DEFEAT Robocalls Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3707 To increase the penalties for certain robocall, spoofing, and telemarketing violations. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 11, 2019 Mr. BABIN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To increase the penalties for certain robocall, spoofing, and telemarketing violations. 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 ‘‘Double the Enforce- 4 ment and Fines of Everyone Associated with Terrible 5 Robocalls Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘DEFEAT Robocalls Act 6 of 2019’’. 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:32 Jul 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3707.IH H3707 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3707 IH SEC. 2. INCREASED PENALTIES FOR CERTAIN ROBOCALL, 1 SPOOFING, AND TELEMARKETING VIOLA- 2 TIONS. 3 (a) SECTION 227 OF THE COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 4 1934.— 5 (1) FORFEITURES GENERALLY.—Section 6 503(b)(2)(D) of the Communications Act of 1934 7 (47 U.S.C. 503(b)(2)(D)) is amended— 8 (A) by inserting ‘‘(or, in the case of a vio- 9 lation of section 227, except for subsection (e) 10 of such section, shall not exceed $39,278)’’ 11 after ‘‘$10,000’’; and 12 (B) by inserting ‘‘(or, in the case of a vio- 13 lation of section 227, except for subsection (e) 14 of such section, shall not exceed a total of 15 $294,580)’’ after ‘‘$75,000’’. 16 (2) CRIMINAL PENALTIES GENERALLY.— 17 (A) GENERAL PENALTY.—Section 501 of 18 the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 19 501) is amended— 20 (i) by inserting ‘‘(or, in the case of a 21 violation of section 227, except for sub- 22 section (e) of such section, not more than 23 $20,000)’’ after ‘‘$10,000’’ the first place 24 it appears; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:32 Jul 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3707.IH H3707 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3707 IH (ii) by inserting ‘‘(or, if the subse- 1 quent violation is a violation of section 2 227, except for subsection (e) of such sec- 3 tion, not more than $20,000 (or, if any 4 such previous conviction was for violation 5 of section 227, except for subsection (e) of 6 such section, not more than $40,000))’’ 7 after ‘‘$10,000’’ the second place it ap- 8 pears. 9 (B) VIOLATION OF RULES, REGULATIONS, 10 AND SO FORTH.—Section 502 of the Commu- 11 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 502) is 12 amended by inserting ‘‘(or, in the case of a 13 rule, regulation, restriction, or condition made 14 or imposed by the Commission under section 15 227, not more than $1,000)’’ after ‘‘$500’’. 16 (3) SPOOFING OF CALLER IDENTIFICATION IN- 17 FORMATION.—Section 227(e)(5) of the Communica- 18 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(e)(5)) is amend- 19 ed— 20 (A) in subparagraph (A)(i)— 21 (i) by striking ‘‘$10,000’’ and insert- 22 ing ‘‘$22,556’’; and 23 (ii) by striking ‘‘$1,000,000’’ and in- 24 serting ‘‘$2,255,598’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:32 Jul 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3707.IH H3707 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3707 IH (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking 1 ‘‘$10,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$20,000’’. 2 (4) ACTIONS BY STATE ATTORNEYS GEN- 3 ERAL.—Section 227(g)(1) of the Communications 4 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(g)(1)) is amended by 5 striking ‘‘actual monetary loss or receive $500 in 6 damages’’ and inserting ‘‘twice the amount of actual 7 monetary loss or receive $1,000 in damages’’. 8 (5) PRIVATE RIGHTS OF ACTION.—Section 227 9 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227) 10 is amended— 11 (A) in subsection (b)(3), by striking ‘‘ac- 12 tual monetary loss from such a violation, or to 13 receive $500 in damages for each such viola- 14 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘twice the amount of actual 15 monetary loss from such a violation, or to re- 16 ceive $1,000 in damages for each such viola- 17 tion’’; and 18 (B) in subsection (c)(5), by striking ‘‘ac- 19 tual monetary loss from such a violation, or to 20 receive up to $500 in damages for each such 21 violation’’ and inserting ‘‘twice the amount of 22 actual monetary loss from such a violation, or 23 to receive up to $1,000 in damages for each 24 such violation’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:32 Jul 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3707.IH H3707 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3707 IH (b) TELEMARKETING AND CONSUMER FRAUD AND 1 ABUSE PREVENTION ACT.— 2 (1) CIVIL PENALTIES.—Section 6 of the Tele- 3 marketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Preven- 4 tion Act (15 U.S.C. 6105) is amended— 5 (A) in subsection (b), by adding at the end 6 the following: ‘‘Notwithstanding the preceding 7 provisions of this subsection, the amount of the 8 civil penalty under section 5(l) of the Federal 9 Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45(l)) for 10 violation of an order of the Commission to cease 11 and desist from conduct that constitutes a vio- 12 lation of a rule of the Commission under section 13 3 of this Act, and the amount of the civil pen- 14 alty that the Commission may recover under 15 section 5(m)(1)(A) of the Federal Trade Com- 16 mission Act (15 U.S.C. 45(m)(1)(A)) for viola- 17 tion of a rule of the Commission under section 18 3 of this Act, shall be not more than $85,060 19 for each violation.’’; and 20 (B) in subsection (d), by adding at the end 21 the following: ‘‘Notwithstanding the preceding 22 sentence, the amount of the civil penalty under 23 subparagraph (A) of section 1055(c)(2) of the 24 Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:32 Jul 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3707.IH H3707 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3707 IH U.S.C. 5565(c)(2)) for violation of a rule of the 1 Commission under section 3 of this Act may 2 not exceed $11,562 for each day during which 3 the violation or failure to pay continues, the 4 amount of the civil penalty under subparagraph 5 (B) of such section 1055(c)(2) for violation of 6 such a rule may not exceed $57,812 for each 7 day during which the violation continues, and 8 the amount of the civil penalty under subpara- 9 graph (C) of such section 1055(c)(2) for viola- 10 tion of such a rule may not exceed $2,312,484 11 for each day during which the violation con- 12 tinues.’’. 13 (2) ACTIONS BY STATES.—Section 4(a) of the 14 Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Pre- 15 vention Act (15 U.S.C. 6103(a)) is amended by 16 striking ‘‘damages’’ and inserting ‘‘twice the dam- 17 ages sustained by residents of such State’’. 18 (3) ACTIONS BY PRIVATE PERSONS.—Section 19 5(a) of the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and 20 Abuse Prevention Act (15 U.S.C. 6104(a)) is 21 amended— 22 (A) in the first sentence, by striking 23 ‘‘$50,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$25,000’’; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:32 Jul 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3707.IH H3707 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3707 IH (B) in the second sentence, by striking 1 ‘‘damages’’ and inserting ‘‘twice the damages 2 sustained’’. 3 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 4 this section shall apply with respect to violations occurring 5 after the date that is 60 days after the date of the enact- 6 ment of this Act. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:32 Jul 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3707.IH H3707 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS