[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 128 (Tuesday, September 9, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H7347-H7349]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 1815
ANTI-SPOOFING ACT OF 2014
Mr. BARTON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 3670) to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to expand and
clarify the prohibition on provision of inaccurate caller
identification information, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 3670
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 ``Anti-Spoofing Act of 2014''.
SEC. 2. EXPANDING AND CLARIFYING PROHIBITION ON INACCURATE
CALLER ID INFORMATION.
(a) Communications From Outside United States.--Section
227(e)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.
227(e)(1)) is amended by inserting ``or any person outside
the United States if the recipient is within the United
States,'' after ``United States,''.
(b) Text Messaging Service.--Section 227(e)(8) of the
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(e)(8)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``(including a text
message sent using a text messaging service)'' before the
period at the end;
(2) in the first sentence of subparagraph (B), by inserting
``(including a text message sent using a text messaging
service)'' before the period at the end; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(D) Text message.--The term `text message' means a real-
time or near real-time message consisting of text, images,
sounds, or other information that is transmitted from or
received by a device that is identified as the transmitting
or receiving device by means of a telephone number. Such
term--
``(i) includes a short message service (SMS) message, an
enhanced message service (EMS) message, and a multimedia
message service (MMS) message; and
``(ii) does not include a real-time, two-way voice or video
communication.
``(E) Text messaging service.--The term `text messaging
service' means a service that permits the transmission or
receipt of a text message, including a service provided as
part of or in connection with a telecommunications service or
an IP-enabled voice service.''.
(c) Coverage of Outgoing-Call-Only IP-Enabled Voice
Service.--Section 227(e)(8)(C) of the Communications Act of
1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(e)(8)(C)) is amended by striking ``has
the meaning'' and all that follows and inserting ``means the
provision of real-time voice communications offered to the
public, or such class of users as to be effectively available
to the public, transmitted using Internet protocol, or a
successor protocol, (whether part of a bundle of services or
separately) with interconnection capability such that the
service can originate traffic to, or terminate traffic from,
the public switched telephone network, or a successor
network.''.
(d) Regulations.--
(1) In general.--Section 227(e)(3)(A) of the Communications
Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(e)(3)(A)) is amended by striking
``Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of the
Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009, the Commission'' and
inserting ``The Commission''.
(2) Deadline.--The Federal Communications Commission shall
prescribe regulations to implement the amendments made by
this section not later than 18 months after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
(e) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall take effect on the date that is 6 months after the date
on which the Federal Communications Commission prescribes
regulations to implement the amendments made by this section.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Barton) and the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Matheson) each will
control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.
General Leave
Mr. BARTON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and
insert extraneous materials in the Record on the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Texas?
There was no objection.
Mr. BARTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Lance).
Mr. LANCE. Mr. Speaker, my thanks to Chairman Emeritus Barton for his
leadership on this issue.
Caller ID spoofing is growing at an alarming rate in this country.
This new technology allows criminals to falsify deliberately the
telephone number and the name relayed on caller ID information to make
it appear as though those criminals are calling from our bank or our
credit card company, or even from a governmental agency.
Imagine that. I get a telephone call on my cell telephone, and under
caller ID, I think it comes from my bank or my credit card company, or
even worse, I suppose, from a local governmental agency.
[[Page H7348]]
A recent case in New Jersey resulted in a resident's reportedly being
scammed out of more than $5,500 by a caller, a criminal, falsely
claiming to be a Federal tax agent attempting to collect back taxes.
What a frightening experience for the innocent receiver of that
telephone call. According to investigators, the victim's caller ID
showed the number of the local police department. This has got to stop.
Today's bipartisan legislation will strengthen and improve the Truth
in Caller ID law to help protect consumers in a greater way from
scammers, spammers, and unscrupulous telemarketers.
I commend Chairman Emeritus Barton, of Ennis, Texas, Republican, and
Congresswoman Grace Meng, Democrat, of Queens, New York, for their hard
work and leadership on this issue.
I want the American people to know that on the Energy and Commerce
Committee, where Chairman Barton and I serve, more bipartisan
legislation is passed out of that committee and reaches the floor of
the House, and then goes over to the United States Senate and is passed
in the United States Senate and goes to the President of the United
States for his signature, than legislation from any other committee of
Congress.
Now, much of what we do on the Energy and Commerce Committee does not
make the headlines because much of what we do is eminently bipartisan
in nature. And that is the history of the committee, the oldest
standing committee in the House of Representatives, having first been
established in 1795.
That is the tradition of bipartisanship, when the chairman, Mr.
Barton was the chairman of that committee. It continues under the
chairmanship of Mr. Upton of Michigan, and this includes the ranking
member, Mr. Waxman, and the ranking member of the subcommittee. On both
sides of the aisle we have a tradition on Energy and Commerce to make
sure that our legislation is bipartisan in nature.
I came to this issue as the result of the nefarious situation in New
Jersey. I also came to this issue at the request of Congresswoman Meng
of New York City, and I want to thank the Congresswoman for coming to
me.
I certainly believe that this legislation is in the interest of the
American people. I urge all of my colleagues to vote for this consumer
protection legislation.
Mr. MATHESON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may
consume.
I rise today in support of H.R. 3670, the Anti-Spoofing Act. This is
a bipartisan, pro-consumer bill that addresses the increasing problem
of scam artists faking caller ID information to defraud consumers.
These bad actors scramble or spoof caller identification information
for the purpose of impersonating legitimate individuals or institutions
such as law enforcement officials or a bank. They then use these
fraudulent identities to obtain sensitive personal information from
unsuspecting consumers.
Vulnerable populations such as seniors, veterans, and recent
immigrants have been especially targeted by these attacks.
The bill makes three important changes to strengthen existing law and
protect consumers. First, it broadens current law to address spoofing
in the context of international calls.
Second, it changes the definition of Internet Protocol-enabled voice
services to cover new forms of technology criminals have employed
making Internet-based calls.
Finally, the bill broadens the scope of the existing law to cover
text message spoofing.
These changes will make the 2009 enacted Truth in Caller ID Act a
more effective tool to combat caller ID spoofing and protect consumers.
Before reserving my time, I do want to commend Congresswoman Meng for
her work on this issue. I want to commend Mr. Lance, and I want to also
congratulate Congressman Barton for working together on this
commonsense bill.
Not only does the legislation enjoy bipartisan support in the House,
but the sponsors have also worked very closely with Federal agencies
and industry stakeholders and consumer groups to develop true consensus
around this proposed legislation. This is the way this institution
ought to work.
I urge my colleagues to join me and support H.R. 3670, and I reserve
the balance of my time.
Mr. BARTON. Mr. Speaker, I am the only other speaker left on my side,
and I reserve the right to close. So I would yield to the gentleman
from Utah or the gentlelady from New York if they wish to speak.
Mr. MATHESON. Mr. Speaker, I have one more speaker, and I yield as
much time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms.
Meng).
Ms. MENG. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3670, the Anti-Spoofing
Act, which I authored along with Congressman Barton and Congressman
Lance.
The bill addresses the problem of caller ID spoofing, which is the
scrambling of caller identification numbers. It is a tool often used to
defraud unwitting recipients of phone calls and text messages.
It is often stated that a measure of a society is how it treats its
most vulnerable. Almost every day, I receive new reports of caller ID
spoofing that harms the most vulnerable in our society. Immigrants,
seniors, veterans, and those in need of help from law enforcement are
all primary victims here. That is why this bill is endorsed by senior
citizen groups, law enforcement groups, and consumer protection groups.
Shortly after entering Congress, I pursued this issue because of
complaints from a local civic organization and seniors in my district.
But I quickly realized it is affecting Americans in all corners of our
country, in all of our districts.
I think the fact that this is plaguing so many of our communities is
a big reason why we have so much bipartisan support here for this bill.
H.R. 3670 is an update to the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009. That
legislation first criminalized malicious caller ID spoofing. But since
the passage of that law, scammers have used legal loopholes and new
technologies to circumvent it, thus, malicious caller ID spoofing is on
the rapid rise again.
So it is time to strengthen and tighten existing law and shut down
the routes by which it is being circumvented, and that is what our bill
does. H.R. 3670 sets forth three important changes to current law.
Number one, the bill broadens current law to prohibit caller ID
spoofing from foreigners. This is crucial because U.S.-based companies
now spoof calls to U.S. residents with intent to do harm, but originate
such calls from outside of the United States.
Number two, the bill broadens current law to include new Internet-
based Voice Over IP services that enable callers to make outgoing only
calls from computers and tablets to mobile and landline phones. This is
a technology that was undeveloped in 2009 when the Truth in Caller ID
Act was adopted and, therefore, unaccounted for in the law. But it has
now grown and has contributed significantly to the caller ID spoofing
problem.
Number three, finally, our bill broadens current law to include text
messaging.
In closing, I would like to thank Mr. Barton and Mr. Lance for
working with me to write this bill, Chairmen Upton and Walden and
Ranking Members Waxman and Eshoo for all their guidance and leadership,
the Communications and Technology Subcommittee members, most of whom
gave this bill great time and support, and all the other cosponsors.
I would also like to thank the committee and personal staffs for all
of their hard work.
I urge a ``yes'' vote for H.R. 3670.
Mr. MATHESON. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. BARTON. Mr. Speaker, the Congress is not spoofing when we say we
are going to do something about those individuals that do try to spoof
the American public.
As has been pointed out, we passed a law back in, actually, it was
the 2009 act, but we passed it in 2010, the Truth in Caller ID Act, to
mitigate the effects of caller spoofing.
As you well know, you look on your caller ID and you see that an
innocent or innocuous individual or company is calling you, as has been
pointed out. It could be the police department, could
[[Page H7349]]
be the Pizza Hut, could be almost anything, so you take the call and
that is not what it is. In many cases they are trying to defraud our
elderly in some scam or something like this. So we passed a law that we
thought would handle it. But it needs to be updated, and that is what
this bill does.
As has been pointed out, it makes it illegal to initiate these calls
from outside the United States. It makes it illegal to do it over the
Internet with a Voice Over Internet Protocol-based system. And it also
broadens the jurisdiction to include text messaging.
As we well know, Mr. Speaker, text messaging is ubiquitous now on our
Blackberrys and our iPads and iPhones and all of our personal
telecommunication devices.
This bill has bipartisan support. The subcommittee chairman, Mr.
Walden, is an original cosponsor. The subcommittee ranking member, Ms.
Eshoo of California, is a cosponsor. Chairman Emeritus on the
Democratic side John Dingell is a cosponsor. I am an original sponsor.
So this is one of these instances, Mr. Speaker, that Republicans and
Democrats are united. Chairman Upton, the full committee chairman, and
Mr. Waxman, the full committee ranking member, are totally supportive.
{time} 1830
There is every indication that, if this body passes this bill this
evening, it will go to the other body, the United States Senate, and we
fully expect it to pass it. This is one of those rare birds in this
Congress that might actually be signed by the President of the United
States.
There is no known opposition to the bill. Our stakeholders, as Mr.
Matheson has pointed out, support it. Google supports it. The FCC
supports it. AT&T, CTIA, Microsoft, USTelecom, Vonage, Verizon, and
AARP are just some of the more popularly known stakeholders that
support the bill.
So I rise in strong support, Mr. Speaker, that we unanimously pass
H.R. 3670, the Anti-Spoofing Act of 2013, and send it to the Senate for
its consideration.
With that, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, H.R. 3670, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________