Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 3490 - Telephone Disclosure and Dispute Resolution Act

(House)
(Swift (D) Washington and 3 others)

The Administration opposes enactment of H.R. 3490. The Administration agrees with the concerns underlying the bill, and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have recently taken actions consistent with its purposes.

The FCC has adopted rules to: (1) require a preamble disclosing the price and identity of a "pay-per-call" service, followed by the opportunity to hang up without charge; (2) require one-time free blocking of access to "pay-per-call" services for residential customers; and (3) prohibit carriers from disconnecting local or long distance service for failure to pay "pay-per-call" charges. The FTC has recently undertaken investigations and enforcement actions against abusive telemarketers.

Instead of imposing a legislative solution, Congress should allow the new FCC rules to work and consider the results of FTC enforcement actions. Legislation is an inflexible approach to handling the concerns raised by the bill, due to the technologically and economically dynamic structure of the telecommunications industry.