Senate Passes Markey Amendments to Crack Down on Illegal Robocalls

Washington (August 4, 2026) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, celebrated the Senate’s passage by unanimous consent of the Foreign Robocall Elimination Act . The legislation includes four amendments that Senator Markey secured during committee consideration — three with Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and one with Senator John Thune (R-S.D.) — to strengthen investigations, expose bad actors, and protect consumers against illegal robocalls and texts. “When robocall scammers try to turn Americans’ phones into tools for theft and deception, we have to make their jobs harder,” said Senator Markey. “My amendments will strengthen efforts to trace illegal calls to their source, crack down on sham phone companies, and shine a light on the networks that enable these scams. I’m proud to continue leading the fight against illegal robocalls and restore trust in our phone networks.” Senator Markey’s amendments would: Make it harder for sham providers to game the system. The Luján-Markey provision requires the Federal Communications Commission to establish a bond of up to $100,000 for certain providers registering in the Robocall Mitigation Database. Phone companies have to register in the Robocall Mitigation Database to send calls through the U.S. phone network. Strengthen private traceback investigations. The Thune-Markey provision incorporates their Robocall Traceback Enhancement Act , which the lawmakers introduced in 2021. The amendment helps bolster privately led efforts to trace back the origins of illegal and bothersome robocalls, helping to identify and stop bad actors. Increase transparency and accountability. Two Markey-Luján amendments strengthen the bill’s required report by directing the robocall task force to evaluate the potential benefits and risks of periodically releasing traceback results, including whether disclosure could help consumers avoid bad providers, strengthen deterrence, and improve call blocking. Senator Markey is the co-author of the bipartisan Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act , landmark robocall legislation that was enacted in 2019 . The TRACED Act helped to address unwanted and abusive calls by, among other things, requiring telephone companies to authenticate callers, strengthening caller identification, and giving consumers greater power to block calls from unverified numbers. ###