Introduced in Senate

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2666 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2666

    To direct the Federal Communications Commission to establish a
        taskforce on unlawful robocalls, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 1, 2025

  Mr. Budd (for himself and Mr. Welch) introduced the following bill;
    which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
                      Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

    To direct the Federal Communications Commission to establish a
        taskforce on unlawful robocalls, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Foreign Robocall Elimination Act''.

SEC. 2. INTERAGENCY TASKFORCE ON UNLAWFUL ROBOCALLS.

SEC. 2. INTERAGENCY TASKFORCE ON UNLAWFUL ROBOCALLS.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal
        Communications Commission.
            (2) Consortium.--The term ``Consortium'' means the
        consortium described in section 13(d) of the Pallone-Thune
        TRACED Act (Public Law 116-105).
            (3) Federal agency.--The term ``Federal agency'' has the
        meaning given the term ``agency'' in section 551 of title 5,
        United States Code.
            (4) Taskforce.--The term ``taskforce'' means the taskforce
        on unlawful robocalls established under subsection (b).
            (5) Unlawful robocall.--The term ``unlawful robocall''
        means a telephone call made in violation of subsection (b) or
        (e) of section 227 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.
        227).
    (b) Establishment.--Not later than 270 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Commission, after consultation with the
Federal Trade Commission and the Attorney General, shall establish a
taskforce on unlawful robocalls.
    (c) Membership.--
            (1) In general.--The taskforce shall be composed of the
        following members:
                    (A)(i) A representative of each Federal agency that
                the Chairman of the Commission, in consultation with
                the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission and the
                Attorney General, considers appropriate.
                    (ii) With respect to each Federal agency considered
                under clause (i) to be appropriate, the Chairman of the
                Commission shall appoint a representative of that
                Federal agency to the taskforce based on the
                recommendations of the head of that Federal agency.
                    (B) Seven representatives of private sector
                entities, to be appointed as described in paragraph
                (2)--
                            (i) 3 of whom shall be representatives from
                        private sector entities with expertise in
                        combating unlawful robocalls, including--
                                    (I) voice service providers;
                                    (II) analytics providers;
                                    (III) technologists; and
                                    (IV) technology experts;
                            (ii) 1 of whom shall be a representative
                        from the Consortium;
                            (iii) 1 of whom shall be a representative
                        of a marketing business that communicates with
                        consumers by telephone as part of the normal
                        course of business of that marketing business;
                            (iv) 1 of whom shall be a representative of
                        a business or nonprofit organization that
                        communicates with consumers by telephone for
                        non-marketing purposes on a regular basis; and
                            (v) 1 of whom shall be a representative of
                        an organization that advocates on behalf of
                        customers and who has relevant experience and
                        expertise in combating unlawful robocalls.
            (2) Appointment of representatives of private sector
        entities.--
                    (A) In general.--Notwithstanding any provision of
                chapter 10 of title 5, United States Code, the members
                of the taskforce described in paragraph (1)(B) shall be
                jointly appointed by the Chairman of the Commission,
                the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, and the
                Attorney General.
                    (B) Inability to reach agreement.--
                            (i) In general.--Subject to clauses (ii)
                        and (iii), if the Chairman of the Commission,
                        the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission,
                        and the Attorney General cannot reach agreement
                        regarding an appointment described in
                        subparagraph (A), as determined by the Chairman
                        of the Commission, the Chairman of the
                        Commission shall make that appointment.
                            (ii) Notice of appointments.--Not later
                        than 48 hours before appointing a member to the
                        taskforce under clause (i), the Chairman of the
                        Commission shall provide notice of the proposed
                        appointment to the commissioners of the
                        Commission.
                            (iii) Request for vote.--
                                    (I) In general.--Except as provided
                                in subclause (II), if, after receiving

notice under clause (ii) of a proposed
                                appointment under clause (i), not fewer
                                than 2 commissioners of the Commission
                                request that the proposed appointment
                                be subject to a vote of the Commission,
                                the Chairman of the Commission may not
                                make that appointment unless a majority
                                of the commissioners of the Commission
                                vote to approve the appointment.
                                    (II) Inapplicability.--Subclause
                                (I) shall have no force or effect
                                during any period in which there has
                                been a vacancy with respect to a
                                position as commissioner of the
                                Commission for more than 180 days.
    (d) Report.--
            (1) In general.--The taskforce shall prepare a report on
        unlawful robocalls, which shall contain recommendations and
        advice for Federal agencies with jurisdiction relevant to
        combating unlawful robocalls, and for Congress, regarding the
        most effective ways to combat unlawful robocalls made into the
        United States from outside the United States.
            (2) Matters to be studied.--In preparing the report
        required under paragraph (1), the taskforce shall--
                    (A) compare the estimated number of suspected
                unlawful robocalls made within the United States with
                the estimated number of unlawful robocalls made into
                the United States from outside the United States;
                    (B) determine which foreign countries serve as the
                foreign points of departure for the highest volume of
                unlawful robocalls made into the United States;
                    (C) determine the magnitude of financial loss and
                the number of instances of stolen identity that occur
                within the United States each year as a result of
                unlawful robocalls made from outside the United States;
                    (D) examine methods for encouraging the adoption of
                caller identification authentication technology in
                foreign countries;
                    (E) examine and provide information on options for
                how countries can collaborate on solutions to
                authenticate and verify international calls, including
                relevant analytics relating to unlawful robocalls and
                technical options that can be used with respect to that
                authentication and verification;
                    (F) examine how better implementation of technical
                solutions, such as traceback and caller identification
                authentication technology in foreign originating
                countries, would improve coordination between the
                United States and foreign countries in combating
                unlawful robocalls;
                    (G) determine whether--
                            (i) the technical standards commonly known
                        as ``STIR/SHAKEN'' adequately provide call
                        authentication for unlawful robocalls from
                        foreign originating providers or foreign
                        intermediate providers through gateway
                        providers in the United States; and
                            (ii) it would be desirable to encourage
                        other countries to adopt the standards
                        described in clause (i);
                    (H) determine if coordination with respect to
                technologies and incentives to combat unlawful
                robocalls placed from outside the United States into
                the United States can help inform strategies to combat
                potentially fraudulent, or otherwise unlawful, text
                messages sent from persons outside the United States to
                persons within the United States;
                    (I) examine ways to provide incentives to foreign
                countries to cooperate with law enforcement efforts in
                the United States to combat unlawful robocalls;
                    (J) examine whether any Federal agency, or any
                other organization, that combats unlawful robocalls
                needs additional resources in order to more effectively
                combat unlawful robocalls made into the United States
                from outside the United States;
                    (K) specifically consider whether the ability of
                the Attorney General to conduct enforcement activities

with respect to unlawful robocalls would be increased
                through the establishment of an office within the
                Department of Justice dedicated to those enforcement
                activities;
                    (L) examine how increased criminal penalties based
                on the volume of unlawful robocalls could help prevent
                unlawful robocalls made into the United States;
                    (M) examine how many enforcement activities the
                Attorney General has undertaken in the year preceding
                the date on which the preparation of the report begins,
                including in response to referrals made by the
                Commission;
                    (N) specifically determine how the Attorney General
                has pursued forfeiture amounts in enforcement
                activities with respect to unlawful robocalls;
                    (O) seek input, as appropriate, from technologists
                and private sector innovators to find solutions for
                combating unlawful robocalls; and
                    (P) identify a list of best practices regarding the
                identification and blocking of unlawful robocalls that
                telephone service providers and providers of technology
                solutions can voluntarily implement to improve the
                effectiveness of mitigating unlawful robocalls made
                into the United States from outside the United States.
            (3) Report to congress.--Not later than 360 days after the
        date on which the taskforce is established under subsection
        (b), the taskforce shall submit to Congress the report prepared
        under this subsection.
    (e) Use of Funds.--Notwithstanding section 1346 of title 31, United
States Code, funds made available by this or any other Act to the
Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, or the Department of Justice
may be used by the applicable Federal agency for coordination with,
participation in, or recommendations involving the taskforce, as
required under this section.
    (f) Termination.--The taskforce shall terminate on the date that is
90 days after the date on which the taskforce submits to Congress the
report prepared under subsection (d), as required under paragraph (3)
of that subsection.

SEC. 3. FCC NOTICE PROVISION.

SEC. 3. FCC NOTICE PROVISION.

Section 13(d)(2) of the Pallone-Thune TRACED Act (Public Law 116-

Section 13(d)(2) of the Pallone-Thune TRACED Act (Public Law 116-
105) is amended by striking ``annually'' and inserting ``once every 3
years''.
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