Pallone Calls for Protections for Consumers from Unwanted Robocalls (Video)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 22, 2016


WASHINGTON, DC — Today at a Subcommittee on Communications and Technology Hearing, Congressman Frank Pallone Jr., (NJ-06) questioned representatives of the robocall industry and experts on ways to protect consumers from the growing number of unwanted and potentially predatory robocalls. Pallone and several of his colleagues requested a joint subcommittee hearing on these issues earlier this month.

The hearing focused on updating and rewriting the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) of 1991 for the 21st Century. When Congress passed the law 25 years ago, only 7.5 million cellphones were in use in the U.S. and people still relied almost exclusively on their landlines. The number of nuisance calls is also on the rise. Last year, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) received 170,000 complaints of robocalls—in stark contrast to the 37,700 complaints of these types of calls in 2004.

Robocalls can violate consumers’ privacy and often lead to fraud, frequently targeting seniors, people of color, military personnel and financially vulnerable consumers. Congressman Pallone has said that it is time for Congress to explore whether there is more that can be done to protect consumers from these unwanted intrusions and examine whether the laws should be updated for the 21st century.

The text of Congressman Pallone’s opening statement can be found below and the video can be found here.

If you think you are getting more robocalls than ever—you’re probably right. Just this past month a record 2.6 billion robocalls flooded our cell phones, work phones, and home phones. These calls are more than just a nuisance. They can add up to harassment or even outright fraud.

When Congress first passed the Telephone Consumer Protection Act 25 years ago, we stated that consumers were already “outraged over the proliferation of intrusive, nuisance calls to their homes.” Back then, we sought to balance individuals’ privacy rights, public safety interests, and commercial freedoms of speech and trade. And for a time, the law worked.

Unfortunately, a little over a decade later, these nuisance calls were on the rise again, but this time the calls did not only cause a nuisance many of them sought to defraud consumers. According to the Federal Trade Commission, consumer complaints of unwanted telemarketing calls increased over one-thousand percent between 1998 and 2002. Congress stepped in once more to stop this dramatic surge in calls. We required the FTC to create a Do Not Call Registry, among other things—again, turning back the tide of unwanted calls.

Almost like clockwork, however, nuisance calls were rebounding again nearly a decade later. Robocallers were finding new ways to circumvent the systems. The law simply wasn’t keeping up.

The FCC tried to reduce these robocalls, but they keep coming. By 2012, the FCC was receiving an average of over 10,000 complaints per month from mobile phones alone. And that number has only continued to grow to the point where last year, the FCC received more than 170,000 robocall and telemarking complaints.

Last month, the FCC convened a new Robocall Strike Force, hoping to leverage the industry in the FCC’s ongoing effort. I commend the Commission for working so diligently to address this issue, but the fact that the FCC’s actions are not reducing the number of robocalls demonstrates that it is time for Congress to once again step in. I urge the Strike Force to continue to look for technical and regulatory solutions to this problem, but Congress has a role as well.

That’s why I joined ranking members Eshoo and Schakowsky last month in asking that the Committee hold a hearing on updating the TCPA. Our constituents are rightfully growing impatient with these calls, and they expect us to fix the problem. I appreciate that Chairman Walden agreed to our request for this hearing, and I also want to thank the phone carriers for offering to work with us to address this problem. It is not a moment too soon. We all need to work together to solve this problem.

We acted to protect consumers in 1991 and in 2003. Now, 13 years later, we should again put the FTC and FCC back on firm footing, so they can step up to protect consumers from these annoying and so often dangerous calls.

With that, I’d like to thank all of our witnesses for testifying today, and yield the balance of my time to Ms. Schakowsky.

Subject of Latest Robo-Call From Concerned Citizens Deals With AVAYA and COAH

Earlier today I received yet another robo-call from the group calling themselves Concerned Citizens of Middletown.

The content of this robo- call that was left on my answering machine ~1:30 pm, seems to be geared towards what is going on in Lincroft concerning the redevelopment of the AVAYA sight that will consist of 342 units of high density housing if built.

The timing of this latest robo-call seems to have been planned to correspond with the next Middletown Planning Board meeting scheduled for tomorrow night, where according to the agenda for the meeting, approval of the project may be finalized.

I'm sure that this call (the 5th) will be just as controversial as the others that have gone out in the past by the group Concerned Citizens of Middletown.

Tony Fiore and others associated with the Middletown GOP swear that Concerned Citizens of Middletown is nothing more than the a front name used by the Middletown Democrats to stir up trouble and controversy, which as far as I know, is not the case.

I am sure that one day soon the mystery of who is behind the group will be answered, but until then I'm going to sit back and enjoy the speculation. It's fun to see Fiore and the others squirm a bit and point fingers while trying to explain that the messages being left on answering machines all around town have no merit and shouldn't be paid attention to.

Below is the message that I recorded again off of my answering machine followed by a transcript of the call:

Have you heard? Because The Middletown Township Committee failed to fulfill it's COAH obligations, the Township had to solicit bids to develop housing projects throughout Middletown?

As a result the AVAYA site in Lincroft will become a multi-family housing project that will impact the residents of Lincroft and the Township.

The influx of new residents will have an adverse affect; roads will need to be widened, sewer and water lines will need to be installed and over crowding of local schools will take place, all at a cost to our quality of life.

Paid for by
Concerned Citizens of Middletown.

Tony Fiore Respondes to Latest Robo-Call

Over on his "new" blog provided by Middletown-Patch, Middletown's acting mayor Tony Fiore, has addressed the latest robo-call that was sent out by the group Concerned Citizens Of Middletown, that talked about the amount of debt the Township is carrying. If you ask me, Fiore's response just lends credence to the message that went out last Friday.

His answer is the same stock answer that has been given many times before but only this time he providers a true debt number of $72million that so many before him have been reluctant to confirm!

And how is it that Mr. Fiore is so sure who is responsible for these robo-calls when so many (myself included) do not? He blames the Middletown Democrats for placing them, which if that was the case, I think I would know about it. It seems to me that these robo-calls have struck a nerve and seem to be factual based by his response to them.

Also I believe, the point of how much debt the town can borrow itself into, is a silly one; who cares what a towns' or persons' credit card limit is when it is already difficult to meet the minimum payments on the balance!

Middletown hasn't had it debt rating updated in several years, It has been shown recently that credit rating agencies like Moody's and Standard & Poor aren't worth much. After the financial meltdown of the past few years, many of the investments that caused the near collapse of the economy were rated A, AA, or AAA from both of these institutions. Knowing that why would anyone want to tout how special they are? They're not.

On the final point about the blocking of a return phone number, I don't know what Fiore is talking about, unless he wants to incite others into believing that these messages have no integrity, which I'm sure is his intent, he is living up to him nick-name of the "Fibber". Every call that I have received by Concerned Citizens of Middletown, including Friday's, had a return number left on my caller-id.

True it wasn't a Middletown phone number or one from the immediate area (I think it was Dunellen), but there was in fact a phone number associated with the call.

On a side note - I don't know how Fiore's blog on Middletown-Patch works, but this posting was dated Tuesday May 24 at 12:58 PM, right in the middle of a busy work day. Doesn't Tony have a job that he needs to attend to at 1pm in the afternoon? True, he may have been on his lunch hour but I think not. Working on Township business (which this clearly is), on company time is a No-No as everyone knows.

I wonder what his employer would think????

New Robo Call From Concerned Citizens Of Middletown Received Over The Weekend

A new robo call was issued over the weekend by the group calling themselves Concerned Citizens of Middletown. I received the call Friday when I check my messages on the answering machine.

This latest call talks about whether or not you fell stressed because you can't make ends meet and have to live within a budget, something that the Middletown Township Committee has a hard time doing. The Township is currently $73 million in debt according to the message and will have to borrow more money to pay for tax appeals.

Listen to it and please comment, I am interested in seeing what readers think of this latest call that went out to residents. If you have a hard time hearing the audio (I tapped it off the answering machine), I transcribed the message below.



Hello, I am a middletown resident, stressed like you, and needing to cut my budget.

Have you heard the Township Committee cannot live within its budget?

They raise taxes, then borrow more money to cover poor planning.

Our debt level, currently at 73 million will have at least an additional 6 million to cover the tax appeals from the last re-evaluation.

Can your budget survive this kind of borrowing? Mine can't.

Paid for by Concerned Citizens of Middletown.

Call Center Workers Walk Out En Masse Over Anti-Obama Script

Some three dozen workers at a telemarketing call center in Indiana walked off the job rather than read an incendiary McCain campaign script attacking Barack Obama, according to two workers at the center and one of their parents.

Nina Williams, a stay-at-home mom in Lake County, Indiana, tells us that her daughter recently called her from her job at the center, upset that she had been asked to read a script attacking Obama for being "dangerously weak on crime," "coddling criminals," and for voting against "protecting children from danger."

Williams' daughter told her that up to 40 of her co-workers had refused to read the script, and had left the call center after supervisors told them that they would have to either read the call or leave, Williams says. The call center is called Americall, and it's located in Hobart, IN....