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Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1304, the Telephone Advertising Consumer Rights Act, a bill that protects the unsuspecting public from intrusive and unwanted computer-generated phone calls. The ever-increasing onslaught of such sales and marketing calls in Baltimore and elsewhere has become an aggravating, ever-increasing problem. Citizens are besieged by these calls at their places of work, and again at their homes. Escape from these unsolicited interruptions seems futile. Not even the phone lines or pagers of emergency services-lines which must be kept accessible for reasons of public health and safety-are immune to the growing number of aggressive telemarketing companies.

H.R. 1304 will bring welcome relief from the plague wrought by automatic dialer-recorded message players and fax junk mail. Much-needed restrictions will at last be imposed upon those who insist on marketing their goods and services in a most irritating and inconsiderate manner. Finally, consumers will be able to "hang up" on telephone solicitors.

Some say we are in the dawn of the information age, and that the continuing evolution of telecommunications technology will yield advances we cannot yet envision. Given the profit-driven exploitation of unsuspecting consumers, the creation of consumer safeguards in telecommunications must accompany that evolution.

The next 120 days, when the Federal Communications Commission will complete a rulemaking process to evaluate alternatives for protecting residential telephone subscribers from unwanted telephone solicitation, represent a positive step in shielding consumers from undesired calls and faxes. The next 8 months, in which the FCC will issue final regulations to establish such a protective system, will bring us even closer to this goal. When the privacy protection system is finally established, consumers will be freed from the subtle but persistent harassment of unwelcome fax and phone ads.

Legitimate solicitations-those allowable under an established business relationship rule-will not be prohibited from reaching those persons that are customers by choice. Credit card companies, distributors of publications and cable television franchises, and retail and service providers patronized by a consumer, may all continue their legitimate telemarketing efforts. Furthermore, tax-exempt nonprofit organizations, including charitable and political organizations, may maintain their public outreach efforts via the telephone. Legitimate survey efforts-those involving public opinion polling, and consumer or market surveys-will also be exempt from the restrictions of H.R. 1304. 

Consumers may ask, "Will I have to pay yet another fee for a service regarding my telephone?" Fortunately, consumers will not have to shoulder the financial burden of their own self-protection against harassment conveyed over their telephone lines. Rather, the costs of maintaining the consumer's privacy will be absorbed by the telemarketing firms. Technology may be used to curb its own abuses. For example, electronic databases may be established to alert companies to those who do not want their phone to become a profit-generating tool for others. Perhaps an even simpler, less technological approach will be utilized to alert aggressive sales operations to a consumer's disinterest in telemarketing efforts.

As we proceed ever further into the information age we must separate beneficial applications of our scientific advances from those which are malignant. H.R. 1304 represents a common sense, consumer oriented policy which does not infringe on reasonable business practices nor discourage the development of technologies beneficial in the marketplace.

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