[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2666 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2666
To direct the Federal Communications Commission to establish a
taskforce on unlawful robocalls, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
August 1, 2025
Mr. Budd (for himself and Mr. Welch) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Federal Communications Commission to establish a
taskforce on unlawful robocalls, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Foreign Robocall Elimination Act''.
SEC. 2. INTERAGENCY TASKFORCE ON UNLAWFUL ROBOCALLS.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal
Communications Commission.
(2) Consortium.--The term ``Consortium'' means the
consortium described in section 13(d) of the Pallone-Thune
TRACED Act (Public Law 116-105).
(3) Federal agency.--The term ``Federal agency'' has the
meaning given the term ``agency'' in section 551 of title 5,
United States Code.
(4) Taskforce.--The term ``taskforce'' means the taskforce
on unlawful robocalls established under subsection (b).
(5) Unlawful robocall.--The term ``unlawful robocall''
means a telephone call made in violation of subsection (b) or
(e) of section 227 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.
227).
(b) Establishment.--Not later than 270 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Commission, after consultation with the
Federal Trade Commission and the Attorney General, shall establish a
taskforce on unlawful robocalls.
(c) Membership.--
(1) In general.--The taskforce shall be composed of the
following members:
(A)(i) A representative of each Federal agency that
the Chairman of the Commission, in consultation with
the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission and the
Attorney General, considers appropriate.
(ii) With respect to each Federal agency considered
under clause (i) to be appropriate, the Chairman of the
Commission shall appoint a representative of that
Federal agency to the taskforce based on the
recommendations of the head of that Federal agency.
(B) Seven representatives of private sector
entities, to be appointed as described in paragraph
(2)--
(i) 3 of whom shall be representatives from
private sector entities with expertise in
combating unlawful robocalls, including--
(I) voice service providers;
(II) analytics providers;
(III) technologists; and
(IV) technology experts;
(ii) 1 of whom shall be a representative
from the Consortium;
(iii) 1 of whom shall be a representative
of a marketing business that communicates with
consumers by telephone as part of the normal
course of business of that marketing business;
(iv) 1 of whom shall be a representative of
a business or nonprofit organization that
communicates with consumers by telephone for
non-marketing purposes on a regular basis; and
(v) 1 of whom shall be a representative of
an organization that advocates on behalf of
customers and who has relevant experience and
expertise in combating unlawful robocalls.
(2) Appointment of representatives of private sector
entities.--
(A) In general.--Notwithstanding any provision of
chapter 10 of title 5, United States Code, the members
of the taskforce described in paragraph (1)(B) shall be
jointly appointed by the Chairman of the Commission,
the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, and the
Attorney General.
(B) Inability to reach agreement.--
(i) In general.--Subject to clauses (ii)
and (iii), if the Chairman of the Commission,
the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission,
and the Attorney General cannot reach agreement
regarding an appointment described in
subparagraph (A), as determined by the Chairman
of the Commission, the Chairman of the
Commission shall make that appointment.
(ii) Notice of appointments.--Not later
than 48 hours before appointing a member to the
taskforce under clause (i), the Chairman of the
Commission shall provide notice of the proposed
appointment to the commissioners of the
Commission.
(iii) Request for vote.--
(I) In general.--Except as provided
in subclause (II), if, after receiving
notice under clause (ii) of a proposed
appointment under clause (i), not fewer
than 2 commissioners of the Commission
request that the proposed appointment
be subject to a vote of the Commission,
the Chairman of the Commission may not
make that appointment unless a majority
of the commissioners of the Commission
vote to approve the appointment.
(II) Inapplicability.--Subclause
(I) shall have no force or effect
during any period in which there has
been a vacancy with respect to a
position as commissioner of the
Commission for more than 180 days.
(d) Report.--
(1) In general.--The taskforce shall prepare a report on
unlawful robocalls, which shall contain recommendations and
advice for Federal agencies with jurisdiction relevant to
combating unlawful robocalls, and for Congress, regarding the
most effective ways to combat unlawful robocalls made into the
United States from outside the United States.
(2) Matters to be studied.--In preparing the report
required under paragraph (1), the taskforce shall--
(A) compare the estimated number of suspected
unlawful robocalls made within the United States with
the estimated number of unlawful robocalls made into
the United States from outside the United States;
(B) determine which foreign countries serve as the
foreign points of departure for the highest volume of
unlawful robocalls made into the United States;
(C) determine the magnitude of financial loss and
the number of instances of stolen identity that occur
within the United States each year as a result of
unlawful robocalls made from outside the United States;
(D) examine methods for encouraging the adoption of
caller identification authentication technology in
foreign countries;
(E) examine and provide information on options for
how countries can collaborate on solutions to
authenticate and verify international calls, including
relevant analytics relating to unlawful robocalls and
technical options that can be used with respect to that
authentication and verification;
(F) examine how better implementation of technical
solutions, such as traceback and caller identification
authentication technology in foreign originating
countries, would improve coordination between the
United States and foreign countries in combating
unlawful robocalls;
(G) determine whether--
(i) the technical standards commonly known
as ``STIR/SHAKEN'' adequately provide call
authentication for unlawful robocalls from
foreign originating providers or foreign
intermediate providers through gateway
providers in the United States; and
(ii) it would be desirable to encourage
other countries to adopt the standards
described in clause (i);
(H) determine if coordination with respect to
technologies and incentives to combat unlawful
robocalls placed from outside the United States into
the United States can help inform strategies to combat
potentially fraudulent, or otherwise unlawful, text
messages sent from persons outside the United States to
persons within the United States;
(I) examine ways to provide incentives to foreign
countries to cooperate with law enforcement efforts in
the United States to combat unlawful robocalls;
(J) examine whether any Federal agency, or any
other organization, that combats unlawful robocalls
needs additional resources in order to more effectively
combat unlawful robocalls made into the United States
from outside the United States;
(K) specifically consider whether the ability of
the Attorney General to conduct enforcement activities
with respect to unlawful robocalls would be increased
through the establishment of an office within the
Department of Justice dedicated to those enforcement
activities;
(L) examine how increased criminal penalties based
on the volume of unlawful robocalls could help prevent
unlawful robocalls made into the United States;
(M) examine how many enforcement activities the
Attorney General has undertaken in the year preceding
the date on which the preparation of the report begins,
including in response to referrals made by the
Commission;
(N) specifically determine how the Attorney General
has pursued forfeiture amounts in enforcement
activities with respect to unlawful robocalls;
(O) seek input, as appropriate, from technologists
and private sector innovators to find solutions for
combating unlawful robocalls; and
(P) identify a list of best practices regarding the
identification and blocking of unlawful robocalls that
telephone service providers and providers of technology
solutions can voluntarily implement to improve the
effectiveness of mitigating unlawful robocalls made
into the United States from outside the United States.
(3) Report to congress.--Not later than 360 days after the
date on which the taskforce is established under subsection
(b), the taskforce shall submit to Congress the report prepared
under this subsection.
(e) Use of Funds.--Notwithstanding section 1346 of title 31, United
States Code, funds made available by this or any other Act to the
Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, or the Department of Justice
may be used by the applicable Federal agency for coordination with,
participation in, or recommendations involving the taskforce, as
required under this section.
(f) Termination.--The taskforce shall terminate on the date that is
90 days after the date on which the taskforce submits to Congress the
report prepared under subsection (d), as required under paragraph (3)
of that subsection.
SEC. 3. FCC NOTICE PROVISION.
Section 13(d)(2) of the Pallone-Thune TRACED Act (Public Law 116-
105) is amended by striking ``annually'' and inserting ``once every 3
years''.
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