[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 132 (Wednesday, September 24, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11900-S11901]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   RATIFYING THE DO-NOT-CALL REGISTRY

  Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, I rise today to support legislation that 
would clearly allow the Federal Trade Commission to move forward with 
its national do-not-call registry. I have submitted an amendment to 
that effect, amendment No. 1786 to the DC appropriations bill, as well 
as cosponsored S. 1652, a bill to ratify the do-not-call registry 
provision of the telemarketing sales rule. As we have heard today, the 
U.S. District Court in Oklahoma issued a decision that the Federal 
Trade Commission lacked the authority to develop its national do-not-
call list. The court ruled that, although Congress appropriated the 
funds to the FTC in order to have the program, it did not actually have 
the language necessary to authorize the establishment of the program 
and the implementation of the program.
  Today, I rise in support of my proposal that would basically give the 
Federal Trade Commission the clear authority and the statutory 
responsibility to establish a national do-not-call program. In 
addition, it affirms the finding that the Federal Trade Commission was 
authorized in the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention 
Act to implement and enforce the national do-not-call registry.
  Last, it specifically ratifies the do-not-call registry provision of 
the FTC's telemarketing sales rule.
  Before I was elected to this august body, I had the great privilege 
of being the attorney general of my State. I remember back in 1998 when 
I ran for attorney general of Arkansas, everywhere I would go, every 
little town I would go into, and every time I would talk to a group, 
whether it was veterans or whoever it happened to be, senior citizens 
or townspeople at large, they would tell me: Please, please, if you can 
do anything about telemarketers calling us at home and bothering us and 
trying to sell us something over the telephone, do it.

  I was proud to do that. When I was elected to the office and began 
serving in January of 1999, the first thing I did was pull the staff 
together at the attorney general's office and write the State's do-not-
call program. It was very different from the one the Federal Trade 
Commission came up with but both are equally good. They both get to the 
problem and I think can be very effective fighting against unwanted 
telephone calls.
  Listen, we have all been there. We have all received those calls. We 
have all been eating dinner, trying to put our children down, trying to 
do homework, or watching our favorite TV show, whatever the situation 
might be, when we have been subjected to these unwanted calls. For most 
people it is an inconvenience. They don't like to be bothered. They 
want us to find a way to respect the integrity of the privacy of their 
own homes. After all, they are paying the phone bill; they are paying 
for the service. They should be able to have some control on the amount 
of calls coming in and to put a stop to these unwanted calls. Some of 
the phone companies actually offer a service that blocks calls from 
people who block their caller ID. That is another subject. That can be 
fairly expensive for some consumers. It's not always expensive.
  The Federal Trade Commission came up with an idea to do this 
nationwide, to do it free, and to do it by use of toll-free numbers and 
Web sites allowing people to sign on. In fact, I signed on in the first 
week because one thing I noticed in Virginia is they do not have do-
not-call laws, as far as I can tell, and we get bombarded in our home 
in Virginia. Unlike in Arkansas where we signed up for the AG's list 
and we may get one or two telemarketing calls a month, in Virginia we 
get 3 or 4 a day, and it seems they always try to call at an 
inopportune time.

[[Page S11901]]

  One thing I noticed, one fact that apparently is true, as I 
understand it, the Federal Trade Commission now has 50 million phone 
numbers that have been registered under the Federal do-not-call 
program. Fifty million Americans can't be wrong. They want relief. They 
want us, as their lawmakers, as their elected Representatives here in 
Washington, to do something to stop these calls.
  The Federal Trade Commission, to its credit, and I appreciate them 
greatly for doing this, tried to come to their aid, come to their 
assistance, to make a national do-not-call registry a reality.
  I think this is something the Nation is ready for. Fifty million 
people have already tried to sign up in the first few weeks after the 
announcement of the national do-not-call program. It is something we as 
Members of this body and as Members of the Congress, of the Federal 
Government, should try to do to ensure that the people of this country, 
if they want it, on a voluntary basis, can have some relief from 
unwanted telemarketing calls.
  Congress mandated that this list be implemented on a national scale, 
and the President signed it into law. The legislation I am proposing 
now clarifies our intentions, and I certainly ask my colleagues to 
support the legislation in any way they can. I hope we will have a vote 
on this matter in very quick order.
  With that, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________