House Commerce Democrats Say FCC Cuts Threaten Robocall Enforcement
Democratic lawmakers said at a House Commerce Committee hearing Wednesday that cuts to staffing and budgets at the FCC and FTC threaten efforts to combat robocalls and robotexts. “Republicans are regularly undermining efforts to address these threats, cutting funding and staff from the very entities that protect consumers, all to give giant tax breaks to billionaires who don’t need them,” said ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J.
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CTIA and USTelecom officials at the hearing said industry needs more law enforcement resources directed against robocallers. “We welcome help from Congress and prioritizing resources towards enforcement so the agencies we work with can take on more of those cases, do more investigations and go after bad actors,” said Sarah Leggin, CTIA's vice president of regulatory affairs.
Ben Winters, director of AI and data privacy at the Consumer Federation of America, told the committee that agencies need more authority to adequately go after robocallers, including that to directly collect penalties. Currently, the FCC must rely on the DOJ for that.
House Commerce Chairman Gary Palmer, R-Ala., countered that not all robocalls and texts are illegal, since "many are used for legitimate purposes by U.S. businesses and public entities.”