Foreign Robocall Elimination Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6152 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6152
To direct the Federal Communications Commission to establish a
taskforce on unlawful robocalls, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 19, 2025
Mr. McDowell (for himself, Ms. Morrison, Mr. Steube, and Mr. Panetta)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
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,

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

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(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.--If, after
receiving notice under clause (ii) of a
proposed appointment under clause (i), a
commissioner of the Commission requests 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.
(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) examine ways to provide incentives to foreign
countries to cooperate with law enforcement efforts in
the United States to combat unlawful robocalls;
(I) 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;
(J) 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;
(K) examine how increased criminal penalties based
on the volume of unlawful robocalls could help prevent
unlawful robocalls made into the United States;
(L) 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;
(M) specifically determine how the Attorney General
has pursued forfeiture amounts in enforcement
activities with respect to unlawful robocalls;
(N) seek input, as appropriate, from technologists
and private sector innovators to find solutions for
combating unlawful robocalls;
(O) 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;
(P) evaluate whether requiring periodic public
disclosure, in whole or in part, of the results of
trace backs conducted by the Consortium would impact
the integrity and effectiveness of the trace back
process of the Consortium, including by--
(i) revealing investigative methods;
(ii) allowing consumers and businesses to
avoid providers with a track record of making
unlawful robocalls;
(iii) exposing proprietary, competitively
sensitive, or confidential information of
legitimate providers or entities;
(iv) strengthening accountability and
deterrence;
(v) enabling the initiators of unlawful
robocalls to evade detection, adapt tactics, or
exploit system vulnerabilities;
(vi) improving the efforts of voice service
providers to block calls that are determined to
be unwanted based on reasonable analytics;
(vii) impeding cooperation with future law
enforcement investigations or future consumer
protection efforts; or
(viii) ensuring fairness in the reporting
of trace back information; and
(Q) examine mechanisms for improving compliance
with the requirements imposed pursuant to sections 6
and 7 of the Pallone-Thune TRACED Act (47 U.S.C. 227b-
1, 227 note).
(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.

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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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(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal
Communications Commission.
(2) Robocall mitigation database.--The term ``Robocall
Mitigation Database'' has the meaning given the term in section
64.6300 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any
successor regulation.
(3) Unlawful robocall.--The term ``unlawful robocall'' has
the meaning given the term in section 2(a).
(b) Bond Requirement.--
(1) In general.--The Commission shall issue rules to
require that, subject to the other provisions of this section,
before a provider may file a certification to the Robocall
Mitigation Database, the provider shall post a bond in an
amount that is not more than $100,000, if the Commission
determines that posting such a bond is necessary to preserve
the integrity of the Robocall Mitigation Database.
(2) Excepted providers.--
(A) In general.--In issuing rules under paragraph
(1), the Commission shall establish criteria to exempt
a provider from the requirement to post a bond
described in that paragraph if that requirement, as
applied to the provider, is not necessary to deter
unlawful robocall activity.
(B) Considerations.--In establishing criteria under
subparagraph (A), the Commission shall require
consideration of whether a provider--
(i) is registered with the Commission under
section 64.1195 of title 47, Code of Federal
Regulations (or any successor regulation) and
makes contributions under section 254(d) of the
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254(d));
(ii) holds a certificate of authority,
license, or registration with a State public
utility commission;
(iii) is an issuer, the securities of which
are listed on a national securities exchange;
and
(iv) otherwise presents indicia of being a
bona fide, established communications service
provider, such that requiring the provider to
post a bond under paragraph (1) would impose
unnecessary burdens without materially
improving enforcement of section 227 of the
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227).
(c) Implementation.--In implementing this section, the Commission
shall--
(1) require the posting of a bond under subsection (b)(1)
from providers that do not demonstrate--
(A) legitimate, ongoing operations;
(B) regulatory oversight sufficient to ensure
accountability; or
(C) the ability to pay fines or forfeitures imposed
by the Commission or other governmental enforcement
authorities with respect to violations of Federal or
State laws or regulations;
(2) establish categorical exemptions for identifiable
classes of legitimate providers that satisfy the criteria
established under subsection (b)(2); and
(3) minimize administrative and financial burdens on
compliant, established, and regulated providers while ensuring
effective enforcement of section 227 of the Communications Act
of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227).

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BACK THE ORIGIN OF SUSPECTED UNLAWFUL ROBOCALLS.
(a) Immunity for Receiving, Sharing, and Publishing Trace Back
Information.--Section 13(d) of the Pallone-Thune TRACED Act (Public Law
116-105; 133 Stat. 3287) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(3) Immunity for receiving, sharing, and publishing trace
back information.--
``(A) Definition.--In this paragraph, the term
`covered information'--
``(i) means information regarding
suspected--
``(I) fraudulent, abusive, or
unlawful robocalls;
``(II) illegally spoofed calls; and
``(III) other illegal calls; and
``(ii) includes--
``(I) call detail records of calls
described in clause (i);
``(II) the names of, and other
identifying information concerning, the
voice service providers that
originated, carried, routed, and
transmitted calls described in clause
(i); and
``(III) information about the
entities that made calls described in
clause (i), including any contact
information of individuals that such an
entity provided to the voice service
provider that originated the call.
``(B) Trace back immunity.--No cause of action
shall lie or be maintained in any court against the
registered consortium for receiving, sharing, or
publishing covered information or information derived
from covered information.''.
(b) Publication of List of Voice Service Providers.--Section 13(e)
of the Pallone-Thune TRACED Act (Public Law 116-105; 133 Stat. 3288) is
amended to read as follows:
``(e) List of Voice Service Providers.--
``(1) Publication of list.--The Commission, or the
registered consortium in consultation with the Commission, may
publish a list of voice service providers based on--
``(A) information obtained by the consortium about
voice service providers that refuse to participate in
private-led efforts to trace back the origin of
suspected unlawful robocalls; and
``(B) other information the Commission or the
consortium may collect about voice service providers
that are found to originate or transmit substantial
amounts of unlawful robocalls.
``(2) Enforcement.--The Commission may take enforcement
action based on the information described in paragraph (1).''.
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Foreign Robocall Elimination Act — HR. 6152

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