Rep. Susie Lee Introduces DO NOT Call Act to Deter Skyrocketing Illegal Robocalls

Washington, DC - Today, Rep. Susie Lee (NV-03) introduced the Deter Obnoxious, Nefarious, and Outrageous Telephone Calls (DO NOT) Call Act in an effort to deter illegal robocalls that have skyrocketed in recent years. This legislation will improve enforcement and enhance penalties for violations made under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The FCC has put forward aggressive enforcement actions, but the deterrents are still not strong enough. In 2017 alone, 30.5 billion robocalls were initiated, up 19% from 2016. Companion legislation was introduced by Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-NV) in the Senate.

Rep. Lee released the following statement:

"Illegal robocalls affect nearly every American and pose a serious threat to our most vulnerable populations, especially our senior citizens who are targets of fraud. Nevada has one of the highest senior citizen populations in the country, so this issue definitely hits home for our state, which is why I'm glad that Senator Cortez-Masto is taking the lead on this legislation in the Senate. Despite strong enforcement efforts, robocalls continue to skyrocket to the point that you're better off just not answering your phone. The DO NOT Call Act implements stronger enforcement and severe penalties for those initiating robocalls, and will make these aggressors think twice before continuing this bothersome, illegal practice."

"We all know what it's like to pick up the phone, only to hear an annoying prerecorded message attempting to scam you," said Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford. "Every year, Americans receive tens of billions of these types of calls, and I'm proud to do my part alongside Congresswoman Lee to prevent these nuisance calls."

The DO NOT Call Act would create a penalty that includes up to one year in prison for willful and knowing violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), with penalties in increasing severity for aggravated offenses including:

• a previous conviction under the section;
• an offense involving more than 100,000 violations in a day, 1,000,000 in a month, or 10,000,000 in year;
• the offense was committed in furtherance of a felony;
• the offense caused loss to 1 or more persons aggregating $5,000 in a year;
• Aggravated offenses are subject to a maximum 3 year prison sentence.

The maximum penalty for civil forfeiture and criminal fines would be raised from $10,000 to $20,000 per violation for falsifying Caller ID.