Senator: Be afraid, telemarketing calls may return

by Frank James

When it comes to moving most pieces of legislation, Congress often moves at a pace that makes every day seem like a scene from the movie Groundhog Day. What, they're still working on that? is a question that gets asked a lot in Washington.

But there have been exceptions. One occured just about four years ago in 2003. On Sept. 24 of that year, a federal court ruled that the Federal Trade Commission had exceeded its authority by implementing the do-not-call registry that prevented most telemarketers from disturbing the domestic peace of Americans who placed their names on the list.

Knowing a winning populist issue when they saw one, and no doubt fed up with being on the receiving end of numerous telemarketing calls themselves, members of both the House and Senate, the day after the court decision, rushed to pass legislation empowering the FTC to create the list. It was enough to give a congressional observer whiplash.

Fast forward to today. The office of Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) brought to our attention something many of us didn't realize--the registry expires next year. (Those telemarketing lobbyists were very clever to get that sunset in the legislation.)

According to Dorgan, if Congress doesn't take action, next October millions of Americans will have to re-register to avoid getting all those telemarketing calls again.

Here's how Dorgan's press release puts it:

Without it, telephones will start ringing again next year:

DORGAN INTRODUCES LEGISLATION TO PREVENT “DO NOT CALL” LIST EXPIRATION

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) --- U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) introduced legislation Wednesday to ensure that North Dakotans and millions of other Americans who signed up for the “Do Not Call” registry don’t face a resumption of dinner time telephone calls from telemarketers next year when registration on the registry is set to expire.

Most Americans are unaware that their registration on the list is set to expire on September 30, 2008, Dorgan said.

Dorgan’s bill would prevent the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from automatically expiring number and removing them from the registry without a specific request from the telephone owner.

Congress established the “Do Not Call” registry in 2003. It quickly became one of the most popular consumer protection programs in history. Congress did not provide for automatic expiration of “Do Not Call” list registrations, but the FTC and FCC included an automatic five year expiration for registrations when it wrote its rules for implementing the program.

“That was not what Congress intended,” Dorgan said Wednesday. “As things stand today, 52 million Americans will either have to re-register on October 1, 2008, or get ready to hear their telephones ringing during supper time again with unwanted, commercial solicitation calls.”