I 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5747 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to restrict political 

robocalls, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 9, 2008 

Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California (for herself, Mr. CAMPBELL of California, 

Ms. BEAN, and Mr. GRIJALVA) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on House Administration 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to 

restrict political 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Robocall Privacy Act 

5 of 2008’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) Abusive political robocalls harass voters and 

9 discourage them from participating in the political 

10 process. 


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1 (2) Abusive political robocalls infringe on the 

2 privacy rights of individuals by disturbing them in 

3 their homes. 

4 SEC. 3. REGULATION OF POLITICAL ROBOCALLS. 

5 Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

6 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended by adding at the 

7 end the following: 

8 ‘‘REGULATION OF POLITICAL ROBOCALLS

9 ‘‘SEC. 325. (a) RESTRICTIONS ON MAKING POLIT10 ICAL ROBOCALLS.—It shall be unlawful for any person 

11 during the specified period to make a political robocall or 

12 to cause a political robocall to be made— 

13 ‘‘(1) to any person during the period beginning 

14 at 9 p.m. and ending at 8 a.m. in the place which 

15 the call is directed; 

16 ‘‘(2) to the same telephone number more than 

17 twice on the same day; 

18 ‘‘(3) without disclosing, at the beginning of the 

19 call— 

20 ‘‘(A) that the call is a recorded message; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(B) the name of the sponsor or originator 

23 of the call; or 

24 ‘‘(4) without transmitting the telephone number 

25 and the name of the person making the political 


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1 robocall or causing the political robocall to be made 

2 to the caller identification service of the recipient. 

3 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 

4 following definitions apply: 

5 ‘‘(1) POLITICAL ROBOCALL.—The term ‘polit6 ical robocall’ means any outbound telephone call— 

7 ‘‘(A) in which a person is not available to 

8 speak with the person answering the call, and 

9 the call instead plays a recorded message; and 

10 ‘‘(B) which promotes, supports, attacks, or 

11 opposes a candidate for Federal office. 

12 ‘‘(2) SPECIFIED PERIOD.—The term ‘specified 

13 period’ means, with respect to any candidate who is 

14 promoted, supported, attacked, or opposed in a polit15 ical robocall— 

16 ‘‘(A) the 60-day period ending on the date 

17 of any general, special, or run-off election for 

18 the office sought by such candidate; and 

19 ‘‘(B) the 30-day period ending on the date 

20 of any primary or preference election, or any 

21 convention or caucus of a political party that 

22 has authority to nominate a candidate, for the 

23 office sought by such candidate.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT. 

2 (a) SPECIAL RULES FOR ENFORCEMENT OF RE3 STRICTIONS ON POLITICAL ROBOCALLS.—Section 309(a) 

4 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 

5 437g(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(13) In the case of any violation of section 325 (re7 lating to making, or causing to be made, a political 

8 robocall), the amount of any civil penalty applicable under 

9 this section shall be not greater than $1,000 for each such 

10 violation, or not greater than 300 percent of such amount 

11 in the case of a knowing and willful violation.’’. 

12 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 307(e) of 

13 such Act (2 U.S.C. 437d(e)) is amended by striking ‘‘sec14 tion 309(a)(8)’’ and inserting ‘‘sections 309(a)(8) and 

15 (a)(13)’’. 

16 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

17 The amendments made by this Act shall take effect 

18 on the date of the enactment of this Act, except that sec19 tion 325 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 

20 (as added by section 3) shall not apply with respect to 

21 any political robocall described in such section which is 

22 made or caused to be made prior to the date of the enact23 ment of this Act. 

Æ 


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