More on robocalls

More on robocalls

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
Representative Greg Walden (R-Hood River) recently spoke with Gary Wolcott and Bill Sikkens on AM  860's User Friendly 2.0 about his efforts to stop illegal robocalls.

Walden started out the interview by saying how he gets so many robocalls that he usually does not answer the phone if it is an unknown number.

He went on to share a story about ignoring a call that he should've answered, "I got one the other day that said +30-1 Greece and I don't know anybody in Greece, so I let it go to voicemail. Later in the day I looked, and it was a two-minute voicemail. I was like wow, I wonder what that is? So, I pulled it up and I listened to it and it was Vice President Mike Pence aboard Air Force Two trying to reach me on an issue."

Walden noted that he shares this story to remind people that there are important calls you don't want to miss but because there are so many robocalls out there, we are becoming conditioned not to answer them unless we recognize the number.

Last year, an estimated 47.8 billion robocalls were placed nationwide and last month alone, American's received an estimated 4.8 billion robocalls.

"You know in the area code 503, you all have had 17.7 million robocalls last month and 151.5 million this year. On the east side, the rural areas in Oregon's 541 area code, we received an estimate 13 million robocalls last month alone and 106.8 million so far this year."

Walden has long been an advocate for stopping illegal robocalls. As Republican Leader of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, he helped usher the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act through the House. The bill now awaits action in the Senate.

Last Congress, he worked hard to pass the RAY BAUM's Act, which reauthorized the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for the first time in over two decades and provided the FCC with tools to better enable consumers and law enforcement to stay ahead of scammers.

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