The House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Communications and Technology has announced a legislative hearing will be held tomorrow at 10am on the topic of “Legislating to Stop the Onslaught of Annoying Robocalls.”
There are as many as eight different proposed pieces of robocall-related legislation currently in the House of Representatives, which aim to strengthen enforcement activities, stiffen penalties for those caught making illegal robocalls, rescind an exemption for allowing autodialed calls to individuals with unpaid debts that are guaranteed by the federal government, and arm carriers with call-blocking technology that consumers could use to prevent robocalls from being connected. The Senate is also considering a number of pieces of robocall legislation, as well.
The subcommittee has called on four individuals to testify at the hearing: Aaron Foss, the founder of Nomorobo, David Summitt, the chief information security officer at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, Margot Saunders, a senior counsel at the National Consumer Law Center, and Patrick Halley, senior vice president of advocacy and regulatory affairs at USTelecom – The Broadband Association.
Saunders testified before a Senate subcommittee hearing earlier this month, and accused debt collectors of making an “enormous” amount of robocalls.
