Trump Signs Anti-Robocall Traced Act

President Donald Trump signed the Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (Traced) Act (S-151) Monday, drawing praise from bill sponsors House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., among others. The compromise S-151, which passed the House and Senate in December (see 1912190068), combines provisions from the original Senate-passed version of the bill and the House-passed Stopping Bad Robocalls Act (HR-3375). The measure allows the FCC to levy civil penalties of up to $10,000 per call when the caller intentionally flouts the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. “This historic legislation will provide American consumers with even greater protection against annoying unsolicited robocalls,” a White House spokesperson said in a statement. “American families deserve control over their communications, and this legislation will update our laws and regulations to stiffen penalties, increase transparency, and enhance government collaboration to stop unwanted solicitation.” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai lauded “the additional tools and flexibility that this law affords us. Specifically, I am glad that the agency now has a longer statute of limitations during which we can pursue scammers and I welcome the removal of a previously-required warning we had to give to unlawful robocallers before imposing tough penalties." The Traced Act “will put Americans back in control of their phones,” Pallone said. “These calls are not just annoying -- they also are scams targeted at consumers.” The bill puts the federal government “one step closer to closing the books on illegal robocalls,” said House Commerce ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., and House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Bob Latta, R-Ohio, in a news release. “But we are well aware that the bad actors will do all they can to get to consumers, so Congress will need to stay vigilant to protect the American people from illegal calls and scams.” Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., said "as Americans ring in the New Year, we now know that our phones will soon ring a lot less with annoying robocalls" because Trump signed the Traced Act into law.