Crapo Votes To Give Ftc Clear Authority For Do-Not-Call

Washington, DC â?? Idaho Senator Mike Crapo joined with his Senate colleagues this afternoon in denouncing actions taken yesterday to halt the implementation of a national â??Do-Not-Callâ?? list. The Senate overwhelmingly passed H.R. 3161 on a vote of 95 to 0, which explicitly gives the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) the authority to create and implement such a list. The measure already passed the House earlier today on a vote of 412 to 8. On Wednesday, a federal judge based in Oklahoma stopped the implementation on the grounds that the FTC had not been given congressional authority to do so.â??More than 50 million Americans have signed up for this list, and their wishes should not be ignored,â?? Crapo said following the vote. â??The FTC issued rules last year creating this registry under the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act. Congress acted earlier this year in passing the Do Not Call Implementation Act, which authorized the FTC to follow through on those rules. It is clear that the legislative directive exists for this list to be implemented. Americans should be given a choice to stop unwanted telemarketing calls, and my vote today does just that. Enactment of this measure will allow implementation of the list to proceed as scheduled so that those who signed up for the list will receive the protection they were seeking from unwanted telemarketers.â??The federal â??Do-Not-Callâ?? list was scheduled to go into effect on October 1st. The legislation passed by the Senate is the same measure passed by the House of Representatives, and therefore, will not need to be referred to a conference committee. It will now go to the President for his expected signature.# # #FOR INTERESTED MEDIA: A radio actuality is available by calling 1-800-545-1267. Press 327 at any time during or after the greeting and instructions. You can also access the actuality through the Internet at http://www.senate.gov/~src/radio.