(WAFB) - Congressman Garret Graves is teaming up with lawmakers from Florida, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina to form a task force dedicated to spam phone calls.
Graves, along with Rep. Charlie Crist (D-FL), Matt Cartwright (D-PA), and Walter Jones (R-NC), is introducing the bipartisan Spam Calls Task Force Act. The bill would force a "focused, interagency effort to find a solution to this growing problem."
"The recent explosion of spam calls is completely out of hand, and it needs to stop," said Graves. "Wasting people's time and disrupting their lives isn't marketing, it's an invasion of privacy."
The act calls for the attorney general to work with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to form a group tasked with working with other federal and state agencies to address the following issues surrounding spam calls:
- Determine if any federal laws, regulations, or policies inhibit the enforcement of section of the Telephone Consumer Protections Act that prohibits spam/scam calls
- Identify existing and potential policies and programs that encourage and improve coordination among departments, agencies, and states
- Identify existing and potential international policies and programs
- Consider if additional resources would be helpful
- Consider if formal agreements between states and the federal government and/or foreign governments would be helpful
- Consider if increased criminal penalties or fines would serve as an increased deterrent
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