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Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act

Public Law 116-105 · S. 151 · 116th Congress · began in the Senate

Signed by Donald Trump (R) on Dec 30, 2019 · Science, Technology, Communications

Sponsor: Sen. John Thune (R-SD)

Cosponsors (84): Sen. Ed Markey,

Passage votesYeaNay

  • HouseRecorded vote: 417 yea, 3 nay417–3
  • SenateVoice vote
Data notes

The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.

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Summary

The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.

Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act or the Pallone-Thune TRACED Act

This bill establishes rules and requirements to deter criminal robocall violations.

Specifically, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) must

• require voice service providers to develop call authentication technologies;

• initiate a rulemaking to protect a subscriber from receiving unwanted calls or texts from a caller using an unauthenticated number;

• establish when a provider may block a voice call based on information provided by the call authentication framework, but also establish a process to permit a calling party adversely affected by the framework to verify the authenticity of their calls;

• streamline the ways in which a private entity may voluntarily share information with the FCC relating to a call or text message that violates robocall restrictions;

• determine whether its policies regarding access to number resources could be modified to help reduce access to numbers by potential robocall violators;

• report on the implementation of the reassigned number database;

• implement consumer protections for exempted classes of robocalls;

• ensure opt-out/opt-in robocall blocking services provide transparency and redress options for consumers and callers with no additional line item charge to consumers or additional charge to callers for resolving complaints related to erroneously blocked calls;

• study whether to require a provider of a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service to give the FCC its contact information and retain a record of each call transmitted over the VoIP service that is sufficient to trace a call back to its source;

• provide the Department of Justice with any evidence obtained suggesting a robocall violation made with an intent to defraud or cause harm;

• protect called parties from one-ring scams (where a caller allows the call to ring for a short duration to prompt the called party to return the call and incur charges);

• establish a registration process for a single consortium that conducts private-led efforts to trace back the origin of suspected unlawful robocalls; and

• establish the Hospital Robocall Protection Group to issue best practices for combating unlawful robocalls made to hospitals, helping hospitals protect themselves, and assisting federal and state governments to combat such calls.

The bill also implements a forfeiture penalty for violations (with or without intent) of the prohibitions on certain robocalls.

Who voted for it

Every House member of the 116th Congress on the ideology compass. Highlighted: the 417 who voted yea on final passage. Faded: everyone else, including those who voted nay, did not vote, or had not yet taken office.

417 yea3 nay10 present or did not vote

ProEstablishmentAnti
Economic left–right
More liberalMore conservative

Democrats who voted yea(223)

Republicans who voted yea(194)

Data notes

The House’s recorded vote on the final version of the law (roll call 646 in Voteview), matched to the vote the record cites and checked against its totals. Positions are each member’s DW-NOMINATE score for that Congress, as on the Ideology page; left to right is more liberal to more conservative. Paired and announced yea votes count as yea. Lists follow the compass, most liberal first. A name links to a profile only for members of the current Congress. A law passed by voice vote or unanimous consent has no member list, and neither does a vote Voteview has not yet recorded.

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Committees

The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.

Data notes

A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.

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Related bills

8 bills the Library of Congress relates to this one.

  • H.R. 721Related bill

    Spam Calls Task Force Act of 2019

  • H.R. 1602Identical bill

    TRACED Act

  • H.R. 2015Identical bill

    TRACED Act

  • H.R. 3264Related bill

    Ending One-Ring Scams Act of 2019

  • H.R. 3325Related bill

    Locking Up Robocallers Act of 2019

  • H.R. 3434Related bill

    Tracing Back and Catching Unlawful Robocallers Act of 2019

  • H.R. 3780Related bill

    Protecting Patients and Doctors from Unlawful Robocalls Act of 2019

  • S. 819Related bill

    Federal Communications Commission Reporting Modernization Act of 2019

Data notes

Related bills are identified by the Congressional Research Service, the House and the Senate: companion and identical bills, bills with similar text, bills that were folded into this law, and rules that brought it to the floor. A bill that is itself a public law in this site’s data links here; the others link to Congress.gov.

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Timeline

From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 28 actions.

  1. Dec 30, 2019Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 116-105.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. Dec 20, 2019FloorFloor · Presented to President.
  4. Dec 19, 2019Resolving differencesResolving differences · Senate agreed to the House amendment to S. 151 by Voice Vote.
  5. FloorFloor · Message on Senate action sent to the House.
  6. FloorFloor · Measure laid before Senate by unanimous consent.
  7. OtherOther · Resolving differences -- Senate actions: Senate agreed to the House amendment to S. 151 by Voice Vote.
  8. Dec 5, 2019FloorFloor · Message on House action received in Senate and at desk: House amendment to Senate bill.
  9. Dec 4, 2019FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  10. FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 417 - 3 (Roll no. 647).House roll call 647
  11. FloorFloor · Considered as unfinished business.
  12. FloorFloor · At the conclusion of debate, the Yeas and Nays were demanded and ordered. Pursuant to the provisions of clause 8, rule XX, the Chair announced that further proceedings on the motion would be postponed.
  13. FloorFloor · DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on S. 151.
  14. FloorFloor · Considered under suspension of the rules.
  15. FloorFloor · Mr. Pallone moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
  16. May 25, 2019CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology.
  17. May 24, 2019FloorFloor · Received in the House.
  18. CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
  19. May 23, 2019FloorFloor · Message on Senate action sent to the House.
  20. FloorFloor · Passed Senate with an amendment by Yea-Nay Vote. 97 - 1. Record Vote Number: 127.Senate roll call 127
  21. FloorFloor · The committee substitute agreed to by Unanimous Consent.
  22. FloorFloor · Measure laid before Senate by unanimous consent.
  23. May 21, 2019FloorFloor · An errata sheet on written report No. 116-41 was printed.
  24. CalendarCalendar · Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 94.
  25. CommitteeCommittee · Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Reported by Senator Wicker with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 116-41.
  26. Apr 3, 2019CommitteeCommittee · Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
  27. Jan 16, 2019CommitteeCommittee · Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
  28. IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in Senate
Data notes

Every action the Library of Congress lists for the bill, from introduction to signing, plus the dated committee hearings. The source lists many steps twice (the chamber’s own entry and the Library of Congress copy, or a presidential and a became-law entry with the same words); those are shown once. Amendments are listed in their own section.

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Amendments

No amendments to this bill are on record.

Data notes

Amendments offered to this bill in either chamber, as the Library of Congress records them: each with a status read from its last recorded step: agreed to, rejected, withdrawn, ruled out of order, fell with another amendment, or offered with no vote recorded (most Senate amendments are only ever offered). The wording of each amendment is the source’s. Amendments to amendments and amendments to other bills are not listed.

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Official record

The bill’s full text is on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.