[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 190 (Tuesday, December 15, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H14896-H14897]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           PHONE ACT OF 2009

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 1110) to amend title 18, United States Code, to prevent 
caller ID spoofing, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1110

       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 ``Preventing Harassment 
     through Outbound Number Enforcement Act of 2009'' or the 
     ``PHONE Act of 2009''.

     SEC. 2. CALLER ID SPOOFING.

       (a) In General.--Chapter 47 of title 18, United States 
     Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

     ``Sec. 1041. Caller ID spoofing

       ``(a) Offense.--Whoever, in or affecting interstate or 
     foreign commerce, knowingly uses or provides to another--
       ``(1) false caller ID information with intent wrongfully to 
     obtain anything of value; or
       ``(2) caller ID information pertaining to an actual person 
     or other entity without that person's or entity's consent and 
     with intent to deceive any person or other entity about the 
     identity of the caller;

     shall be punished as provided in subsection (b).
       ``(b) Punishment.--Whoever violates subsection (a) shall--
       ``(1) if the offense is a violation of subsection (a)(1), 
     be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 5 
     years, or both; and
       ``(2) if the offense is a violation of subsection (a)(2), 
     be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one 
     year, or both.
       ``(c) Law Enforcement Exception.--This section does not 
     prohibit lawfully authorized investigative, protective, or 
     intelligence activity of a law enforcement agency of the 
     United States, a State, or a political subdivision of a 
     State, or of an intelligence agency of the United States, or 
     any activity authorized under chapter 224 of this title.
       ``(d) Forfeiture.--
       ``(1) In general.--The court, in imposing sentence on a 
     person who is convicted of an offense under this section, 
     shall order that the defendant forfeit to the United States--
       ``(A) any property, real or personal, constituting or 
     traceable to gross proceeds obtained from such offense; and
       ``(B) any equipment, software or other technology used or 
     intended to be used to commit or to facilitate the commission 
     of such offense.
       ``(2) Procedures.--The procedures set forth in section 413 
     of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 853), other than 
     subsection (d) of that section, and in Rule 32.2 of the 
     Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, shall apply to all 
     stages of a criminal forfeiture proceeding under this 
     section.
       ``(e) Definitions.--In this section--
       ``(1) the term `caller ID information' means any 
     identifying information regarding the origination of a 
     telephone call, including the name or the telephone number of 
     the caller, that is transmitted with the telephone call;
       ``(2) the term `telephone call' means a call made or 
     received using any real time voice communications service, 
     regardless of the technology or network used; and
       ``(3) the term `State' includes a State of the United 
     States, the District of Columbia, and any commonwealth, 
     territory, or possession of the United States.''.
       (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the 
     beginning of chapter 47 of title 18, United States Code, is 
     amended by adding at the end the following new item:

``1041. Caller ID spoofing.''.

     SEC. 3. OTHER SPECIFIED UNLAWFUL ACTIVITIES FOR MONEY 
                   LAUNDERING.

       Section 1956(c)(7)(D) of title 18, United States Code, is 
     amended by inserting ``section 1037 (relating to fraud and 
     related activity in connection with electronic mail), section 
     1041 (relating to caller ID spoofing),'' before ``section 
     1111''.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Conyers) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Smith) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Michigan.


                             General Leave

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Michigan?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker and Members, this measure is aimed at the deceptive 
telephoning practice called ``spoofing,'' where a fake caller ID is 
used to hide one's true identity. Sometimes it can mean simply using 
the caller ID of another person or business without permission, but 
sometimes the purpose is to commit fraud or identity theft. Call 
recipients are sometimes tricked into divulging private, personal 
information to the spoofer. For example, the AARP has reported cases in 
which people received calls falsely telling them that they missed jury 
duty and they were told to avoid prosecution they needed to provide 
their Social Security number. The phone number that appeared on their 
caller ID was from the local courthouse, so people assumed that the 
call was made truthfully.
  Recently, the technology needed to spoof has become readily available 
through the purchase of Internet telephone equipment, or through Web 
sites specifically set up for that purpose.
  The measure before us today prevents this activity on two levels, 
with penalties that fit the seriousness of the offense. For providing 
the caller ID information of another person without consent with the 
intent to deceive, the penalties are fines and up to 1 year in prison; 
for providing false caller ID information with the intent to wrongfully 
obtain something of value, the penalties are fines and up to 5 years 
imprisonment. In addition, the bill provides for forfeiture of 
equipment used and proceeds gained by those involved in this activity.
  Because it can be used for legitimate law enforcement and 
intelligence purposes, the bill allows spoofing for lawfully authorized 
activities of law enforcement. It also does not prohibit the simple use 
of a fake number to hide the caller's number. Many businesses have 
opted to use this feature to protect against abusive call-backs. As a 
matter of fact, the House uses this feature on calls to outside lines. 
This non-malicious practice is not intended to be reached by the 
legislation before us.
  Finally, I note that the bill was developed in previous Congresses on 
a bipartisan basis, and I commend my ranking member and the entire 
Judiciary Committee for the work that has gone into this measure. I 
urge its support, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1110, the Preventing Harassment Through Outbound 
Number Enforcement Act, or PHONE Act, addresses caller ID spoofing.
  Spoofing is a ploy for obtaining a victim's personal and financial 
information to commit identity theft and other similar fraud. It 
involves masking caller ID information to make a fraudulent telephone 
call to a recipient. Those who engage in spoofing use incorrect, fake 
or fraudulent caller identification to hide their identity and then 
obtain personal information from the victim. Call recipients 
unwittingly divulge their names, addresses or Social Security numbers 
under the mistaken belief that the caller represents a bank, a credit 
card company or even a court of law. All too often, a person does not 
know that their identity has been stolen until it's too late and the 
damage has been done. This legislation will help law enforcement 
officials stop identity thieves by cutting off their means of obtaining 
personal information.
  Spoofing not only victimizes the phone call recipient but also 
invades the privacy of those individuals whose

[[Page H14897]]

caller ID is used to mask the fraudulent calls. To address this, the 
PHONE Act specifically prohibits the use of an actual person's caller 
ID information for spoofing.
  Although the technology needed to spoof has been available for some 
time, it previously required specialized equipment. Now an identity 
thief can simply purchase Internet telephone equipment or use a Web 
site specifically set up for spoofing.
  The PHONE Act imposes penalties for modifying a caller ID with the 
intent to deceive the recipient of a telephone call as to the identity 
of the caller. This legislation will help deter telephone fraud, 
protect consumers from harassment, and protect consumers and their 
personally identifiable information from identity thieves. Similar 
legislation passed the House with bipartisan support in the last two 
Congresses. I urge my colleagues to join all of us in supporting this 
bill.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 
1110, the Preventing Harassment through Outbound Number Enforcement, 
``PHONE,'' Act of 2009. I strongly support this important piece of 
legislation that aims to protect Americans from spoofing.
  Spoofing involves the use of a false caller ID to hide the caller's 
true identity in order to commit fraud or some other abusive act. The 
PHONE Act of 2009 targets spoofing by prohibiting the use of caller ID 
information to hide the caller's true identity in order to wrongfully 
obtain anything of value or to commit other abusive acts. In recent 
years, spoofing technology has become readily available through 
Internet telephone equipment and Web sites specifically set up to 
spoof. Because call recipients are under the impression that the 
telephone call is legitimate, they sometimes divulge personal and 
private information to the spoofer. Identity thieves have used spoofing 
to mislead call recipients into revealing personal financial 
information to commit identity theft, fraudulently authorize stolen 
credit cards, and to arrange for fraudulent money transfers.
  According to the Federal Trade Commission's 2008 Identity Theft 
Consumer Complaint Data, Georgia ranked 7, out of the 50 States, for 
identity theft complaints. Last year, Georgians made 10,748 identity 
theft complaints. The Federal Trade Commission calculated that 111 
complaints were made for every 100,000 Georgia residents.
  I join the Chairman in urging my colleagues to support this bill. 
This legislation can protect constituents in my district from identity 
thieves who use spoofing as their vice.
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 1110, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a 
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not 
present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

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