Herb Kohl: “Yesterday, a Federal judge in Oklahoma voided the Federal Trade Commission's national Do Not Call list that was set to…”

“Yesterday, a Federal judge in Oklahoma voided the Federal Trade Commission's national Do Not Call list that was set to go into effect next week. This action frustrates the wishes of more than 48 million Americans who have signed up for the list. I am pleased that we will overturn that judge's questionable decision today. Americans have spoken very clearly on this issue and it is our responsibility to respond. Though a judge ruled that the FTC lacked congressional authority to create this national Do Not Call Registry, I strongly disagree and believe that earlier this year Congress explicitly granted the Commission both the authority and the funding to create the registry. Indeed, absent congressional action, the FTC's Do Not Call initiative would have failed to become a reality this year. I discussed the matter with FTC Chairman Tim Muris at a hearing before the Antitrust Subcommittee last September. He asked me for help in getting congressional authority in order to raise fees necessary to implement the Do Not Call list. We were able to grant the Commission this authority in the consolidated appropriations resolution which passed in February of this year. We further authorized the FTC's list in the Do Not Call Implementation Act on March 11, 2003. These actions more than authorized the FTC's rulemaking in my view. That said, this bill will make it crystal clear that Congress endorses, supports, and authorizes the FTC to create a national Do Not Call Registry.”