Hill Robocall Bills' Leaders See Strong Prospects for Conference OK
Leaders on anti-robocall legislation say they're confident they can get a conference agreement over the August recess to marry elements of the House-passed Stopping Bad Robocalls Act (HR-3375) and the Senate-passed Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (Traced) Act (S-151). The House passed HR-3375 last week 429-3 (see 1907240063). House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Bob Latta, R-Ohio, was among those voicing optimism about the prospect for conference legislation, during an interview on C-SPAN's The Communicators to have been televised Saturday.
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Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman and lead S-151 sponsor John Thune, R-S.D., told us he believes a “fairly straightforward conference” is now possible to reach a compromise. Thune became more confident about the chances for consensus after the House Commerce Committee advanced a revised version of HR-3375 that got closer to S-151's text (see 1907170076). The Senate passed S-151 97-1 in May (see 1905230048).
House Communications Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., told reporters before House passage of HR-3375 that strong bipartisan support “will hopefully put some pressure on” the Senate to advance the House bill “or sit down with us and see what we can” do to reach a compromise. “It's not like the bills are terribly different, so I think something can be worked out,” he said. HR-3375 is “very popular with the public, it's a bipartisan bill, so there's not that concern” to stand in the way of a deal.
The two House Republicans who voted no opposed it because of expansion of FCC power. “We can all agree that unwanted robocalls are a scourge,” but Congress shouldn't “cede additional regulatory authority to unelected bureaucrats at the FCC to fix this problem,” said the office of Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona. “Congress should bring all stakeholders together, find the best solutions possible” and pass a law “to codify real solutions that will ensure robocalls are used legally and when used illegally, consumers will have full recourse to protect themselves.”
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., voted nay because it “delegates too much decisionmaking authority to the FCC” and it “imposes potentially costly mandates on phone companies,” his office said. “Ultimately, it is not clear that anything prescribed in the bill will actually solve the robocall problem or improve current law.” Rep. Justin Amash, I-Mich., was the third dissenter.
House Commerce Chairman and lead HR-3375 sponsor Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said during a Friday Facebook webcast he's hopeful that conferees can agree, “get it passed in the Senate” and House after the August recess so President Donald Trump can “sign it sometime in the fall.” The House is now in recess, while the Senate is expected to finish its business this week. Both chambers reconvene Sept. 9.
Latta was emphatic during his appearance on The Communicators that a deal is likely, saying it's “one of those issues that the American people want us to solve.” Both chambers will “get together on this, hopefully quickly, and get it to” Trump, Latta said. Enactment of an anti-robocalls statute will “show Congress can work” toward a compromise on some matters and that “we can really solve issues” that affect citizens.
Latta's concerned that time is running out for House Commerce members and others on Capitol Hill to reach a deal on a data privacy bill before the California Consumer Privacy Act takes effect Jan. 1. The House will have only “about 40 working days” left this year to reach a deal on legislation once Congress returns from the August recess, Latta said. House Commerce Republicans will “have to see what” Democrats “come up with” amid their work on legislation. Pallone and House Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chair Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., are working on legislation. House Commerce member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., is drafting a bill that would create a new data privacy agency modeled after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau because she believes the FTC isn't equipped to handle the issue (see 1906280041).
Latta resisted creating a data privacy agency, saying “we have enough government” already. Lawmakers “need to make sure that the agencies that we have are doing their job” instead of trying to “add another layer” of bureaucracy, he said. House Commerce should continue to ask the FTC what additional authorities and resources it needs,” especially given the agency's ongoing work to address issues with Facebook (see 1907240042).