Sen Young Seeks To Address Robocalls

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Robocalls can serve a good purpose, says Sen. Todd Young (R-IN). But not when you are getting them ten times a day.

“We’ve dealt with this issue of robocalls in the state of Indiana in a very public way for decades now,” Young said in a hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee Thursday. “For a perioid of time I characterized this as the number one public policy issue among Hoosiers.”

This is why Young said he is co-sponsoring a bill called the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act. It’s a bill written by Sen John Thune (R-SD) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), cracking down on robocalls.

The bill gives regulators, such as the FCC, more time to find scammers, increases civil forfeiture penalties for those who are caught, promotes call authentication and blocking adoption, and brings relevant federal agencies and state attorneys general together to address impediments to criminal prosecution of robocallers who intentionally flout laws, according to Young.

“Hoosiers are fed up with the increasing number of robocall scams that are flooding their phones,” Young said to the committee. “I have heard from scores of Hoosiers that receive illegal robocalls on a daily basis, many receiving more than 10 a day.”

“These calls are more than just an annoyance, they are a real threat to the vulnerable people they are designed to prey on. I will be working with my colleagues to advance this legislation and bring accountability to those who participate in these illegal schemes.”

 

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