[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3264 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3264

     To direct the Federal Communications Commission to initiate a 
proceeding to protect called parties from one-ring scams, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 13, 2019

   Ms. Clarke of New York (for herself, Mr. Van Drew, Mr. Rouda, Mr. 
Bilirakis, Ms. Foxx of North Carolina, and Mr. Walberg) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                                Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To direct the Federal Communications Commission to initiate a 
proceeding to protect called parties from one-ring scams, 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 ``Ending One-Ring Scams Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. PROTECTION FROM ONE-RING SCAMS.

    (a) Initiation of Proceeding.--Not later than 120 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall initiate a 
proceeding to protect called parties from one-ring scams.
    (b) Matters To Be Considered.--As part of the proceeding required 
by subsection (a), the Commission shall consider how the Commission 
can--
            (1) work with Federal and State law enforcement agencies to 
        address one-ring scams;
            (2) work with the governments of foreign countries to 
        address one-ring scams;
            (3) in consultation with the Federal Trade Commission, 
        better educate consumers about how to avoid one-ring scams;
            (4) incentivize voice service providers to stop calls made 
        to perpetrate one-ring scams from being received by called 
        parties, including consideration of adding identified one-ring 
        scam type numbers to the Commission's existing list of 
        permissible categories for carrier-initiated blocking;
            (5) work with entities that provide call-blocking services 
        to address one-ring scams; and
            (6) establish obligations on international gateway 
        providers that are the first point of entry for these calls 
        into the United States, including potential requirements that 
        such providers verify with the foreign originator the nature or 
        purpose of calls before initiating service.
    (c) Report to Congress.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall publish on its website 
and submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation of the Senate a report on the status of the proceeding 
required by subsection (a).
    (d) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal 
        Communications Commission.
            (2) One-ring scam.--The term ``one-ring scam'' means a scam 
        in which a caller makes a call and allows the call to ring the 
        called party for a short duration, in order to prompt the 
        called party to return the call, thereby subjecting the called 
        party to charges.
            (3) State.--The term ``State'' has the meaning given such 
        term in section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 
        153).
            (4) Voice service.--The term ``voice service'' has the 
        meaning given such term in section 227(e)(8) of the 
        Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(e)(8)). This 
        paragraph shall apply before the effective date of the 
        amendment made to such section by subparagraph (C) of section 
        503(a)(2) of division P of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 
        2018 (Public Law 115-141) as if such amendment was already in 
        effect.
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