WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) today announced his co-sponsorship of the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement Deterrence (TRACED) Act, bipartisan legislation that gives regulators more resources to find robocall scammers, increases penalties for violators, and promotes call authentication and blocking adoption. The legislation would also bring together federal agencies and state attorneys general to address obstacles to criminal prosecution of illegal robocallers.

“Illegal robocalls are not only irritating, they are often predatory and malicious,” Senator King said. “Unfortunately, they have only become worse with technological advances that have driven down the price of mass phone calls and facilitated new tactics like spoofing. This is a time for action, and with the support and cooperation of the FCC, state governments, phone companies, and consumer advocacy groups we can mitigate this pervasive spam and hold the perpetrators accountable.”

The TRACED Act would strengthen robocall enforcement provisions by increasing the amount of fines that the FCC can assess against illegal robocallers and by extending the statute of limitations for these penalties. It would also further set an 18-month deadline for phone companies to implement a caller ID authentication system and require the FCC to “initiate a rulemaking to help protect a subscriber from receiving unwanted calls or text messages from a caller using an unauthenticated number.” Additionally, the bill would establish an interagency group to identify policy changes to help prevent and prosecute illegal robocalls. The TRACED Act would also require the FCC to examine whether and how to make it more difficult for potential robocallers to gain access to phone numbers.

According to YouMail, an estimated 17.7 billion scam robocalls were made in the United States in 2018, or about 70 scam robocalls per every adult. 10.3 billion of those robocalls were classified as relating to identity theft.

Joining Senator King in support of the bill are Senators John Thune (R-S.D.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Cory Gardner (R-Colo.).

A copy of the TRACED Act can be found HERE.