HANGUP Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1421 To repeal debt collection amendments made by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 28, 2019 Ms. ESHOO (for herself, Mr. COOPER, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. CASE, and Mr. RASKIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Com- merce A BILL To repeal debt collection amendments made by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Help Americans Never 4 Get Unwanted Phone calls Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘HANG- 5 UP Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Mar 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1421.IH H1421 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 1421 IH SEC. 2. REPEAL OF DEBT COLLECTION AMENDMENTS; 1 CLARIFYING COVERAGE WITH RESPECT TO 2 GOVERNMENT CONTRACTORS. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Communications Act of 1934 4 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) is amended— 5 (1) in section 3, by striking paragraph (39) and 6 inserting the following: 7 ‘‘(39) PERSON.—The term ‘person’— 8 ‘‘(A) includes an individual, partnership, 9 association, joint-stock company, trust, or cor- 10 poration; and 11 ‘‘(B) for the purposes of section 227, in- 12 cludes a contractor of the United States Gov- 13 ernment with respect to a call that is made 14 solely to collect a debt owed to or guaranteed 15 by the United States.’’; and 16 (2) in section 227(b)— 17 (A) in paragraph (1)— 18 (i) in subparagraph (A)(iii), by strik- 19 ing ‘‘, unless such call is made solely to 20 collect a debt owed to or guaranteed by the 21 United States’’; and 22 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 23 ‘‘, is made solely pursuant to the collection 24 of a debt owed to or guaranteed by the 25 United States,’’; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Mar 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1421.IH H1421 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 1421 IH (B) in paragraph (2)— 1 (i) in subparagraph (F)(ii), by adding 2 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 3 (ii) in subparagraph (G)(ii), by strik- 4 ing ‘‘; and’’ at the end and inserting a pe- 5 riod; and 6 (iii) by striking subparagraph (H). 7 (b) REGULATIONS.—Section 301(b) of the Bipartisan 8 Budget Act of 2015 (47 U.S.C. 227 note; Public Law 9 114–74) is repealed. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Mar 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1421.IH H1421 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS