I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7392 

To deter criminal robocall violations and improve enforcement of section 

227(b) of the Communications Act of 1934, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 21, 2018 

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

on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

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

1934, 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 ‘‘Telephone Robocall 

5 Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘TRACED Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FORFEITURE. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 227 of the Communica9 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227) is amended— 


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

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(4) CIVIL FORFEITURE.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any person that is de5 termined by the Commission, in accordance 

6 with section 503(b)(3) or section 503(b)(4), to 

7 have violated this subsection with the intent to 

8 cause such violation shall be liable to the 

9 United States for a forfeiture penalty. A for10 feiture penalty under this paragraph shall be in 

11 addition to any other penalty provided for by 

12 this Act. The amount of the forfeiture penalty 

13 determined under this paragraph shall not ex14 ceed $10,000 for each violation. 

15 ‘‘(B) RECOVERY.—Any forfeiture penalty 

16 determined under subparagraph (A) shall be re17 coverable under section 504(a). 

18 ‘‘(C) PROCEDURE.—No forfeiture liability 

19 shall be determined under subparagraph (A) 

20 against any person unless such person receives 

21 the notice required by section 503(b)(3) or sec22 tion 503(b)(4). 

23 ‘‘(D) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—No for24 feiture penalty shall be determined or imposed 

25 against any person under subparagraph (A) if 


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1 the violation charged occurred more than 3 

2 years prior to the date of issuance of the re3 quired notice or notice or apparent liability. 

4 ‘‘(E) FORFEITURE UNDER SECTION 503.— 

5 Notwithstanding section 503(b)(1), nothing in 

6 this paragraph may be construed to affect the 

7 authority of the Commission to impose a for8 feiture penalty under section 503(b)(1)(B) 

9 against a person who is determined by the 

10 Commission, in accordance with that section, to 

11 have failed to comply with any provision of this 

12 subsection. 

13 ‘‘(5) CRIMINAL FINE.—Any person who violates 

14 this subsection with the intent to cause such viola15 tion shall upon conviction thereof be fined not more 

16 than $10,000 for each violation, or 3 times that 

17 amount for each day of a continuing violation, in 

18 lieu of the fine provided by section 501 of this title 

19 for such a violation. This subparagraph does not 

20 supercede the provisions of section 501 of this title 

21 relating to imprisonment or the imposition of a pen22 alty of both fine and imprisonment.’’; and 

23 (2) in subsection (h)— 

24 (A) by striking paragraph (2); 


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1 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (3) 

2 through (7) as paragraphs (2) through (6), re3 spectively; 

4 (C) in paragraph (3), as redesignated, by 

5 striking ‘‘paragraph (3)’’ and inserting ‘‘para6 graph (2)’’; and 

7 (D) in paragraph (5), as redesignated, by 

8 striking ‘‘paragraph (5)’’ and inserting ‘‘para9 graph (4)’’. 

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

11 section shall not affect any action or proceeding com12 menced before and pending on the date of enactment of 

13 this Act. 

14 (c) DEADLINE FOR REGULATIONS.—The Federal 

15 Communications Commission shall prescribe regulations 

16 to implement the amendments made by this section not 

17 later than 270 days after the date of enactment of this 

18 Act. 

19 SEC. 3. CALL AUTHENTICATION. 

20 (a) AUTHENTICATION FRAMEWORK.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

22 the Federal Communications Commission shall re23 quire, not later than 18 months after the date of en24 actment of this Act, a provider of voice service to 

25 implement an appropriate and effective call authenVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:41 Dec 26, 2018 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7392.IH H7392

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1 tication framework in the internet protocol networks 

2 of voice service providers. 

3 (2) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Federal Commu4 nications Commission— 

5 (A) shall not take the action described in 

6 subsection (a)(1) if the Federal Communica7 tions Commission determines, after public no8 tice and an opportunity for comment, that each 

9 provider of voice services, not later than 12 

10 months after the date of enactment of this 

11 Act— 

12 (i) has established voluntary rules for 

13 an appropriate and effective call authen14 tication framework in the internet protocol 

15 networks of voice service providers; 

16 (ii) has agreed voluntarily to partici17 pate in the authentication framework 

18 under clause (i); 

19 (iii) has begun to implement the au20 thentication framework under clause (i); 

21 and 

22 (iv) will fully implement the appro23 priate and effective call authentication 

24 framework under clause (i), not later than 


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1 18 months after the date of enactment of 

2 this Act, subject to subparagraph (B); and 

3 (B) may extend the deadline for implemen4 tation of the call authentication framework 

5 under paragraph (1) or subparagraph (A) of 

6 this paragraph, as applicable, for an additional 

7 12 months, or such further time as the Federal 

8 Communications Commission determines to be 

9 necessary, for a provider that demonstrates 

10 substantial hardship in purchasing or upgrad11 ing equipment to support call authentication. 

12 (b) SAFE HARBOR AND OTHER REGULATIONS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Communica14 tions Commission shall promulgate rules— 

15 (A) affirming authority for a provider of 

16 voice service to block a voice call pursuant to 

17 the authentication framework under paragraph 

18 (1) or paragraph (2) of subsection (a), as appli19 cable; 

20 (B) establishing a safe harbor for a pro21 vider of voice service from liability for unin22 tended or inadvertent blocking of calls or for 

23 the unintended or inadvertent misidentification 

24 of the level of trust for individual calls pursuant 

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1 graph (1) or paragraph (2) of subsection (a), as 

2 applicable; and 

3 (C) establishing a process to permit a call4 ing party adversely affected by the authentica5 tion framework under paragraph (1) or para6 graph (2) of subsection (a), as applicable, to 

7 verify the authenticity of the calling party’s 

8 calls. 

9 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In establishing the safe 

10 harbor under paragraph (1), the Federal Commu11 nications Commission shall consider limiting the li12 ability of providers based on the extent to which 

13 they— 

14 (A) block or identify calls based on the au15 thentication framework under paragraph (1) or 

16 paragraph (2) of subsection (a), as applicable; 

17 (B) implemented procedures based on the 

18 framework; and 

19 (C) used reasonable care. 

20 (c) DEFINITION OF VOICE SERVICE.—In this section, 

21 the term ‘‘voice service’’— 

22 (1) means any service that is interconnected 

23 with the public switched telephone network and that 

24 furnishes voice communications to an end user using 

25 resources from the North American Numbering Plan 


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1 or any successor to the North American Numbering 

2 Plan adopted by the Commission under section 

3 251(e)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

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

5 (2) includes— 

6 (A) transmissions from a telephone fac7 simile machine, computer, or other device to a 

8 telephone facsimile machine; and 

9 (B) without limitation, any service that en10 ables real-time, two-way voice communications, 

11 including any service that requires Internet pro12 tocol-compatible customer premises equipment 

13 (CPE) and permits out-bound calling, whether 

14 or not the service is one-way or two-way voice 

15 over Internet protocol. 

16 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec17 tion shall preclude the Federal Communications Commis18 sion from initiating a rulemaking pursuant to its existing 

19 statutory authority. 

20 SEC. 4. PROTECTIONS FROM SPOOFED CALLS. 

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

22 date of enactment of this Act, and consistent with the au23 thentication framework under paragraph (1) or paragraph 

24 (2) of section 3(a), as applicable, the Federal Communica25 tions Commission shall initiate a rulemaking to help proVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:41 Dec 26, 2018 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7392.IH H7392

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1 tect a subscriber from receiving unwanted calls or text 

2 messages from a caller using an unauthenticated number. 

3 (b) CONSIDERATIONS.—In promulgating rules under 

4 subsection (a), the Federal Communications Commission 

5 shall consider— 

6 (1) the Government Accountability Office report 

7 on combating the fraudulent provision of misleading 

8 or inaccurate caller identification required by section 

9 503(c) of division P of the Consolidated Appropria10 tions Act 2018 (Public Law 115–141; 132 Stat. 

11 348); 

12 (2) the best means of ensuring that a sub13 scriber or provider has the ability to block calls from 

14 a caller using an unauthenticated number; 

15 (3) the impact on the privacy of a telephone 

16 subscriber from unauthenticated calls; 

17 (4) the effectiveness in verifying the accuracy of 

18 caller identification information; and 

19 (5) the availability and cost of providing protec20 tion from the unwanted calls or text messages de21 scribed in subsection (a). 

22 SEC. 5. INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General of the 

24 United States, in consultation with the Chairman of the 

25 Federal Communications Commission, shall convene an 


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1 interagency working group to study Government prosecu2 tion of violations of section 227(b) of the Communications 

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

4 (b) DUTIES.—In carrying out the study under sub5 section (a), the interagency working group shall— 

6 (1) determine whether, and if so how, any Fed7 eral law, including regulations, policies, and prac8 tices, or budgetary or jurisdictional constraints in9 hibit the prosecution of such violations; 

10 (2) identify existing and potential Federal poli11 cies and programs that encourage and improve co12 ordination among Federal departments and agencies 

13 and States, and between States, in the prevention 

14 and prosecution of such violations; 

15 (3) identify existing and potential international 

16 policies and programs that encourage and improve 

17 coordination between nations in the prevention and 

18 prosecution of such violations; and 

19 (4) consider— 

20 (A) the benefit and potential sources of ad21 ditional resources for the Federal prevention 

22 and prosecution of criminal violations of that 

23 section; 


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1 (B) whether to establish memoranda of un2 derstanding regarding the prevention and pros3 ecution of such violations between— 

4 (i) the States; 

5 (ii) the States and the Federal Gov6 ernment; and 

7 (iii) the Federal Government and a 

8 foreign government; 

9 (C) whether to establish a process to allow 

10 States to request Federal subpoenas from the 

11 Federal Communications Commission; 

12 (D) whether extending civil enforcement to 

13 the States would assist in the successful preven14 tion and prosecution of such violations; 

15 (E) whether increased forfeiture and im16 prisonment penalties are appropriate, such as 

17 extending imprisonment for such a violation to 

18 a term longer than 2 years; 

19 (F) whether regulation of any entity that 

20 enters into a business arrangement with a car21 rier for the specific purpose of carrying, rout22 ing, or transmitting a call that constitutes such 

23 a violation would assist in the successful pre24 vention and prosecution of such violations; and 


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1 (G) the extent to which, if any, Depart2 ment of Justice policies to pursue the prosecu3 tion of violations causing economic harm, phys4 ical danger, or erosion of an inhabitant’s peace 

5 of mind and sense of security inhibits the pre6 vention or prosecution of such violations. 

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

8 be composed of such representatives of Federal depart9 ments and agencies as the Attorney General considers ap10 propriate, such as— 

11 (1) the Department of Commerce; 

12 (2) the Department of State; 

13 (3) the Department of Homeland Security; 

14 (4) the Federal Communications Commission; 

15 (5) the Federal Trade Commission; and 

16 (6) the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 

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

18 out the study under subsection (a), the interagency work19 ing group shall consult with such non-Federal stake20 holders as the Attorney General determines have the rel21 evant expertise, including the National Association of At22 torneys General. 

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

24 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the inter25 agency working group shall submit to the Committee on 


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1 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and 

2 the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House 

3 of Representatives a report on the findings of the study 

4 under subsection (a), including— 

5 (1) any recommendations regarding the preven6 tion and prosecution of such violations; and 

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

9 in implementing the recommendations under para10 graph (1). 

11 SEC. 6. ACCESS TO NUMBER RESOURCES. 

12 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

13 of this Act, the Federal Communications Commission shall 

14 commence a proceeding to determine whether Federal 

15 Communications Commission policies regarding access to 

16 number resources could be modified, including by estab17 lishing registration and compliance obligations, to help re18 duce access to numbers by potential perpetrators of viola19 tions of section 227(b) of the Communications Act of 1935 

20 (47 U.S.C. 227(b)). 

Æ 


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