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February 7th, 2008
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States Congress last night approved legislation to extend and improve the Do-Not-Call registry. The House of Representatives passed the Do-Not-Call Registry Fee Extension Act of 2007 (S.781) and the Senate passed the Do-Not-Call Improvement Act of 2007 (H.R. 3541). Both bills were previously approved by the Senate and House.
Senate Commerce Committee Vice Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and Senator Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) are both sponsors of S. 781 and the Senate companion bill to H.R. 3541, S. 2096. This will send both a Senate bill (S.781) and a House bill (H.R. 3541) to the President's desk, and remove the need for a bill conference. The combination of this legislation will allow the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to collect fees to maintain the registry and remove the need for consumers to re-register their names on the Do-Not-Call list.
“The passage of this legislation further protects American consumers by making the Do-Not-Call list the Never-Call list,” said Senator Stevens. “This registry has dramatically limited the number of unwanted calls to thousands of Alaskans and assisted the Federal Trade Commission in preventing telemarketing fraud and abuse.”
S.781 would specifically:
- extend the FTC’s authority to collect funds to maintain the Do-Not-Call registry while providing financial certainty to entities that utilize the registry by standardizing yearly fee increases for use of the registry’s list.
HR 3541 would specifically:
- remove the need for consumers currently on the list to have to re-register, and ask the FTC to report to Congress on its efforts to improve the accuracy of the Do-Not-Call list.
Audio of Senator Stevens discussing the Do-Not-Call legislation can be found here: www.commerce.senate.gov/misc/2008-02-07 - Do-Not-Call Registry.mp3