One of the more prominent Republicans in the Florida congressional delegation is throwing his support behind a proposal cracking down on robocalls.
On Friday, U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., a senior Republican on the powerful U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, announced he was backing U.S. Rep. David Kustoff’s, R-Tenn., “Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act.”
Kustoff introduced the bill last month and he noted that robocalls are a growing problem in his district.
“I have heard from countless people throughout Tennessee’s 8th District who are tired of the endless stream of harassing robocalls. To put an end to this scourge of calls, my bill, the TRACED Act, would give Americans much-needed relief by requiring caller authentication and deterring bad actors from placing these calls in the first place,” said Kustoff when he introduced the bill. “These robocalls are infringing on the everyday lives of Americans, and I urge my colleagues to swiftly pass this vital piece of legislation and put an end to these scams.”
The bill allows the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to fine “people who intentionally flout telemarketing restrictions” as much as $10,000 and expands the window from catching them from one year to three. The proposal has a host of federal and state authorities working together but it also “requires voice service providers to adopt call authentication technologies, enabling a telephone carrier to verify that incoming calls are legitimate before they reach consumers’ phones.” The FCC would also double down in its efforts to stop Americans from getting unwanted calls.
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