Tina Smith: “I rise today with Senators Allen, Hollings and Sununu to introduce the ``Junk Fax Prevention Act of 2004.'' This bill…”

“I rise today with Senators Allen, Hollings and Sununu to introduce the ``Junk Fax Prevention Act of 2004.'' This bill will strengthen existing laws by providing consumers the ability to prevent unsolicited fax advertisements and provide greater Congressional oversight of enforcement efforts by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). This bill will also help businesses by allowing them to continue to send faxes to their customers in a manner that has proven successful with both businesses and consumers. At the end of last summer, the FCC reconsidered its Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) rules and elected to eliminate the ability for businesses to contact their customers even where there exists an established business relationship. The effect of the FCC's rule would be to prevent a business from sending a fax solicitation to any person, whether it is a supplier or customer, without first obtaining prior written consent. This approach, while seemingly sensible, would impose significant costs on businesses in the form of extensive record keeping. Almost immediately after issuing this rule, the Commission stayed its implementation until January 1, 2005. The purpose of this legislation is to preserve the established business relationship exception currently recognized under the TCPA. In addition, this bill will allow consumers to opt out of receiving further unsolicited faxes. This is a new consumer protection that does not exist under the TCPA today.”