[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 95 (Wednesday, June 13, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1286-E1287]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRUTH IN CALLER ID ACT OF 2007

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                            HON. GENE GREEN

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 12, 2007

  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this 
legislation, and want to thank its sponsor, Mr. Engel, as well as 
Chairmen Dingell and Markey for working with me on an amendment that 
was added to the bill during the full committee mark-up.
  Caller ID is a great benefit to millions of Americans by giving them 
more control over their telephones and who and when they talk on the 
phone.
  Like many technological advances, caller ID is a benefit, but bad 
actors can take advantage of it and turn the technology against the 
people it is supposed to help.
  The amendment accepted during full committee clarifies that the 
standard in this bill--``intent to cause defraud or harm''--covers 
dirty political tricks that use caller ID spoofing.
  Using fake caller ID info to commit identity theft or stalk or harass 
someone is wrong and should be prohibited.
  Using fake caller ID to falsely pretend to be calling from the 
Democratic Party or the Republican Party or any candidate for office is 
also wrong and should be prohibited.
  We are not limiting anyone's speech, but we are saying that if you 
choose to contact thousands of people by phone through robocalls, 
Americans deserve accurate information on where you are calling from.
  We are focusing on pre-recorded robocalls because there is no other 
way besides caller ID to know where they came from since there is no 
real person on the other end.
  Current law requires commercial telemarketers to transmit accurate 
caller ID, but there is a loophole for non-commercial calls.
  We are closing this loophole for non-commercial robocalls which 
includes political robocalls.

[[Page E1287]]

  If you are going to send out thousands of robocalls, there is no 
justification for using false caller ID, regardless of whether you meet 
the underlying standard in this bill.
  Again, I thank the bill's sponsor for working with me to solidify 
this through my amendment in committee, and I urge my colleagues to 
join me in supporting this bill.

                          ____________________