I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3707 

To increase the penalties for certain robocall, spoofing, and telemarketing 

violations. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 11, 2019 

Mr. BABIN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To increase the penalties for certain robocall, spoofing, and 

telemarketing violations. 

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 ‘‘Double the Enforce5 ment and Fines of Everyone Associated with Terrible 

6 Robocalls Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘DEFEAT Robocalls Act 

7 of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INCREASED PENALTIES FOR CERTAIN ROBOCALL, 

2 SPOOFING, AND TELEMARKETING VIOLA3 TIONS. 

4 (a) SECTION 227 OF THE COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF

5 1934.— 

6 (1) FORFEITURES GENERALLY.—Section 

7 503(b)(2)(D) of the Communications Act of 1934 

8 (47 U.S.C. 503(b)(2)(D)) is amended— 

9 (A) by inserting ‘‘(or, in the case of a vio10 lation of section 227, except for subsection (e) 

11 of such section, shall not exceed $39,278)’’ 

12 after ‘‘$10,000’’; and 

13 (B) by inserting ‘‘(or, in the case of a vio14 lation of section 227, except for subsection (e) 

15 of such section, shall not exceed a total of 

16 $294,580)’’ after ‘‘$75,000’’. 

17 (2) CRIMINAL PENALTIES GENERALLY.— 

18 (A) GENERAL PENALTY.—Section 501 of 

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

20 501) is amended— 

21 (i) by inserting ‘‘(or, in the case of a 

22 violation of section 227, except for sub23 section (e) of such section, not more than 

24 $20,000)’’ after ‘‘$10,000’’ the first place 

25 it appears; and 


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1 (ii) by inserting ‘‘(or, if the subse2 quent violation is a violation of section 

3 227, except for subsection (e) of such sec4 tion, not more than $20,000 (or, if any 

5 such previous conviction was for violation 

6 of section 227, except for subsection (e) of 

7 such section, not more than $40,000))’’ 

8 after ‘‘$10,000’’ the second place it ap9 pears. 

10 (B) VIOLATION OF RULES, REGULATIONS, 

11 AND SO FORTH.—Section 502 of the Commu12 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 502) is 

13 amended by inserting ‘‘(or, in the case of a 

14 rule, regulation, restriction, or condition made 

15 or imposed by the Commission under section 

16 227, not more than $1,000)’’ after ‘‘$500’’. 

17 (3) SPOOFING OF CALLER IDENTIFICATION IN18 FORMATION.—Section 227(e)(5) of the Communica19 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(e)(5)) is amend20 ed— 

21 (A) in subparagraph (A)(i)— 

22 (i) by striking ‘‘$10,000’’ and insert23 ing ‘‘$22,556’’; and 

24 (ii) by striking ‘‘$1,000,000’’ and in25 serting ‘‘$2,255,598’’; and 


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1 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

2 ‘‘$10,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$20,000’’. 

3 (4) ACTIONS BY STATE ATTORNEYS GEN4 ERAL.—Section 227(g)(1) of the Communications 

5 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(g)(1)) is amended by 

6 striking ‘‘actual monetary loss or receive $500 in 

7 damages’’ and inserting ‘‘twice the amount of actual 

8 monetary loss or receive $1,000 in damages’’. 

9 (5) PRIVATE RIGHTS OF ACTION.—Section 227 

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

11 is amended— 

12 (A) in subsection (b)(3), by striking ‘‘ac13 tual monetary loss from such a violation, or to 

14 receive $500 in damages for each such viola15 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘twice the amount of actual 

16 monetary loss from such a violation, or to re17 ceive $1,000 in damages for each such viola18 tion’’; and 

19 (B) in subsection (c)(5), by striking ‘‘ac20 tual monetary loss from such a violation, or to 

21 receive up to $500 in damages for each such 

22 violation’’ and inserting ‘‘twice the amount of 

23 actual monetary loss from such a violation, or 

24 to receive up to $1,000 in damages for each 

25 such violation’’. 


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1 (b) TELEMARKETING AND CONSUMER FRAUD AND

2 ABUSE PREVENTION ACT.— 

3 (1) CIVIL PENALTIES.—Section 6 of the Tele4 marketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Preven5 tion Act (15 U.S.C. 6105) is amended— 

6 (A) in subsection (b), by adding at the end 

7 the following: ‘‘Notwithstanding the preceding 

8 provisions of this subsection, the amount of the 

9 civil penalty under section 5(l) of the Federal 

10 Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45(l)) for 

11 violation of an order of the Commission to cease 

12 and desist from conduct that constitutes a vio13 lation of a rule of the Commission under section 

14 3 of this Act, and the amount of the civil pen15 alty that the Commission may recover under 

16 section 5(m)(1)(A) of the Federal Trade Com17 mission Act (15 U.S.C. 45(m)(1)(A)) for viola18 tion of a rule of the Commission under section 

19 3 of this Act, shall be not more than $85,060 

20 for each violation.’’; and 

21 (B) in subsection (d), by adding at the end 

22 the following: ‘‘Notwithstanding the preceding 

23 sentence, the amount of the civil penalty under 

24 subparagraph (A) of section 1055(c)(2) of the 

25 Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 


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1 U.S.C. 5565(c)(2)) for violation of a rule of the 

2 Commission under section 3 of this Act may 

3 not exceed $11,562 for each day during which 

4 the violation or failure to pay continues, the 

5 amount of the civil penalty under subparagraph 

6 (B) of such section 1055(c)(2) for violation of 

7 such a rule may not exceed $57,812 for each 

8 day during which the violation continues, and 

9 the amount of the civil penalty under subpara10 graph (C) of such section 1055(c)(2) for viola11 tion of such a rule may not exceed $2,312,484 

12 for each day during which the violation con13 tinues.’’. 

14 (2) ACTIONS BY STATES.—Section 4(a) of the 

15 Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Pre16 vention Act (15 U.S.C. 6103(a)) is amended by 

17 striking ‘‘damages’’ and inserting ‘‘twice the dam18 ages sustained by residents of such State’’. 

19 (3) ACTIONS BY PRIVATE PERSONS.—Section 

20 5(a) of the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and 

21 Abuse Prevention Act (15 U.S.C. 6104(a)) is 

22 amended— 

23 (A) in the first sentence, by striking 

24 ‘‘$50,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$25,000’’; and 


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1 (B) in the second sentence, by striking 

2 ‘‘damages’’ and inserting ‘‘twice the damages 

3 sustained’’. 

4 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

5 this section shall apply with respect to violations occurring 

6 after the date that is 60 days after the date of the enact7 ment of this Act. 

Æ 


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