Foreign Robocall Elimination Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5985 To direct the Federal Communications Commission to establish an interagency taskforce on unlawful robocalls. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 27, 2020 Mr. BUDD (for himself, Mr. BISHOP of North Carolina, and Mr. CLAY) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To direct the Federal Communications Commission to establish an interagency taskforce on unlawful robocalls. 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 ‘‘Foreign Robocall 4 Elimination Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. INTERAGENCY TASKFORCE ON UNLAWFUL 6 ROBOCALLS. 7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 8 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Commu- 9 nications Commission, in consultation with the Federal 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Feb 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5985.IH H5985 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5985 IH Trade Commission and the Attorney General, shall estab- 1 lish an interagency taskforce on unlawful robocalls. 2 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The taskforce shall be com- 4 posed of the following members: 5 (A) A representative of each Federal agen- 6 cy that the Federal Communications Commis- 7 sion, in consultation with the Federal Trade 8 Commission and the Attorney General, con- 9 siders appropriate, to be appointed by the head 10 of such agency. 11 (B) Three representatives of private-sector 12 entities, to be appointed as described in para- 13 graph (2)— 14 (i) one of whom is a representative of 15 a provider of telephone service; and 16 (ii) two of whom are representatives 17 of other private-sector entities with exper- 18 tise in combating unlawful robocalls and 19 who may be technologists and technology 20 experts. 21 (2) APPOINTMENT OF REPRESENTATIVES OF 22 PRIVATE-SECTOR ENTITIES.—The members of the 23 taskforce described in paragraph (1)(B) shall be 24 jointly appointed by the Chairman of the Federal 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Feb 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5985.IH H5985 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5985 IH Communications Commission, the Chairman of the 1 Federal Trade Commission, and the Attorney Gen- 2 eral. If the Chairman of the Federal Communica- 3 tions Commission, the Chairman of the Federal 4 Trade Commission, and the Attorney General cannot 5 reach agreement regarding such an appointment, as 6 determined by the Chairman of the Federal Commu- 7 nications Commission, the Chairman of the Federal 8 Communications Commission shall make such ap- 9 pointment. 10 (c) STUDY.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The taskforce shall conduct 12 a study on unlawful robocalls, including the most ef- 13 fective ways to combat unlawful robocalls made into 14 the United States from outside the United States. 15 (2) MATTERS TO BE STUDIED.—In conducting 16 the study required by paragraph (1), the taskforce 17 shall— 18 (A) compare the number of unlawful 19 robocalls made within the United States and 20 the number of unlawful robocalls made into the 21 United States from outside the United States; 22 (B) examine methods for encouraging 23 adoption of caller authentication technology in 24 foreign countries; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Feb 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5985.IH H5985 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5985 IH (C) examine and provide information on 1 options for countries to share caller authentica- 2 tion information for international calls; 3 (D) examine how technical solutions such 4 as caller authentication technology would im- 5 prove coordination between the United States 6 and foreign countries in combating unlawful 7 robocalls; 8 (E) examine ways to incentivize foreign 9 countries to cooperate with United States law 10 enforcement efforts to combat unlawful robo- 11 calls; 12 (F) examine ways to incentivize providers 13 of telephone service to take measures to combat 14 unlawful robocalls placed across international 15 borders; and 16 (G) examine whether or not additional re- 17 sources are needed by any Federal agency that 18 combats unlawful robocalls or any other organi- 19 zation that combats unlawful robocalls, in order 20 to more effectively combat unlawful robocalls 21 made into the United States from outside the 22 United States. 23 (3) COLLABORATION WITH PRIVATE SECTOR.— 24 In conducting the study required by paragraph (1), 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Feb 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5985.IH H5985 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5985 IH the taskforce shall collaborate with technologists and 1 private-sector innovators, including through the 2 members of the taskforce appointed under sub- 3 section (b)(2), to find solutions for combating unlaw- 4 ful robocalls. 5 (d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 10 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 7 taskforce shall submit to Congress a report on the findings 8 of the study required by subsection (c)(1). 9 (e) TERMINATION.—The taskforce shall terminate on 10 the date that is 90 days after the taskforce submits the 11 report required by subsection (d). 12 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 13 (1) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal 14 agency’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘agency’’ 15 in section 551 of title 5, United States Code. 16 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each 17 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 18 each commonwealth, territory, or possession of the 19 United States, and each federally recognized Indian 20 Tribe. 21 (3) TASKFORCE.—The term ‘‘taskforce’’ means 22 the taskforce on unlawful robocalls established under 23 subsection (a). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Feb 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5985.IH H5985 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5985 IH (4) UNLAWFUL ROBOCALL.—The term ‘‘unlaw- 1 ful robocall’’ means a telephone call made in viola- 2 tion of— 3 (A) section 227(b) of the Communications 4 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(b)); or 5 (B) a similar law of a State or a foreign 6 country that prohibits calls made using an 7 automatic telephone dialing system or an artifi- 8 cial or prerecorded voice. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Feb 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5985.IH H5985 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS