WASHINGTON – Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema in today’s Senate Commerce Subcommittee hearing highlighted the negative impacts of illegal robocalls on Arizona families. Sinema called for passage of her bipartisan TRACED Act—legislation that cracks down on illegal robocalls and holds perpetrators accountable.
“Arizonans are frustrated by the barrage of illegal robocalls and scams. These calls threaten the security of private information for Arizona seniors, families, and businesses. I’m committed to passing our TRACED Act, which increases criminal penalties and promotes blocking technologies to crack down on robocalls,” said Sinema.
During today’s hearing, Sinema shared stories from Arizonans dealing with scam robocalls—including Donald and Rosemary in Mesa, AZ who are frequently harassed as early as 6:30 a.m. by robocalls, and Alejandro, who is distracted by robocalls during his volunteer work with an Arizona county sheriff’s office.
The FCC estimates nearly half of all cell phone calls received this year will be spam. According to a recent study, robocalls reached record highs in every Arizona area code in 2018. In June 2018 alone, Arizonans received 78.3 million robocalls.
Earlier this month, Sinema cosponsored the bipartisan TRACED Act, which gives regulators more time to find scammers, increases penalties for those who are caught, promotes call authentication and blocking adoption, and brings relevant federal agencies and state attorneys general together to address impediments to criminal prosecution of robocallers who intentionally flout laws. Last week the Senate Commerce Committee passed the TRACED Act out of committee.