Claire McCaskill

I do want you to know that I am going to follow up in 3 months and ask to find out what your members are doing in this regard and what they feel like they can do.

I need to know what, if anything, these carriers are doing.

It is always better to do it in the marketplace with a competitive solution as it relates to capitalism than it is for the government to come in with a heavy hand and try to impose a solution.

No, that is not true. That is not true. I don't think that is true.

I think the point that is being made... is we have the capability of being as sophisticated in terms of technology as the bad guys.

I will tell you that I know that there are concerns, and all of the concerns about what can be done are based in wanting to follow the law and stay true to what your mission is as carriers, whether it be wireless or wired.

But I have a feeling we can do this with the technology that is out there without breaking any law and maybe even without us having to write any laws.

I think that would be important for us to know.

Well, if we do that, if we go after their airplanes, they are going to do boats.

That is the initial beginning of the block, is a critical mass of people calling and saying, hey, these guys are----

I don't understand. We have heard from two good witnesses that the technology is available.

Thank you very much. We appreciate you being here.

I think we have to really take a look at updating all of this so that, you know--there is a whole generation that is going to be very blessed by the fact that they can't get political robocalls, because none of my kids have landlines.

I think everyone has figured out that Congress is not nimble and we do not move quickly.

In the grand scheme of things, I can't imagine that that is not just a tiny, infinitesimal number of these that are being given out.

Even pressing the button they claim removes a caller from their list does nothing more than identify a phone number as valid, likely increasing the frequency of unwanted calls in the future.

This hearing will come to order. We appreciate you being here.

Yes. Well, so nobody has gone to jail, right?

The registry has been celebrated across party lines as a successful government program that provides real benefits to consumers.

The elderly that are still answering that landline every day--I had a hard time. I felt like I needed this when I would go out in public, because everybody was so mad about these stupid political robocalls.

Do the statutes that guide your enforcement in this area, do they provide for the possibility of prison?

Is there an applicable statute that you can utilize at the Federal level that provides prison for people who do this?

Thank you very much, Ms. Greisman. Sorry I mispronounced your name at the beginning.

Another common scam involves robocalls warning consumers that their auto warranty is about to expire.

The idea was simple: voluntarily register your phone number on a centralized list, and telemarketers would be prohibited by law from calling you.