House Votes to Provide Relief from Robocalls

Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Abby Finkenauer (IA-01) voted in favor of the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act, which will help protect Iowans from robocalls. Finkenauer was a cosponsor of the legislation, which passed the House and now must be voted on by the Senate.

“Spam robocalls are distracting and interrupt Iowans’ daily lives, particularly for our seniors,” said Finkenauer. “I actually had a conversation with a constituent about this issue at a townhall in Dubuque. After that conversation, I looked into legislation to address this problem and became a cosponsor of this bill. That’s the way government should work and it’s important to me that I keep hearing from my constituents about the issues that matter to them. I am proud to cosponsor this important bill to provide Iowans with relief. Consumers must have a choice about the communications they receive. It’s essential that Iowans can receive the calls that they need while not enduring countless spam calls.”

The Stopping Bad Robocalls Act amends the Telephone Consumer Protection Act to ensure that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has the authority and tools to take decisive, quick action against robocallers. The bill extends the statute of limitations from one year to four years for callers violating the robocall prohibitions, which makes it easier to hold bad actors accountable. There were over 40,000 complaints to the Federal Trade Commission from Iowans in 2018. The legislation also requires calls to have verified caller identification information before the call can be put through.

2018 saw a nearly 60% increase in the number of robocalls over the previous year and this disturbing trend continues. Approximately half of all calls made to US cell phones in 2019 will be spam, according to the FCC. Nearly 140 million robocalls have been placed to Iowans in 2019 so far.