communications 

23 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227). 


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

2 (a) INITIATION OF PROCEEDING.—Not later than 

3 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

4 Commission shall initiate a proceeding to protect called 

5 parties from one-ring scams. 

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

7 proceeding required by subsection (a), the Commission 

8 shall consider how the Commission can— 

9 (1) work with Federal and State law enforce10 ment agencies to address one-ring scams; 

11 (2) work with the governments of foreign coun12 tries to address one-ring scams; 

13 (3) in consultation with the Federal Trade 

14 Commission, better educate consumers about how to 

15 avoid one-ring scams; 

16 (4) incentivize voice service providers to stop 

17 calls made to perpetrate one-ring scams from being 

18 received by called parties, including consideration of 

19 adding identified one-ring scam type numbers to the 

20 Commission’s existing list of permissible categories 

21 for carrier-initiated blocking; 

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

23 services to address one-ring scams; and 

24 (6) establish obligations on international gate25 way providers that are the first point of entry for 

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1 tial requirements that such providers verify with the 

2 foreign originator the nature or purpose of calls be3 fore initiating service. 

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

5 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commis6 sion shall publish on its website and submit to the Com7 mittee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Rep8 resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

9 and Transportation of the Senate a report on the status 

10 of the proceeding required by subsection (a). 

11 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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

13 scam’’ means a scam in which a caller makes a call 

14 and allows the call to ring the called party for a 

15 short duration, in order to prompt the called party 

16 to return the call, thereby subjecting the called party 

17 to charges. 

18 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean19 ing given such term in section 3 of the Communica20 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153). 

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

22 has the meaning given such term in section 

23 227(e)(8) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

24 U.S.C. 227(e)(8)). This paragraph shall apply before 

25 the effective date of the amendment made to such 


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1 section by subparagraph (C) of section 503(a)(2) of 

2 division P of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

3 2018 (Public Law 115–141) as if such amendment 

4 was already in effect. 

5 SEC. 11. INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, in con7 sultation with the Commission, shall convene an inter8 agency working group to study the enforcement of section 

9 227(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

10 227(b)). 

11 (b) DUTIES.—In carrying out the study under sub12 section (a), the interagency working group shall— 

13 (1) determine whether, and if so how, any Fed14 eral law, including regulations, policies, and prac15 tices, or budgetary or jurisdictional constraints in16 hibit the enforcement of such section; 

17 (2) identify existing and potential Federal poli18 cies and programs that encourage and improve co19 ordination among Federal departments and agencies 

20 and States, and between States, in the enforcement 

21 and prevention of the violation of such section; 

22 (3) identify existing and potential international 

23 policies and programs that encourage and improve 

24 coordination between countries in the enforcement 

25 and prevention of the violation of such section (and 


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1 laws of foreign countries prohibiting similar con2 duct); and 

3 (4) consider— 

4 (A) the benefit and potential sources of ad5 ditional resources for the Federal enforcement 

6 and prevention of the violation of such section; 

7 (B) whether memoranda of understanding 

8 regarding the enforcement and prevention of 

9 the violation of such section should be estab10 lished between— 

11 (i) the States; 

12 (ii) the States and the Federal Gov13 ernment; and 

14 (iii) the Federal Government and for15 eign governments; 

16 (C) whether a process should be estab17 lished to allow States to request Federal sub18 poenas from the Commission with respect to the 

19 enforcement of such section; 

20 (D) whether increased criminal penalties 

21 for the violation of such section (including in22 creasing the amount of fines and increasing the 

23 maximum term of imprisonment that may be 

24 imposed to a period greater than 2 years) are 

25 appropriate; 


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1 (E) whether regulation of any entity that 

2 enters into a business arrangement with a car3 rier for the specific purpose of carrying, rout4 ing, or transmitting a call that constitutes a 

5 violation of such section would assist in the suc6 cessful enforcement and prevention of the viola7 tion of such section; and 

8 (F) the extent to which the prosecution of 

9 certain violations of such section (which result 

10 in economic, physical, or emotional harm) pur11 suant to any Department of Justice policy may 

12 inhibit or otherwise interfere with the prosecu13 tion of other violations of such section. 

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

15 be composed of such representatives of Federal depart16 ments and agencies as the Attorney General considers ap17 propriate, which may include— 

18 (1) the Department of Commerce (including the 

19 National Telecommunications and Information Ad20 ministration); 

21 (2) the Department of State; 

22 (3) the Department of Homeland Security; 

23 (4) the Commission; 

24 (5) the Federal Trade Commission; and 


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1 (6) the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protec2 tion. 

3 (d) NON-FEDERAL STAKEHOLDERS.—In carrying 

4 out the study under subsection (a), the interagency work5 ing group shall consult with such non-Federal stake6 holders as the Attorney General determines have relevant 

7 expertise, including the National Association of Attorneys 

8 General. 

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

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

11 interagency working group shall submit to the Committee 

12 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the Com13 mittee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee 

14 on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on the Judi15 ciary of the House of Representatives a report on the find16 ings of the study under subsection (a), including— 

17 (1) any recommendations regarding the enforce18 ment and prevention of the violation of such section; 

19 and 

20 (2) a description of what process, if any, rel21 evant Federal departments and agencies have made 

22 in implementing the recommendations under para23 graph (1). 


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1 SEC. 12. COMMISSION DEFINED. 

2 In this Act, the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Fed3 eral Communications Commission. 

4 SEC. 13. ANNUAL ROBOCALL REPORT. 

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

6 date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

7 the Commission shall make publicly available on the 

8 website of the Commission, and submit to the Committee 

9 on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives 

10 and the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transpor11 tation of the Senate, a report on the status of private12 led efforts to trace back the origin of suspected unlawful 

13 robocalls by the registered consortium and the participa14 tion of voice service providers in such efforts. 

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

16 under subsection (a) shall include, at minimum, the fol17 lowing: 

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

19 back the origin of suspected unlawful robocalls by 

20 the registered consortium and the actions taken by 

21 the registered consortium to coordinate with the 

22 Commission. 

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

24 the registered consortium that participated in pri25 vate-led efforts to trace back the origin of suspected 


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1 unlawful robocalls through the registered consor2 tium. 

3 (3) A list of each voice service provider that re4 ceived a request from the registered consortium to 

5 participate in private-led efforts to trace back the or6 igin of suspected unlawful robocalls and refused to 

7 participate, as identified by the registered consor8 tium. 

9 (4) The reason, if any, each voice service pro10 vider identified by the registered consortium pro11 vided for not participating in private-led efforts to 

12 trace back the origin of suspected unlawful robocalls. 

13 (5) A description of how the Commission may 

14 use the information provided to the Commission by 

15 voice service providers or the registered consortium 

16 that have participated in private-led efforts to trace 

17 back the origin of suspected unlawful robocalls in 

18 the enforcement efforts by the Commission. 

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

20 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annu21 ally thereafter, the Commission shall issue a notice to the 

22 public seeking additional information from voice service 

23 providers and the registered consortium of private-led ef24 forts to trace back the origin of suspected unlawful 


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1 robocalls necessary for the report by the Commission re2 quired under subsection (a). 

3 (d) REGISTRATION OF CONSORTIUM OF PRIVATE4 LED EFFORTS TO TRACE BACK THE ORIGIN OF SUS5 PECTED UNLAWFUL ROBOCALLS.— 

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

7 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commis8 sion shall issue rules to establish a registration proc9 ess for the registration of a single consortium that 

10 conducts private-led efforts to trace back the origin 

11 of suspected unlawful robocalls. The consortium 

12 shall meet the following requirements: 

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

14 manage the private-led effort to trace back the 

15 origin of suspected unlawful robocalls in the 

16 judgement of the Commission. 

17 (B) Maintain a set of written best prac18 tices about the management of such efforts and 

19 regarding providers of voice services’ participa20 tion in private-led efforts to trace back the ori21 gin of suspected unlawful robocalls. 

22 (C) Consistent with section 222(d)(2) of 

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

24 222(d)(2)), any private-led efforts to trace back 

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1 ducted by the third-party focus on ‘‘fraudulent, 

2 abusive, or unlawful’’ traffic. 

3 (D) File a notice with the Commission that 

4 the consortium intends to conduct private-led 

5 efforts to trace back in advance of such reg6 istration. 

7 (2) ANNUAL NOTICE BY THE COMMISSION

8 SEEKING REGISTRATIONS.—Not later than 120 days 

9 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and an10 nually thereafter, the Commission shall issue a no11 tice to the public seeking the registration described 

12 in paragraph (1). 

13 (e) LIST OF VOICE SERVICE PROVIDERS.—The Com14 mission may publish a list of voice service providers and 

15 take appropriate enforcement action based on information 

16 obtained from the consortium about voice service providers 

17 that refuse to participate in private-led efforts to trace 

18 back the origin of suspected unlawful robocalls, and other 

19 information the Commission may collect about service pro20 viders that are found to originate or transmit substantial 

21 amounts of illegal calls. 

22 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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

24 The term ‘‘private-led effort to trace back’’ means 

25 an effort made by the registered consortium of voice 


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1 service providers to establish a methodology for de2 termining the origin of a suspected unlawful 

3 robocall. 

4 (2) REGISTERED CONSORTIUM.—The term 

5 ‘‘registered consortium’’ means the consortium reg6 istered under subsection (d). 

7 (3) SUSPECTED UNLAWFUL ROBOCALL.—The 

8 term ‘‘suspected unlawful robocall’’ means a call 

9 that the Commission or a voice service provider rea10 sonably believes was made in violation of subsection 

11 (b) or (e) of section 227 of the Communications Act 

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

13 (4) VOICE SERVICE.—The term ‘‘voice serv14 ice’’— 

15 (A) means any service that is inter16 connected with the public switched telephone 

17 network and that furnishes voice communica18 tions to an end user using resources from the 

19 North American Numbering Plan or any suc20 cessor to the North American Numbering Plan 

21 adopted by the Commission under section 

22 251(e)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934 

23 (47 U.S.C. 251(e)(1)); and 

24 (B) includes— 


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1 (i) transmissions from a telephone 

2 facsimile machine, computer, or other de3 vice to a telephone facsimile machine; and 

4 (ii) without limitation, any service 

5 that enables real-time, two-way voice com6 munications, including any service that re7 quires internet protocol-compatible cus8 tomer premises equipment (commonly 

9 known as ‘‘CPE’’) and permits out-bound 

10 calling, whether or not the service is one11 way or two-way voice over internet pro12 tocol. 

13 SEC. 14. HOSPITAL ROBOCALL PROTECTION GROUP. 

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

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

16 shall establish an advisory committee to be known as the 

17 ‘‘Hospital Robocall Protection Group’’. 

18 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Group shall be composed 

19 only of the following members: 

20 (1) An equal number of representatives from 

21 each of the following: 

22 (A) Voice service providers that serve hos23 pitals. 

24 (B) Companies that focus on mitigating 

25 unlawful robocalls. 


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1 (C) Consumer advocacy organizations. 

2 (D) Providers of one-way voice over inter3 net protocol services described in subsection 

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

5 (E) Hospitals. 

6 (F) State government officials focused on 

7 combatting unlawful robocalls. 

8 (2) One representative of the Commission. 

9 (3) One representative of the Federal Trade 

10 Commission. 

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

12 180 days after the date on which the Group is established 

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

14 regarding the following: 

15 (1) How voice service providers can better com16 bat unlawful robocalls made to hospitals. 

17 (2) How hospitals can better protect themselves 

18 from such calls, including by using unlawful robocall 

19 mitigation techniques. 

20 (3) How the Federal Government and State 

21 governments can help combat such calls. 

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

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

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1 untary adoption of such best practices can be facilitated 

2 to protect hospitals and other institutions. 

3 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) GROUP.—The term ‘‘Group’’ means the 

5 Hospital Robocall Protection Group established 

6 under subsection (a). 

7 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean8 ing given such term in section 3 of the Communica9 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153). 

10 (3) VOICE SERVICE.—The term ‘‘voice serv11 ice’’— 

12 (A) means any service that is inter13 connected with the public switched telephone 

14 network and that furnishes voice communica15 tions to an end user using resources from the 

16 North American Numbering Plan or any suc17 cessor to the North American Numbering Plan 

18 adopted by the Commission under section 

19 251(e)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934 

20 (47 U.S.C. 251(e)(1)); and 

21 (B) includes— 

22 (i) transmissions from a telephone 

23 facsimile machine, computer, or other de24 vice to a telephone facsimile machine; and 


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1 (ii) without limitation, any service 

2 that enables real-time, two-way voice com3 munications, including any service that re4 quires internet protocol-compatible cus5 tomer premises equipment (commonly 

6 known as ‘‘CPE’’) and permits out-bound 

7 calling, whether or not the service is one8 way or two-way voice over internet pro9 tocol. 

10 SEC. 15. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

11 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 

12 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 

13 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 

14 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 

15 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 

16 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro17 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 

18 vote on passage. 

Passed the House of Representatives July 24, 2019. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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