[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 130 (Thursday, September 11, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1389]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    H.R. 3670, ANTI-SPOOFING ACT OF 2013 AND H.R. 5161, E-LABEL ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. ANNA G. ESHOO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 11, 2014

  Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 3670, 
the Anti-Spoofing Act and H.R. 5161, the E-LABEL Act.
   H.R. 3670 updates the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009 to combat 
against fraudulent phone calls and text messages received by millions 
of Americans, including seniors, veterans and the disabled. According 
to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), ``caller ID spoofing'' 
is defined as the deliberate falsification of caller ID information, 
including a telephone number and/or name for the purpose of disguising 
the identity of the calling party.
   Just last month, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department reported 
a series of spoofing incidents in which San Diegans received calls 
purported to be from the Sheriff's office, indicating a warrant for 
their arrest. With similar reports of fraudulent behavior around the 
country, this bipartisan, pro-consumer bill will better protect 
Americans from becoming victims of scammers. I commend Representative 
Meng for her leadership and I urge the House to pass this commonsense 
bill.
   I also urge House colleagues to support H.R. 5161, a bipartisan bill 
which I introduced with Representatives Latta, Welch and Blackburn in 
July. Following on the E-Labeling guidance issued by the FCC this 
summer, H.R. 5161 would promote electronic labeling for FCC certified 
devices such as phones, computers, smart watches and other consumer 
electronics products.
   As the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) 
described in a July op-ed, ``etching 17 characters into a phone might 
not seem like a Herculean feat, but as wireless devices have 
proliferated and shrunk in size, many manufacturers have been forced to 
buy increasingly expensive equipment and invest more design time into 
placing the label.'' Electronic labeling thus provides manufacturers 
with a more practical solution to existing FCC labeling requirements 
and does so while lowering device costs.
   I urge my colleagues to join me in voting for H.R. 3670 and H.R. 
5161.

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