Do-Not-Call Improvement Act of 2007

DO-NOT-CALL IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - December 11, 2007)

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Mr. DOYLE. I thank my friend from North Carolina.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to approve H.R. 3541, the Do-Not-Call Improvement Act of 2007.

The national do-not-call registry was established in 2003 and is managed by the Federal Trade Commission and enforced by the FTC, the Federal Communications Commission, and State law enforcement officials. Most telemarketers are not allowed to call your number once it has been on the registry for 31 days. If they do, you can

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file a complaint against them with the FTC and they can be forced to pay a fine.

The Federal do-not-call registry is one of the most successful government programs ever created. Over 132 million telephone numbers have been added to the registry since its creation. Unfortunately, current regulations require that the registry remove individuals' numbers after 5 years. Consequently, starting in June of 2008, millions of people will begin receiving telemarketing calls again. Many of them don't realize that their listing has expired and that they need to add their number to the do-not-call list again if they want to block telemarketers' phone calls.

It makes no sense to force people to sign up every couple of years. Unfortunately, that's just what will happen if action isn't taken. And that's why I introduced this legislation along with my good friend from Mississippi, Chip Pickering, to make registration with the Federal do-not-call list permanent.

My legislation, the Do-Not-Call Improvement Act of 2007, would make the numbers on the Federal do-not-call registry permanent. Under this legislation, someone would only have to sign up for the do-not-call registry once. Without passage of this act, over 50 million phone numbers will be purged from the registry within the next year. The hassle for consumers will be tremendous, with no real payoff.

Now, when a consumer signs up for the do-not-call list, they expect a roach motel where their numbers go in and the telemarketers can't check them out. But for those few individuals who are worried that they might change their mind at some future date, I want to make clear that this bill will still allow individuals to take their names off if they choose to, and it gives the FTC explicit authority to scrub numbers that are invalid or don't belong on the list.

There is no need to risk Americans being removed from the do-not-call list unless they want to be removed, and the best way to deal with this nightmare is to end it before it starts. As I said when I introduced this legislation, I suspect there are very few people saying, ``Gee, I really miss those telemarketing calls at dinnertime. I wish the Government would just take me off that do-not-call list.'' Well, if this bill is enacted, individuals won't have to worry about signing up for the do-not-call list every 5 years.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the AARP, the Consumers Union, the Center for Democracy and Technology, Consumerist.com, and the American Teleservices Association for endorsing this bill. It's a great day when consumer groups, senior groups, privacy groups, and yes, even telemarketers, can agree on making the do-not-call list better.

I urge my colleagues to join me in passing this legislation. By signing up with the national do-not-call registry, over 130 million Americans have told telemarketers, ``Don't call us; we'll call you.'' Let's save them the hassle of having to have sign up time and time again.

In closing, I want to thank my friend Chip Pickering. I want to thank Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Dingell, Ranking Member Barton, Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chairman Bobby Rush and my good friend Cliff Stearns. And I also want to thank several staffers who have worked so hard on this bill: Gregg Rothschild, Consuela Washington, Shannon Weinberg, Brian McCullough, Will Carty. And finally, I want to thank Hugh Carroll of Mr. Pickering's staff and Kenneth DeGraff of my staff for all of their hard work.

I encourage my colleagues to join me in passing this bill and making one of the most popular Federal services even better.

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