Senator Feingold Backs Bill Making “Do Not Call” Registration Permanent

February 13, 2008 -- Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold is backing legislation to ensure that a person who registers with a “do not call” registry only has to do so once. Under the original law, names on “do not call” lists are automatically removed after five years. Feingold is cosponsoring legislation by Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) that would remove the automatic expiration. The legislation has passed Congress and is awaiting the president’s signature.

“When folks in Wisconsin signed up for the “do-not-call” registry to avoid unsolicited calls, they weren’t just looking for a five-year trial period to see if they could live without telemarketers,” Feingold said. “This is simple, straight forward legislation that says the first time you sign up to avoid these bothersome calls should also be your last.”

Feingold has been a strong supporter of “do not call” registries, having supported national efforts to give people the option of avoiding these unsolicited calls. In 2005, when Wisconsin’s “do-not-call” regulation was threatened to be preempted by a less restrictive federal regulation, Feingold contacted the Federal Communication Commission offering his support for the state law.

The “Do Not Call” list has been extremely popular, with over 132 million home and cell phone numbers registered since the list started in June 2003. It is also effective, with 80-90 percent of consumers reporting that they have received fewer calls since joining the list. Approximately 52 million numbers will expire from the list before October 2008, and many consumers do not know that they will have to re-register. Since it is likely that most of the people who signed up for the list want to get rid of telemarketing calls on a permanent basis, it makes since to eliminate the automatic five year expiration.

Source: Senator Russ Feingold

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