Washington, D.C.  -  Today, U.S. Rep. Phil English (R-Pa.) announced his support for H.R. 248, the Robo Calls Off Phones (Robo COP) Act, bipartisan legislation to prohibit pre-recorded or robotic political calls to individuals who have signed up for the national Do-Not-Call Registry. 

“Households across the country are being bombarded with robotic political calls urging support for candidates, attacking the position of candidates or soliciting donations.  Often times these calls disturb families late at night, interrupt family dinners and leave countless local residents infuriated, confused and misinformed,” English said. 
“Today, I am pleased to announce my support for legislation that respects the privacy rights of Americans and gives voters the choice to opt-out from receiving these types of calls.”

Established in 2003, the National Do-Not-Call Registry gives consumers an opportunity to limit the amount of telemarketing calls to their home.  Although this program has been successful in reducing the number of unsolicited sales calls to households, participates in the program are still eligible to receive calls from organizations engaged in political, charitable or survey work.

“While I welcome any group exercising their First Amendment rights, often times these cookie-cutter political calls offer misleading information and further add to the dumbing down of the American political process,” English said.

A recent survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that nearly two-thirds of registered voters nationwide received recorded telephone messages during the 2006 elections. “Robo-calls” are an inexpensive, commonly used campaign tool by political action committees, 527 groups and other special interest groups to persuade voters to contact their local representative or senator to encourage support for a specific policy initiative or to vote a certain way on legislation pending before a chamber.  In addition, they are often used by national, state or local campaigns to encourage support, attack an opponent, or solicit donations.

The Robo COP Act directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to revise its regulations for the Do-Not-Call Registry to prohibit calls with politically-oriented recorded messages to telephone numbers listed on the Registry.

“By simply updating the regulations of the Do-Not-Call Registry, we can close this loophole and eliminate an obvious vehicle for abuse,” English said.  “I am proud to lend my support to this common sense legislation.”
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