Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mr. SMITH (for himself, Mr. INOUYE, Ms. SNOWE, Mr. DORGAN, Mr. SUNUNU, Mr. BURNS, Mr. LAUTENBERG, and Mr. STEVENS):
S. 714. A bill to amend section 227 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227) relating to the prohibition on junk fax transmissions; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Mr. SMITH. Mr. President, I rise today with Senator Inouye and other colleagues to introduce the ``Junk Fax Prevention Act of 2005.'' This bill will strengthen existing laws by providing consumers the ability to prevent unsolicited fax advertisements and provide greater Congressional oversight of enforcement efforts by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). This bill will also help businesses by allowing them to continue to send faxes to their customers in a manner that has proven successful with both businesses and consumers.
In July of 2003, the FCC reconsidered its Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) rules and elected to eliminate the ability for businesses to contact their customers even where there exists an established business relationship. The effect of the FCC's rule would be to prevent a business from sending a fax solicitation to any person, whether it is a supplier or customer, without first obtaining prior written consent. This approach, while seemingly sensible, would impose significant costs on businesses in the form of extensive record keeping. Recognizing the problems created by this rule, the Commission has twice delayed the effective date, with the current extension of stay expiring on June 30, 2005.
The purpose of this legislation is to preserve the established business relationship exception currently recognized under the TCPA. In addition, this bill will allow consumers to opt out of receiving further unsolicited faxes. This is a new consumer protection that does not exist under the TCPA today.
We believe that this bipartisan bill strikes the appropriate balance in providing significant protections to consumers from unwanted unsolicited fax advertisements and preserves the many benefits that result from legitimate fax communications.
In the 108th Congress, this legislation passed both the Senate and House but was not signed into law prior to the adjournment of Congress. We hope that both the Senate and House can pass this legislation in a timely manner, prior to June 30, 2005, when the FCC's stay expires.
I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the RECORD.
There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:
http://thomas.loc.gov/