Lawmakers commend FCC for proposing important consumer safeguards

Washington (June 8, 2016) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D–Mass.), Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.), Ranking Member Anna G. Eshoo (D–Calif.) and 26 other members of Congress today commended the Federal Communications Commissions’ (FCC) proposed rules to protect student loan and mortgage borrowers, veterans, farmers, taxpayers, and others from unwanted robocalls and texts. A provision in the Budget Act of 2015 exempts robocallers and robotexters that collect debt owed to or guaranteed by the federal government from key consumer protection provisions of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA), potentially opening up Americans to a deluge of unwanted telephone calls and texts. In November 2015, Senator Markey, Congresswoman Bonamici, Congresswoman Eshoo and dozens of other lawmakers called on the FCC to use its regulatory authority to limit the harms posed by the TCPA carve out and put in place several important consumer protections.

“We commend you for proposing to adopt a number of important consumer safeguards in the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) the Commission approved earlier this year,” the members of Congress write in the letter to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. “We strongly encourage you implement all of them in your final rule. We appreciate your recognition of the important role the Commission has in protecting the convenience and privacy that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) has provided for more than two decades. These protections should continue for years to come.”   

A copy of the letter to the FCC can be found HERE.

Senators signing the letter include Richard Blumenthal (D–Conn.), Al Franken (D–Minn.), Jeff Merkley (D–Oreg.), Robert Menendez (D–N.J.), Patrick Leahy (D–Vt.), Amy Klobuchar (D–Minn.), Elizabeth Warren (D–Mass.), Claire McCaskill (D–Mo.) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH).

Representatives signing the letter include Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.), Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.), Paul D. Tonko (D-N.Y.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), Henry C. “Hank” Johnson (D-Ga.), Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.), Louise M. Slaughter (D-N.Y.), Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.), Michael M. Honda (D-Calif.), Sam Farr (D-Calif.), and William R. Keating (D-Mass.).

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