AG Peterson Urges Congress to Take Action Against Robocalls

LINCOLN - Attorney General Doug Peterson has urged the U.S. Senate to enact the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act, legislation designed to curb illegal robocalls and spoofing.

A coalition of 53 attorneys general sent a letter to the U. S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation supporting the TRACED Act. The legislation is sponsored by Sens. John Thune of South Dakota and Ed Markey of Massachusetts.

As well as Attorney General Peterson the coalition is being led by North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, New Hampshire Attorney General Gordon J. MacDonald and Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood.

Attorney General Peterson said, “State attorneys general are on the front lines of helping consumers who are harassed and scammed by unwanted calls. For years, we have worked with both our federal counterparts and industry participants to encourage the adoption of technological solutions in the fight against these calls. I am proud to support this legislation.”

In their letter, the attorneys general state that the TRACED Act enables states, federal regulators, and telecom providers to take steps to combat these illegal calls. The legislation will require voice service providers to participate in a call authentication framework to help block unwanted calls and creates an interagency working group to take additional actions to reduce robocalls and hold telemarketers and robocallers accountable.

More than 48 billion robocalls were made in 2018, making them the number one source of consumer complaints to the FTC and the FCC and resulting in millions in consumer losses. The state attorneys general work to enforce do-not-call laws and protect consumers in their states from being harassed and scammed by robocalls.

Attorney General Peterson is joined in sending this letter by the Attorneys General of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and the District of Columbia.

A copy of the letter can be found here: https://ago.nebraska.gov/sites/ago.nebraska.gov/files/doc/2019%20-03-05%20NAAG%20TRACED%20Act%20Letter%20-%20Final.pdf