In the House of Representatives, U. S., 

December 4, 2019. 

Resolved, That the bill from the Senate (S. 151) entitled 

‘‘An Act to deter criminal robocall violations and improve enforcement of section 227(b) of the Communications Act of 

1934, and for other purposes.’’, do pass with the following 

AMENDMENT: 

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert: 

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pallone-Thune Tele3 phone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deter4 rence Act’’ or the ‘‘Pallone-Thune TRACED Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. COMMISSION DEFINED. 

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

7 Communications Commission. 

8 SEC. 3. FORFEITURE. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 227 of the Communications 

10 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227) is amended— 

11 (1) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the 

12 following: 

13 ‘‘(4) CIVIL FORFEITURE.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any person that is de15 termined by the Commission, in accordance with 
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1 paragraph (3) or (4) of section 503(b), to have 

2 violated this subsection shall be liable to the 

3 United States for a forfeiture penalty pursuant 

4 to section 503(b)(1). Paragraph (5) of section 

5 503(b) shall not apply in the case of a violation 

6 of this subsection. A forfeiture penalty under this 

7 subparagraph shall be in addition to any other 

8 penalty provided for by this Act. The amount of 

9 the forfeiture penalty determined under this sub10 paragraph shall be determined in accordance 

11 with subparagraphs (A) through (F) of section 

12 503(b)(2). 

13 ‘‘(B) VIOLATION WITH INTENT.—Any per14 son that is determined by the Commission, in ac15 cordance with paragraph (3) or (4) of section 

16 503(b), to have violated this subsection with the 

17 intent to cause such violation shall be liable to 

18 the United States for a forfeiture penalty pursu19 ant to section 503(b)(1). Paragraph (5) of sec20 tion 503(b) shall not apply in the case of a vio21 lation of this subsection. A forfeiture penalty 

22 under this subparagraph shall be in addition to 

23 any other penalty provided for by this Act. The 

24 amount of the forfeiture penalty determined 

25 under this subparagraph shall be equal to an 
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1 amount determined in accordance with subpara2 graphs (A) through (F) of section 503(b)(2) plus 

3 an additional penalty not to exceed $10,000. 

4 ‘‘(C) RECOVERY.—Any forfeiture penalty 

5 determined under subparagraph (A) or (B) shall 

6 be recoverable under section 504(a). 

7 ‘‘(D) PROCEDURE.—No forfeiture liability 

8 shall be determined under subparagraph (A) or 

9 (B) against any person unless such person re10 ceives the notice required by section 503(b)(3) or 

11 section 503(b)(4). 

12 ‘‘(E) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—Notwith13 standing paragraph (6) of section 503(b), no for14 feiture penalty shall be determined or imposed 

15 against any person— 

16 ‘‘(i) under subparagraph (A) if the vio17 lation charged occurred more than 1 year 

18 prior to the date of issuance of the required 

19 notice or notice of apparent liability; or 

20 ‘‘(ii) under subparagraph (B) if the 

21 violation charged occurred more than 4 

22 years prior to the date of issuance of the re23 quired notice or notice of apparent liability. 

24 ‘‘(F) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Notwith25 standing any law to the contrary, the Commis-
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1 sion may not determine or impose a forfeiture 

2 penalty on a person under both subparagraphs 

3 (A) and (B) based on the same conduct.’’; 

4 (2) in subsection (e)(5)(A)— 

5 (A) in clause (ii), by adding at the end the 

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

7 not apply in the case of a violation of this sub8 section.’’; and 

9 (B) in clause (iv)— 

10 (i) in the heading, by striking ‘‘2- 

11 YEAR’’ and inserting ‘‘4-YEAR’’; and 

12 (ii) by striking ‘‘2 years’’ and insert13 ing ‘‘4 years’’; and 

14 (3) by striking subsection (h) and inserting the 

15 following: 

16 ‘‘(h) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS ON ROBOCALLS

17 AND TRANSMISSION OF MISLEADING OR INACCURATE CALL18 ER IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION.— 

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

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

21 annually thereafter, the Commission, after consulta22 tion with the Federal Trade Commission, shall submit 

23 to Congress a report regarding enforcement by the 

24 Commission of subsections (b), (c), (d), and (e) dur25 ing the preceding calendar year. 
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1 ‘‘(2) MATTERS FOR INCLUSION.—Each report re2 quired by paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

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

4 the Commission during each of the preceding 5 

5 calendar years, for each of the following cat6 egories: 

7 ‘‘(i) Complaints alleging that a con8 sumer received a call in violation of sub9 section (b) or (c). 

10 ‘‘(ii) Complaints alleging that a con11 sumer received a call in violation of the 

12 standards prescribed under subsection (d). 

13 ‘‘(iii) Complaints alleging that a con14 sumer received a call in connection with 

15 which misleading or inaccurate caller iden16 tification information was transmitted in 

17 violation of subsection (e). 

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

19 Commission pursuant to section 503(b) during 

20 the preceding calendar year to enforce subsection 

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

22 ‘‘(C) The number of notices of apparent li23 ability issued by the Commission pursuant to 

24 section 503(b) during the preceding calendar 

25 year to enforce subsections (b), (c), (d), and (e), 
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1 and details of each such notice including any 

2 proposed forfeiture amount. 

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

4 forfeiture penalties issued pursuant to section 

5 503(b) during the preceding calendar year to en6 force such subsections, and details of each such 

7 order including the forfeiture imposed. 

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

9 criminal fines collected, during the preceding 

10 calendar year, by the Commission or the Attor11 ney General for violations of such subsections, 

12 and details of each case in which such a for13 feiture penalty or criminal fine was collected. 

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

15 calls made in violation of such subsections. 

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

17 providers of interconnected VoIP service and 

18 non-interconnected VoIP service that discount 

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

20 the total number of calls made in violation of 

21 such subsections, and recommendations on how 

22 to address such contribution in order to decrease 

23 the total number of calls made in violation of 

24 such subsections. 
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1 ‘‘(3) NO ADDITIONAL REPORTING REQUIRED.— 

2 The Commission shall prepare the report required by 

3 paragraph (1) without requiring the provision of ad4 ditional information from providers of telecommuni5 cations service or voice service (as defined in section 

6 4(a) of the Pallone-Thune TRACED Act).’’. 

7 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by this 

8 section shall not affect any action or proceeding commenced 

9 before and pending on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

10 (c) DEADLINE FOR REGULATIONS.—The Commission 

11 shall prescribe regulations to implement the amendments 

12 made by this section not later than 270 days after the date 

13 of the enactment of this Act. 

14 SEC. 4. CALL AUTHENTICATION. 

15 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

16 (1) STIR/SHAKEN AUTHENTICATION FRAME17 WORK.—The term ‘‘STIR/SHAKEN authentication 

18 framework’’ means the secure telephone identity revis19 ited and signature-based handling of asserted infor20 mation using tokens standards proposed by the infor21 mation and communications technology industry. 

22 (2) VOICE SERVICE.—The term ‘‘voice service’’— 

23 (A) means any service that is inter24 connected with the public switched telephone net25 work and that furnishes voice communications to 
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1 an end user using resources from the North 

2 American Numbering Plan or any successor to 

3 the North American Numbering Plan adopted by 

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

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

6 251(e)(1)); and 

7 (B) includes— 

8 (i) transmissions from a telephone fac9 simile machine, computer, or other device to 

10 a telephone facsimile machine; and 

11 (ii) without limitation, any service 

12 that enables real-time, two-way voice com13 munications, including any service that re14 quires internet protocol-compatible customer 

15 premises equipment (commonly known as 

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

17 whether or not the service is one-way or 

18 two-way voice over internet protocol. 

19 (b) AUTHENTICATION FRAMEWORKS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraphs (2) and 

21 (3), and in accordance with paragraph (6), not later 

22 than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this 

23 Act, the Commission shall— 

24 (A) require a provider of voice service to 

25 implement the STIR/SHAKEN authentication 
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1 framework in the internet protocol networks of 

2 the provider of voice service; and 

3 (B) require a provider of voice service to 

4 take reasonable measures to implement an effec5 tive call authentication framework in the non6 internet protocol networks of the provider of 

7 voice service. 

8 (2) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Commission shall 

9 not take the action described in paragraph (1) with 

10 respect to a provider of voice service if the Commis11 sion determines, not later than 12 months after the 

12 date of the enactment of this Act, that such provider 

13 of voice service— 

14 (A) in internet protocol networks— 

15 (i) has adopted the STIR/SHAKEN 

16 authentication framework for calls on the 

17 internet protocol networks of the provider of 

18 voice service; 

19 (ii) has agreed voluntarily to partici20 pate with other providers of voice service in 

21 the STIR/SHAKEN authentication frame22 work; 

23 (iii) has begun to implement the STIR/ 

24 SHAKEN authentication framework; and 
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1 (iv) will be capable of fully imple2 menting the STIR/SHAKEN authentication 

3 framework not later than 18 months after 

4 the date of the enactment of this Act; and 

5 (B) in non-internet protocol networks— 

6 (i) has taken reasonable measures to 

7 implement an effective call authentication 

8 framework; and 

9 (ii) will be capable of fully imple10 menting an effective call authentication 

11 framework not later than 18 months after 

12 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

13 (3) IMPLEMENTATION REPORT.—Not later than 

14 12 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

15 the Commission shall submit to the Committee on En16 ergy and Commerce of the House of Representatives 

17 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans18 portation of the Senate a report on the determination 

19 required under paragraph (2), which shall include— 

20 (A) an analysis of the extent to which pro21 viders of voice service have implemented the call 

22 authentication frameworks described in subpara23 graphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1), including 

24 whether the availability of necessary equipment 
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1 and equipment upgrades has impacted such im2 plementation; and 

3 (B) an assessment of the efficacy of the call 

4 authentication frameworks described in subpara5 graphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1) in address6 ing all aspects of call authentication. 

7 (4) REVIEW AND REVISION OR REPLACEMENT.— 

8 Not later than 3 years after the date of the enactment 

9 of this Act, and every 3 years thereafter, the Commis10 sion, after public notice and an opportunity for com11 ment, shall— 

12 (A) assess the efficacy of the technologies 

13 used for call authentication frameworks imple14 mented under this section; 

15 (B) based on the assessment under subpara16 graph (A), revise or replace the call authentica17 tion frameworks under this section if the Com18 mission determines it is in the public interest to 

19 do so; and 

20 (C) submit to the Committee on Energy and 

21 Commerce of the House of Representatives and 

22 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

23 Transportation of the Senate a report on the 

24 findings of the assessment under subparagraph 

25 (A) and on any actions to revise or replace the 
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1 call authentication frameworks under subpara2 graph (B). 

3 (5) EXTENSION OF IMPLEMENTATION DEAD4 LINE.— 

5 (A) BURDENS AND BARRIERS TO IMPLE6 MENTATION.—Not later than 12 months after the 

7 date of the enactment of this Act, and as appro8 priate thereafter, the Commission— 

9 (i) shall assess any burdens or barriers 

10 to the implementation required by para11 graph (1), including— 

12 (I) for providers of voice service to 

13 the extent the networks of such pro14 viders use time-division multiplexing; 

15 (II) for small providers of voice 

16 service and those in rural areas; and 

17 (III) the inability to purchase or 

18 upgrade equipment to support the call 

19 authentication frameworks under this 

20 section, or lack of availability of such 

21 equipment; and 

22 (ii) in connection with an assessment 

23 under clause (i), may, upon a public find24 ing of undue hardship, delay required com25 pliance with the 18-month time period de-
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1 scribed in paragraph (1), for a reasonable 

2 period of time, for a provider or class of 

3 providers of voice service, or type of voice 

4 calls, as necessary for that provider or class 

5 of providers or type of calls to participate 

6 in the implementation in order to address 

7 the identified burdens and barriers. 

8 (B) DELAY OF COMPLIANCE REQUIRED FOR

9 CERTAIN NON-INTERNET PROTOCOL NET10 WORKS.—Subject to subparagraphs (C) through 

11 (F), for any provider or class of providers of 

12 voice service, or type of voice calls, only to the 

13 extent that such a provider or class of providers 

14 of voice service, or type of voice calls, materially 

15 relies on a non-internet protocol network for the 

16 provision of such service or calls, the Commis17 sion shall grant a delay of required compliance 

18 under subparagraph (A)(ii) until a call authen19 tication protocol has been developed for calls de20 livered over non-internet protocol networks and 

21 is reasonably available. 

22 (C) ROBOCALL MITIGATION PROGRAM.— 

23 (i) PROGRAM REQUIRED.—During the 

24 time of a delay of compliance granted under 

25 subparagraph (A)(ii), the Commission shall 
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1 require, pursuant to the authority of the 

2 Commission, that any provider subject to 

3 such delay shall implement an appropriate 

4 robocall mitigation program to prevent un5 lawful robocalls from originating on the 

6 network of the provider. 

7 (ii) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—If 

8 the consortium registered under section 

9 13(d) identifies a provider of voice service 

10 that is subject to a delay of compliance 

11 granted under subparagraph (A)(ii) as re12 peatedly originating large-scale unlawful 

13 robocall campaigns, the Commission shall 

14 require such provider to take action to en15 sure that such provider does not continue to 

16 originate such calls. 

17 (iii) MINIMIZATION OF BURDEN.—The 

18 Commission shall make reasonable efforts to 

19 minimize the burden of any robocall miti20 gation required pursuant to clause (ii), 

21 which may include prescribing certain spe22 cific robocall mitigation practices for pro23 viders of voice service that have repeatedly 

24 originated large-scale unlawful robocall 

25 campaigns. 
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1 (D) FULL PARTICIPATION.—The Commis2 sion shall take reasonable measures to address 

3 any issues in an assessment under subparagraph 

4 (A)(i) and enable as promptly as reasonable full 

5 participation of all classes of providers of voice 

6 service and types of voice calls to receive the 

7 highest level of trust. Such measures shall in8 clude, without limitation, as appropriate, lim9 iting or terminating a delay of compliance 

10 granted to a provider under subparagraph (B) if 

11 the Commission determines in such assessment 

12 that the provider is not making reasonable efforts 

13 to develop the call authentication protocol de14 scribed in such subparagraph. 

15 (E) ALTERNATIVE METHODOLOGIES.—The 

16 Commission shall identify, in consultation with 

17 small providers of voice service and those in 

18 rural areas, alternative effective methodologies to 

19 protect customers from unauthenticated calls 

20 during any delay of compliance granted under 

21 subparagraph (A)(ii). 

22 (F) REVISION OF DELAY OF COMPLIANCE.— 

23 Not less frequently than annually after the first 

24 delay of compliance is granted under subpara25 graph (A)(ii), the Commission— 
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1 (i) shall consider revising or extending 

2 any delay of compliance granted under sub3 paragraph (A)(ii); 

4 (ii) may revise such delay of compli5 ance; and 

6 (iii) shall issue a public notice with re7 gard to whether such delay of compliance 

8 remains necessary, including— 

9 (I) why such delay of compliance 

10 remains necessary; and 

11 (II) when the Commission expects 

12 to achieve the goal of full participation 

13 as described in subparagraph (D). 

14 (6) NO ADDITIONAL COST TO CONSUMERS OR

15 SMALL BUSINESS CUSTOMERS.—The Commission 

16 shall prohibit providers of voice service from adding 

17 any additional line item charges to consumer or 

18 small business customer subscribers for the effective 

19 call authentication technology required under para20 graph (1). 

21 (7) ACCURATE IDENTIFICATION.—Not later than 

22 12 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

23 the Commission shall issue best practices that pro24 viders of voice service may use as part of the imple25 mentation of effective call authentication frameworks 
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1 under paragraph (1) to take steps to ensure the call2 ing party is accurately identified. 

3 (c) SAFE HARBOR AND OTHER REGULATIONS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Consistent with the regula5 tions prescribed under subsection (j) of section 227 of 

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

7 added by section 10, the Commission shall, not later 

8 than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this 

9 Act, promulgate rules— 

10 (A) establishing when a provider of voice 

11 service may block a voice call based, in whole or 

12 in part, on information provided by the call au13 thentication frameworks under subsection (b), 

14 with no additional line item charge; 

15 (B) establishing a safe harbor for a provider 

16 of voice service from liability for unintended or 

17 inadvertent blocking of calls or for the unin18 tended or inadvertent misidentification of the 

19 level of trust for individual calls based, in whole 

20 or in part, on information provided by the call 

21 authentication frameworks under subsection (b); 

22 (C) establishing a process to permit a call23 ing party adversely affected by the information 

24 provided by the call authentication frameworks 
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1 under subsection (b) to verify the authenticity of 

2 the calling party’s calls; and 

3 (D) ensuring that calls originating from a 

4 provider of voice service in an area where the 

5 provider is subject to a delay of compliance with 

6 the time period described in subsection (b)(1) are 

7 not unreasonably blocked because the calls are 

8 not able to be authenticated. 

9 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In establishing the safe 

10 harbor under paragraph (1), consistent with the regu11 lations prescribed under subsection (j) of section 227 

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

13 as added by section 10, the Commission shall consider 

14 limiting the liability of a provider of voice service 

15 based on the extent to which the provider of voice 

16 service— 

17 (A) blocks or identifies calls based, in whole 

18 or in part, on the information provided by the 

19 call authentication frameworks under subsection 

20 (b); 

21 (B) implemented procedures based, in whole 

22 or in part, on the information provided by the 

23 call authentication frameworks under subsection 

24 (b); and 
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1 (C) used reasonable care, including making 

2 all reasonable efforts to avoid blocking emergency 

3 public safety calls. 

4 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section 

5 shall preclude the Commission from initiating a rule6 making pursuant to its existing statutory authority. 

7 SEC. 5. INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, in consulta9 tion with the Chairman of the Commission, shall convene 

10 an interagency working group to study Government pros11 ecution of violations of section 227(b) of the Communica12 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(b)). 

13 (b) DUTIES.—In carrying out the study under sub14 section (a), the interagency working group shall— 

15 (1) determine whether, and if so how, any Fed16 eral laws, including regulations, policies, and prac17 tices, or budgetary or jurisdictional constraints in18 hibit the prosecution of such violations; 

19 (2) identify existing and potential Federal poli20 cies and programs that encourage and improve co21 ordination among Federal departments and agencies 

22 and States, and between States, in the prevention and 

23 prosecution of such violations; 

24 (3) identify existing and potential international 

25 policies and programs that encourage and improve 
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1 coordination between countries in the prevention and 

2 prosecution of such violations; and 

3 (4) consider— 

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

6 prosecution of criminal violations of that section; 

7 (B) whether to establish memoranda of un8 derstanding regarding the prevention and pros9 ecution of such violations between— 

10 (i) the States; 

11 (ii) the States and the Federal Govern12 ment; and 

13 (iii) the Federal Government and a 

14 foreign government; 

15 (C) whether to establish a process to allow 

16 States to request Federal subpoenas from the 

17 Commission; 

18 (D) whether extending civil enforcement au19 thority to the States would assist in the success20 ful prevention and prosecution of such violations; 

21 (E) whether increased forfeiture and im22 prisonment penalties are appropriate, such as 

23 extending imprisonment for such a violation to 

24 a term longer than 2 years; 
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1 (F) whether regulation of any entity that 

2 enters into a business arrangement with a com3 mon carrier regulated under title II of the Com4 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) 

5 for the specific purpose of carrying, routing, or 

6 transmitting a call that constitutes such a viola7 tion would assist in the successful prevention 

8 and prosecution of such violations; and 

9 (G) the extent to which, if any, Department 

10 of Justice policies to pursue the prosecution of 

11 violations causing economic harm, physical dan12 ger, or erosion of an inhabitant’s peace of mind 

13 and sense of security inhibit the prevention or 

14 prosecution of such violations. 

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

16 be composed of such representatives of Federal departments 

17 and agencies as the Attorney General considers appropriate, 

18 such as— 

19 (1) the Department of Commerce; 

20 (2) the Department of State; 

21 (3) the Department of Homeland Security; 

22 (4) the Commission; 

23 (5) the Federal Trade Commission; and 

24 (6) the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protec25 tion. 
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1 (d) NON-FEDERAL STAKEHOLDERS.—In carrying out 

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

3 group shall consult with such non-Federal stakeholders as 

4 the Attorney General determines have the relevant expertise, 

5 including the National Association of Attorneys General. 

6 (e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 270 days 

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

8 working group shall submit to the Committee on Energy 

9 and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the 

10 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

11 the Senate a report on the findings of the study under sub12 section (a), including— 

13 (1) any recommendations regarding the preven14 tion and prosecution of such violations; and 

15 (2) a description of what progress, if any, rel16 evant Federal departments and agencies have made in 

17 implementing the recommendations under paragraph 

18 (1). 

19 SEC. 6. ACCESS TO NUMBER RESOURCES. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

21 (1) EXAMINATION OF FCC POLICIES.—Not later 

22 than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 

23 Act, the Commission shall commence a proceeding to 

24 determine how Commission policies regarding access 

25 to number resources, including number resources for 
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1 toll-free and non-toll-free telephone numbers, could be 

2 modified, including by establishing registration and 

3 compliance obligations, and requirements that pro4 viders of voice service given access to number re5 sources take sufficient steps to know the identity of 

6 the customers of such providers, to help reduce access 

7 to numbers by potential perpetrators of violations of 

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

9 U.S.C. 227(b)). 

10 (2) REGULATIONS.—If the Commission deter11 mines under paragraph (1) that modifying the poli12 cies described in that paragraph could help achieve 

13 the goal described in that paragraph, the Commission 

14 shall prescribe regulations to implement those policy 

15 modifications. 

16 (b) AUTHORITY.—Any person who knowingly, through 

17 an employee, agent, officer, or otherwise, directly or indi18 rectly, by or through any means or device whatsoever, is 

19 a party to obtaining number resources, including number 

20 resources for toll-free and non-toll-free telephone numbers, 

21 from a common carrier regulated under title II of the Com22 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 201 et seq.), in viola23 tion of a regulation prescribed under subsection (a), shall, 

24 notwithstanding section 503(b)(5) of the Communications 

25 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 503(b)(5)), be subject to a forfeiture 
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1 penalty under section 503(b) of that Act (47 U.S.C. 503(b)). 

2 A forfeiture penalty under this subsection shall be in addi3 tion to any other penalty provided for by law. 

4 SEC. 7. PROTECTIONS FROM SPOOFED CALLS. 

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

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

7 authentication frameworks under section 4, the Commission 

8 shall initiate a rulemaking to help protect a subscriber from 

9 receiving unwanted calls or text messages from a caller 

10 using an unauthenticated number. 

11 (b) CONSIDERATIONS.—In promulgating rules under 

12 subsection (a), the Commission shall consider— 

13 (1) the Government Accountability Office report 

14 on combating the fraudulent provision of misleading 

15 or inaccurate caller identification information re16 quired by section 503(c) of division P of the Consoli17 dated Appropriations Act, 2018 (Public Law 115– 

18 141); 

19 (2) the best means of ensuring that a subscriber 

20 or provider has the ability to block calls from a caller 

21 using an unauthenticated North American Numbering 

22 Plan number; 

23 (3) the impact on the privacy of a subscriber 

24 from unauthenticated calls; 
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1 (4) the effectiveness in verifying the accuracy of 

2 caller identification information; and 

3 (5) the availability and cost of providing protec4 tion from the unwanted calls or text messages de5 scribed in subsection (a). 

6 SEC. 8. CONSUMER PROTECTIONS FOR EXEMPTIONS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 227(b)(2) of the Commu8 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(b)(2)) is amended— 

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

10 and inserting a semicolon; 

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

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

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

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

15 subparagraph (B) or (C) contains requirements 

16 for calls made in reliance on the exemption with 

17 respect to— 

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

19 make such calls; 

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

21 called; and 

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

23 calling party may make to a particular 

24 called party.’’. 
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1 (b) DEADLINE FOR REGULATIONS.—In the case of any 

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

3 227(b)(2) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

4 227(b)(2)) before the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

5 Commission shall, not later than 1 year after such date of 

6 enactment, prescribe such regulations, or amend such exist7 ing regulations, as necessary to ensure that such exemption 

8 contains each requirement described in subparagraph (I) 

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

10 such an exemption contains such a requirement before such 

11 date of enactment, nothing in this section or the amend12 ments made by this section shall be construed to require 

13 the Commission to prescribe or amend regulations relating 

14 to such requirement. 

15 SEC. 9. REPORT ON REASSIGNED NUMBER DATABASE. 

16 (a) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 

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

18 shall submit to Congress, and make publicly available on 

19 the website of the Commission, a report on the status of 

20 the efforts of the Commission pursuant to the Second Report 

21 and Order in the matter of Advanced Methods to Target 

22 and Eliminate Unlawful Robocalls (CG Docket No. 17–59; 

23 FCC 18–177; adopted on December 12, 2018). 
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1 (b) CONTENTS.—The report required by subsection (a) 

2 shall describe the efforts of the Commission, as described in 

3 such Second Report and Order, to ensure— 

4 (1) the establishment of a database of telephone 

5 numbers that have been disconnected, in order to pro6 vide a person making calls subject to section 227(b) 

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

8 227(b)) with comprehensive and timely information 

9 to enable such person to avoid making calls without 

10 the prior express consent of the called party because 

11 the number called has been reassigned; 

12 (2) that a person who wishes to use any safe har13 bor provided pursuant to such Second Report and 

14 Order with respect to making calls must demonstrate 

15 that, before making the call, the person appropriately 

16 checked the most recent update of the database and 

17 the database reported that the number had not been 

18 disconnected; and 

19 (3) that if the person makes the demonstration 

20 described in paragraph (2), the person will be shield21 ed from liability under section 227(b) of the Commu22 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(b)) should the 

23 database return an inaccurate result. 
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1 SEC. 10. STOP ROBOCALLS. 

2 (a) INFORMATION SHARING REGARDING ROBOCALL

3 AND SPOOFING VIOLATIONS.—Section 227 of the Commu4 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227) is amended by add5 ing at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(i) INFORMATION SHARING.— 

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

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

9 Commission shall prescribe regulations to establish a 

10 process that streamlines the ways in which a private 

11 entity may voluntarily share with the Commission 

12 information relating to— 

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

14 violation of subsection (b); or 

15 ‘‘(B) a call or text message for which mis16 leading or inaccurate caller identification infor17 mation was caused to be transmitted in violation 

18 of subsection (e). 

19 ‘‘(2) TEXT MESSAGE DEFINED.—In this sub20 section, the term ‘text message’ has the meaning given 

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

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

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

24 amended by subsection (a), is further amended by adding 

25 at the end the following: 

26 ‘‘(j) ROBOCALL BLOCKING SERVICE.— 
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

2 the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Com3 mission shall take a final agency action to ensure the 

4 robocall blocking services provided on an opt-out or 

5 opt-in basis pursuant to the Declaratory Ruling of 

6 the Commission in the matter of Advanced Methods to 

7 Target and Eliminate Unlawful Robocalls (CG Dock8 et No. 17–59; FCC 19–51; adopted on June 6, 

9 2019)— 

10 ‘‘(A) are provided with transparency and 

11 effective redress options for both— 

12 ‘‘(i) consumers; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) callers; and 

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

15 item charge to consumers and no additional 

16 charge to callers for resolving complaints related 

17 to erroneously blocked calls; and 

18 ‘‘(C) make all reasonable efforts to avoid 

19 blocking emergency public safety calls. 

20 ‘‘(2) TEXT MESSAGE DEFINED.—In this sub21 section, the term ‘text message’ has the meaning given 

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

23 (c) STUDY ON INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS FOR

24 CERTAIN VOIP SERVICE PROVIDERS.— 
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall conduct 

2 a study regarding whether to require a provider of 

3 covered VoIP service to— 

4 (A) provide to the Commission contact in5 formation for such provider and keep such infor6 mation current; and 

7 (B) retain records relating to each call 

8 transmitted over the covered VoIP service of such 

9 provider that are sufficient to trace such call 

10 back to the source of such call. 

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

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

13 Commission shall submit to Congress a report on the 

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

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

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

17 service that— 

18 (A) is an interconnected VoIP service (as 

19 defined in section 3 of the Communications Act 

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

21 (B) would be an interconnected VoIP service 

22 (as so defined) except that the service permits 

23 users to terminate calls to the public switched 

24 telephone network but does not permit users to 
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1 receive calls that originate on the public switched 

2 telephone network. 

3 (d) TRANSITIONAL RULE REGARDING DEFINITION OF

4 TEXT MESSAGE.—Paragraph (2) of subsection (i) of section 

5 227 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227), 

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

7 (2) of subsection (j) of such section 227, as added by sub8 section (b) of this section, shall apply before the effective 

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

10 section 227 by subparagraph (C) of section 503(a)(2) of di11 vision P of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 

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

13 in effect. 

14 SEC. 11. PROVISION OF EVIDENCE OF CERTAIN ROBOCALL 

15 VIOLATIONS TO ATTORNEY GENERAL. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—If the Chief of the Enforcement Bu17 reau of the Commission obtains evidence that suggests a 

18 willful, knowing, and repeated robocall violation with an 

19 intent to defraud, cause harm, or wrongfully obtain any20 thing of value, the Chief of the Enforcement Bureau shall 

21 provide such evidence to the Attorney General. 

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

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

24 thereafter, the Commission shall publish on its website and 

25 submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 
32 

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1 House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 

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

3 (1) states the number of instances during the 

4 preceding year in which the Chief of the Enforcement 

5 Bureau provided the evidence described in subsection 

6 (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; or 

14 (2) to pursue or continue pursuit of an enforce15 ment action in a matter with respect to which the 

16 Chief of the Enforcement Bureau provided the evi17 dence described in subsection (a) to the Attorney Gen18 eral. 

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

20 the term ‘‘robocall violation’’ means a violation of sub21 section (b) or (e) of section 227 of the Communications Act 

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

23 SEC. 12. PROTECTION FROM ONE-RING SCAMS. 

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

25 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commis-
33 

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1 sion shall initiate a proceeding to protect called parties 

2 from one-ring scams. 

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

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

5 consider how the Commission can— 

6 (1) work with Federal and State law enforce7 ment agencies to address one-ring scams; 

8 (2) work with the governments of foreign coun9 tries to address one-ring scams; 

10 (3) in consultation with the Federal Trade Com11 mission, better educate consumers about how to avoid 

12 one-ring scams; 

13 (4) incentivize voice service providers to stop 

14 calls made to perpetrate one-ring scams from being 

15 received by called parties, including consideration of 

16 adding identified one-ring scam type numbers to the 

17 Commission’s existing list of permissible categories for 

18 carrier-initiated blocking; 

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

20 services to address one-ring scams; and 

21 (6) establish obligations on international gate22 way providers that are the first point of entry for 

23 these calls into the United States, including potential 

24 requirements that such providers verify with the for-
34 

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1 eign originator the nature or purpose of calls before 

2 initiating service. 

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

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

5 shall publish on its website and submit to the Committee 

6 on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives 

7 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor8 tation of the Senate a report on the status of the proceeding 

9 required by subsection (a). 

10 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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

12 means a scam in which a caller makes a call and al13 lows the call to ring the called party for a short dura14 tion, in order to prompt the called party to return the 

15 call, thereby subjecting the called party to charges. 

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

17 given such term in section 3 of the Communications 

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

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

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

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

22 227(e)(8)). This paragraph shall apply before the ef23 fective date of the amendment made to such section by 

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

25 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (Public 
35 

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

2 effect. 

3 SEC. 13. ANNUAL ROBOCALL REPORT. 

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

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

6 Commission shall make publicly available on the website 

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

8 and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the 

9 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

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

11 trace back the origin of suspected unlawful robocalls by the 

12 registered consortium and the participation of voice service 

13 providers in such efforts. 

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

15 under subsection (a) shall include, at minimum, the fol16 lowing: 

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

18 back the origin of suspected unlawful robocalls by the 

19 registered consortium and the actions taken by the 

20 registered consortium to coordinate with the Commis21 sion. 

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

23 the registered consortium that participated in pri24 vate-led efforts to trace back the origin of suspected 

25 unlawful robocalls through the registered consortium. 
36 

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1 (3) A list of each voice service provider that re2 ceived a request from the registered consortium to 

3 participate in private-led efforts to trace back the ori4 gin of suspected unlawful robocalls and refused to 

5 participate, as identified by the registered consortium. 

6 (4) The reason, if any, each voice service pro7 vider identified by the registered consortium provided 

8 for not participating in private-led efforts to trace 

9 back the origin of suspected unlawful robocalls. 

10 (5) A description of how the Commission may 

11 use the information provided to the Commission by 

12 voice service providers or the registered consortium 

13 that have participated in private-led efforts to trace 

14 back the origin of suspected unlawful robocalls in the 

15 enforcement efforts by the Commission. 

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

17 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annu18 ally thereafter, the Commission shall issue a notice to the 

19 public seeking additional information from voice service 

20 providers and the registered consortium of private-led ef21 forts to trace back the origin of suspected unlawful robocalls 

22 necessary for the report by the Commission required under 

23 subsection (a). 
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1 (d) REGISTRATION OF CONSORTIUM OF PRIVATE-LED

2 EFFORTS TO TRACE BACK THE ORIGIN OF SUSPECTED UN3 LAWFUL ROBOCALLS.— 

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

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

6 shall issue rules to establish a registration process for 

7 the registration of a single consortium that conducts 

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

9 unlawful robocalls. The consortium shall meet the fol10 lowing requirements: 

11 (A) Be a neutral third party competent to 

12 manage the private-led effort to trace back the 

13 origin of suspected unlawful robocalls in the 

14 judgement of the Commission. 

15 (B) Maintain a set of written best practices 

16 about the management of such efforts and re17 garding providers of voice services’ participation 

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

19 suspected unlawful robocalls. 

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

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

22 222(d)(2)), any private-led efforts to trace back 

23 the origin of suspected unlawful robocalls con24 ducted by the third party focus on ‘‘fraudulent, 

25 abusive, or unlawful’’ traffic. 
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1 (D) File a notice with the Commission that 

2 the consortium intends to conduct private-led ef3 forts to trace back in advance of such registra4 tion. 

5 (2) ANNUAL NOTICE BY THE COMMISSION SEEK6 ING REGISTRATIONS.—Not later than 120 days after 

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

8 thereafter, the Commission shall issue a notice to the 

9 public seeking the registration described in paragraph 

10 (1). 

11 (e) LIST OF VOICE SERVICE PROVIDERS.—The Com12 mission may publish a list of voice service providers and 

13 take appropriate enforcement action based on information 

14 obtained from the consortium about voice service providers 

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

16 the origin of suspected unlawful robocalls, and other infor17 mation the Commission may collect about voice service pro18 viders that are found to originate or transmit substantial 

19 amounts of unlawful robocalls. 

20 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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

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

23 made by the registered consortium of voice service 

24 providers to establish a methodology for determining 

25 the origin of a suspected unlawful robocall. 
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1 (2) REGISTERED CONSORTIUM.—The term ‘‘reg2 istered consortium’’ means the consortium registered 

3 under subsection (d). 

4 (3) SUSPECTED UNLAWFUL ROBOCALL.—The 

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

6 the Commission or a voice service provider reasonably 

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

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

9 U.S.C. 227). 

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

11 (A) means any service that is inter12 connected with the public switched telephone net13 work and that furnishes voice communications to 

14 an end user using resources from the North 

15 American Numbering Plan or any successor to 

16 the North American Numbering Plan adopted by 

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

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

19 251(e)(1)); and 

20 (B) includes— 

21 (i) transmissions from a telephone fac22 simile machine, computer, or other device to 

23 a telephone facsimile machine; and 

24 (ii) without limitation, any service 

25 that enables real-time, two-way voice com-
40 

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1 munications, including any service that re2 quires internet protocol-compatible customer 

3 premises equipment (commonly known as 

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

5 whether or not the service is one-way or 

6 two-way voice over internet protocol. 

7 SEC. 14. HOSPITAL ROBOCALL PROTECTION GROUP. 

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

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

10 establish an advisory committee to be known as the ‘‘Hos11 pital Robocall Protection Group’’. 

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

13 of the following members: 

14 (1) An equal number of representatives from 

15 each of the following: 

16 (A) Voice service providers that serve hos17 pitals. 

18 (B) Companies that focus on mitigating un19 lawful robocalls. 

20 (C) Consumer advocacy organizations. 

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

22 protocol services described in subsection 

23 (e)(3)(B)(ii). 

24 (E) Hospitals. 
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1 (F) State government officials focused on 

2 combating unlawful robocalls. 

3 (2) One representative of the Commission. 

4 (3) One representative of the Federal Trade 

5 Commission. 

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

7 180 days after the date on which the Group is established 

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

9 regarding the following: 

10 (1) How voice service providers can better com11 bat unlawful robocalls made to hospitals. 

12 (2) How hospitals can better protect themselves 

13 from such calls, including by using unlawful robocall 

14 mitigation techniques. 

15 (3) How the Federal Government and State gov16 ernments can help combat such calls. 

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

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

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

20 a proceeding to assess the extent to which the voluntary 

21 adoption of such best practices can be facilitated to protect 

22 hospitals and other institutions. 

23 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
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1 (1) GROUP.—The term ‘‘Group’’ means the Hos2 pital Robocall Protection Group established under 

3 subsection (a). 

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

5 given such term in section 3 of the Communications 

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

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

8 (A) means any service that is inter9 connected with the public switched telephone net10 work and that furnishes voice communications to 

11 an end user using resources from the North 

12 American Numbering Plan or any successor to 

13 the North American Numbering Plan adopted by 

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

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

16 251(e)(1)); and 

17 (B) includes— 

18 (i) transmissions from a telephone fac19 simile machine, computer, or other device to 

20 a telephone facsimile machine; and 

21 (ii) without limitation, any service 

22 that enables real-time, two-way voice com23 munications, including any service that re24 quires internet protocol-compatible customer 

25 premises equipment (commonly known as 
43 

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

2 whether or not the service is one-way or 

3 two-way voice over internet protocol. 

4 SEC. 15. SEPARABILITY CLAUSE. 

5 If any provision of this Act, the amendments made by 

6 this Act, or the application thereof to any person or cir7 cumstance is held invalid, the remainder of this Act, the 

8 amendments made by this Act, and the application of such 

9 provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be af10 fected thereby. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 
116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 151 

AMENDMENT