House passes bipartisan bill to stop surge in robocalls

Statement

Congressman Dan Kildee (MI-05), Chief Deputy Whip of the House Democratic Caucus, today applauded the U.S. House of Representatives for passing legislation, supported by Republicans and Democrats, to stop the surge of abusive robocalls currently defrauding Michigan families.

S. 151, the TRACED Act, would require telephone carriers to confirm that all calls are from a verified caller before the call can be put through. It would also push the U.S. Department of Justice to take more action against robocallers. Finally, it would also force telephone carriers to adopt new technology that helps prove the true identify of callers.

"Michiganders are sick and tired of robocalls and attempts to scam people from their hard-earned money," Congressman Kildee said. "We know the number of robocalls has significantly increased and it is important to stop bad actors. This bill would finally hold more robocallers accountable and use new technologies to help curb unwanted robocalls that millions of Michiganders are facing. I am proud to have voted for this bill, and I am glad that both Republicans and Democrats came together to pass this important legislation," Congressman Kildee.

Last year, an estimated 26.3 billion unwanted calls were placed in the U.S., which represents a 46 percent increase in unwanted calls from the previous year. Though some robocalls are initiated by legitimate companies, robocalls are also used by scammers to steal from consumers, with more than 22 million Americans losing a total of $9.5 billion in robocall scams in 2016 alone.

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