FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 6, 2008
CONTACT: Matt Mackowiak
Sen. Hutchison Applauds Senate Passage of Improvements to Major Consumer Protection Law
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Texas’ senior senator, today applauded Senate passage of the Do-Not-Call (DNC) Improvement Act of 2007, which prevents the landmark consumer protection law from expiring this year and ensures that consumers’ phone numbers remain in the do-not-call registry. The measure was passed by unanimous consent.
“I am pleased that Congress has taken action to preserve and improve the important consumer protections established under the do-not-call registry,” said Sen. Hutchison. “Consumers who have requested that their information be unavailable to telemarketers can rest assured that their privacy will continue to be protected. With passage of this legislation, the accuracy of the registry will be maintained without imposing on consumers who are already a part of the database.”
The DNC Improvement Act of 2007 (H.R.3541) prevents phone numbers from being removed from the do-not-call registry unless requested by the consumer, or unless a phone number has been reassigned or disconnected. The bill requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to periodically check phone numbers in the database to make sure they are still valid. Under the measure, the FTC will also be responsible for keeping Congress up-to-date on their efforts to improve the accuracy of the registry.
The do-not-call registry was enacted under the DNC Implementation Act, which was singed into law on March 11, 2003 and protects consumers from unsolicited telemarketing. The original law included a five-year re-registration mechanism to ensure the accuracy of the database. The DNC Improvement Act of 2007 amends the original law to prevent the five-year expiration so consumers who have already registered will not have to do so again.
The FTC reports that the do-not-call registry now contains more than 145 million phone numbers.
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