WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) applauded House of Representatives passage of bipartisan legislation to help block robocalls. The Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act approved by the House this week is the result of months of negotiations between the House and Senate. The legislation gives regulators more time to find robocall scammers, increases penalties for violators, promotes call authentication and blocking adoption, and brings federal agencies and state attorneys general together to address obstacles to criminal prosecution of robocallers who intentionally flout laws.

“I will work for swift strong Senate action to approve the robocall protection measure passed overwhelmingly yesterday by the House,” Blumenthal said. “I have been a leading champion of such robocall restrictions because these calls have become so devastatingly frequent and intrusive. The vicious onslaught of scam and scam messages disrupts our lives and defrauds our most vulnerable. They are consistently one of the top complaints I hear from constituents. This measure has broad bipartisan support and I will press for Senate passage before the holidays— a great gift to consumers.”

Blumenthal has also authored the ROBOCOP (Repeated Objectionable Bothering of Consumers on Phones) Act, which would require telephone companies to offer free robocall blocking services to all their customers.

An estimated 22.1 million Americans lost $9.5 billion to robocall scams in 2016, according to a 2017 study. This epidemic of telephonic harassment skyrocketed in 2018, with the number of robocalls made to Americans exceeding 16.3 billion in the first five months of that year. Thus far efforts like the Do Not Call Registry have had little to no impact, particularly when it comes to scams and call centers located outside of the United States.

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