Ending One-Ring Scams Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3264 To direct the Federal Communications Commission to initiate a proceeding to protect called parties from one-ring scams, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 13, 2019 Ms. CLARKE of New York (for herself, Mr. VAN DREW, Mr. ROUDA, Mr. BILI- RAKIS, Ms. FOXX of North Carolina, and Mr. WALBERG) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Com- merce A BILL To direct the Federal Communications Commission to ini- tiate a proceeding to protect called parties from one- ring scams, 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 ‘‘Ending One-Ring 4 Scams Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. PROTECTION FROM ONE-RING SCAMS. 6 (a) INITIATION OF PROCEEDING.—Not later than 7 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:25 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3264.IH H3264 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 3264 IH Commission shall initiate a proceeding to protect called 1 parties from one-ring scams. 2 (b) MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED.—As part of the 3 proceeding required by subsection (a), the Commission 4 shall consider how the Commission can— 5 (1) work with Federal and State law enforce- 6 ment agencies to address one-ring scams; 7 (2) work with the governments of foreign coun- 8 tries to address one-ring scams; 9 (3) in consultation with the Federal Trade 10 Commission, better educate consumers about how to 11 avoid one-ring scams; 12 (4) incentivize voice service providers to stop 13 calls made to perpetrate one-ring scams from being 14 received by called parties, including consideration of 15 adding identified one-ring scam type numbers to the 16 Commission’s existing list of permissible categories 17 for carrier-initiated blocking; 18 (5) work with entities that provide call-blocking 19 services to address one-ring scams; and 20 (6) establish obligations on international gate- 21 way providers that are the first point of entry for 22 these calls into the United States, including poten- 23 tial requirements that such providers verify with the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:25 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3264.IH H3264 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 3264 IH foreign originator the nature or purpose of calls be- 1 fore initiating service. 2 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 3 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commis- 4 sion shall publish on its website and submit to the Com- 5 mittee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Rep- 6 resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 7 and Transportation of the Senate a report on the status 8 of the proceeding required by subsection (a). 9 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 10 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 11 means the Federal Communications Commission. 12 (2) ONE-RING SCAM.—The term ‘‘one-ring 13 scam’’ means a scam in which a caller makes a call 14 and allows the call to ring the called party for a 15 short duration, in order to prompt the called party 16 to return the call, thereby subjecting the called party 17 to charges. 18 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean- 19 ing given such term in section 3 of the Communica- 20 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153). 21 (4) VOICE SERVICE.—The term ‘‘voice service’’ 22 has the meaning given such term in section 23 227(e)(8) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 24 U.S.C. 227(e)(8)). This paragraph shall apply before 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:25 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3264.IH H3264 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 3264 IH the effective date of the amendment made to such 1 section by subparagraph (C) of section 503(a)(2) of 2 division P of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 3 2018 (Public Law 115–141) as if such amendment 4 was already in effect. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:25 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3264.IH H3264 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS