Gianforte Bill to End Illegal Robocalls Clears Committee, Goes to the House

Press Release

The Energy and Commerce Committee today passed a bipartisan bill to end illegal robocalls that included measures from Congressman Greg Gianforte.

The Stopping Bad Robocalls Act passed the committee by a vote of 48-0. The U.S. House of Representatives will consider the bill.

"[Montanans are] getting called with bogus insurance offers, threats of legal action, and false promises of government grants," Gianforte said. "Robocall scams put Montanans at risk of being robbed. Scammers constantly try to steal private, personal information -- Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, and banking information -- from unsuspecting Montanans."

"Today, we're taking a huge step in stopping the scourge of robocalls," Gianforte said. "The Stopping Bad Robocalls Act empowers and protects consumers."

The Stopping Bad Robocalls Act requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to adopt critical consumer protections, requires all providers to implement a new technology to make sure that caller-ID information is authenticated at no additional cost to consumers, allows the blocking of calls without an extra charge, and more.

"I'm proud our bipartisan efforts are moving forward today. We're one step closer to protecting Montanans from scammers and criminals who seek to do them harm," Gianforte said.

Gianforte's bipartisan Tracing Back and Catching Unlawful Robocalls Act was included in the larger bill. The measure assists in the identification and prosecution of companies who participate in illegal robocalls.

In recent congressional hearings, Gianforte pressed officials from the FCC and the Federal Trade Commission about what the agencies were doing to protect Montanans from illegal robocalls.

Americans received 26 billion robocalls in 2018, a 46 percent increase from 2017.

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