Crapo Bill Could Lead to End of Unwanted Robocalls

It was lights out and then sound asleep.  One hour later my telephone started ringing.  “Hi, this is Senator Jim Risch,” a recording explained.  Twice I’ve received the calls when the Senator is hosting a telephone town hall.  My number is in Risch’s database as I’ve shared it with staff for some work related issues.  He doesn’t know I’m in bed at 6:00 P.M.  Or the system isn’t aware. 

The town hall calls pale in comparison to what I receive most mornings.  These usually start just after 7:00 A.M., Mountain Time and continue through late morning.  These aren’t from people seeking my input on government policy.

Risch’s Idaho counterpart. U.S. Senator Mike Crapo, is looking to bring an end to those morning calls I receive.  Over the weekend the Senate unanimously passed a bill that would crack down on robocalls.  The bill was introduced by Crapo and he says his goal is to end the calls by “crooks” (he’s not referring to any colleagues).  It’s to bring an end to calls from scammers.

This will require some complex technology, especially on the part of mobile phone companies.  A huge block of Americans have dropped old fashioned landlines.  The old do not call registry from the 1990s really broke down as the callers realized it was next to impossible for enforcers to track the high volume of calls.  Many of the calls are placed from numbers randomly generated.

The bill is evidence Senators have heard constituents.

Crapo was joined by Democrat Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota as a co-sponsor.