[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3134 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3134

 To warn senior citizens of the dangers of telemarketing fraud and to 
 provide them with information that will help them protect themselves.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 28, 1998

Mr. Weygand (for himself, Mr. Wexler, Mr. Kennedy of Rhode Island, Mrs. 
 Maloney of New York, Mr. Filner, Mr. LaFalce, Ms. Millender-McDonald, 
and Mr. Shays) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To warn senior citizens of the dangers of telemarketing fraud and to 
 provide them with information that will help them protect themselves.

    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 ``Protection Against Scams on Seniors 
Act of 1998''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) telemarketing fraud costs consumers nearly 
        $40,000,000,000 each year;
            (2) nearly 10 percent of the 140,000 telemarketing firms in 
        the United States engage in fraud;
            (3) senior citizens are often the target of telemarketing 
        fraud;
            (4) fraudulent telemarketers compile into ``mooch lists'' 
        the names of potentially vulnerable consumers;
            (5) according to the American Association of Retired 
        Persons, 56 percent of the names on ``mooch lists'' are 
        individuals age 50 or older;
            (6) the Department of Justice has undertaken successful 
        investigations and prosecutions of telemarketing fraud through 
        various operations, including ``Operation Disconnect'', 
        ``Operation Senior Sentinel'', and ``Operation Upload'';
            (7) the Federal Bureau of Investigation has helped provide 
        resources to assist organizations such as the American 
        Association of Retired Persons to operate outreach programs 
        designed to warn senior citizens whose names appear on 
        confiscated ``mooch lists'';
            (8) the Administration on Aging was formed, in part, to 
        provide senior citizens with the resources, information, and 
        assistance their special circumstances require;
            (9) the Administration on Aging has a system in place to 
        effectively inform senior citizens of the dangers of 
        telemarketing fraud; and
            (10) senior citizens need to be warned of the dangers of 
        telemarketing fraud before they become victims.

SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

    It is the purpose of this Act through education and outreach to 
protect senior citizens from the dangers of telemarketing fraud and to 
facilitate the investigation and prosecution of fraudulent 
telemarketers.

SEC. 4. DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting 
through the Assistant Secretary for Aging, shall publicly disseminate 
in each State information designed to educate senior citizens and raise 
awareness about the dangers of telemarketing fraud.
    (b) Information.--In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary 
shall--
            (1) inform senior citizens of the prevalence of 
        telemarketing fraud targeted against them;
            (2) inform senior citizens of how telemarketing fraud 
        works;
            (3) inform senior citizens of how to identify telemarketing 
        fraud;
            (4) inform senior citizens of how to protect themselves 
        against telemarketing fraud, including an explanation of the 
        dangers of providing bank account, credit card, or other 
        financial or personal information over the telephone to 
        unsolicited callers;
            (5) inform senior citizens of how to report suspected 
        attempts at telemarketing fraud;
            (6) inform senior citizens of their consumer protection 
        rights under Federal law; and
            (7) provide such other information as the Secretary 
        considers necessary to protect senior citizens against 
        fraudulent telemarketing.
    (c) Means of Dissemination.--The Secretary shall determine the 
means to disseminate information under this section. In making such 
determination, the Secretary shall consider--
            (1) public service announcements;
            (2) a printed manual or pamphlet;
            (3) an Internet website; and
            (4) telephone outreach to individuals whose names appear on 
        ``mooch lists'' confiscated from fraudulent telemarketers.
    (d) Priority.--In disseminating information under this section, the 
Secretary shall give priority to areas with high concentrations of 
senior citizens.

SEC. 5. AUTHORITY TO ACCEPT GIFTS.

    The Secretary may accept, use, and dispose of unconditional gifts, 
bequests, or devises of services or property, both real and personal, 
in order to carry out this Act.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 for fiscal year 
1998 and such sums as may be necessary for succeeding fiscal years.

SEC. 7. DEFINITION.

    For purposes of this Act, the term ``State'' includes the District 
of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, 
American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
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