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By Scott Nicholson
U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC 5) backed up her push for
legislation that would help limit automated political calls by
becoming the first member of Congress to take a “Do Not Robo
Call” pledge.
U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC
5)
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As part of the pledge, she agreed not to send automated calls
to voters in her district who have registered their phone number
with the National Political Do Not Contact (NPDNC) registry.
Foxx has spearheaded efforts to reduce unwanted calls and to help
protect people’s privacy rights by giving them more control
over the messages that come to their homes. Last year, she introduced
H.R. 248, the Robo Calls Off Phones (Robo COP) Act, and the U.S.
Senate recently conducted hearings on the practice.
“The public can’t stand it when the Congress makes one
rule for constituents and another for politicians,” Foxx
said in a statement.
Foxx signed a pledge developed by the Citizens for Civil Discourse,
founded on the belief that automated calls were sullying people’s
attitudes toward the political process. CCD created the National
Political Do Not Contact registry as a step towards reducing unwanted
political phone calls, particularly automated messages or “robo”
calls.
Surveys suggest many people are unaware that political calls were
exempted from the national Do Not Call registry that was established
several years ago with the goal of reducing unwanted and unsolicited
calls.
Shaun Dakin, founder and CEO of the NPDNC, praised Foxx for being
the first to step forward and promise voters they would not receive
unwanted calls if they signed up for the registry and thereby
expressed their wish not to receive political calls.
“I started the registry to give voters back their sanity
during election season,” said Dakin.
“Many voters consider their homes to be a sanctuary and consider
calls, especially the automated ‘robo’ calls, from politicians
and political groups to be invasive. It’s so invasive,
in fact, that the experience alone can turn people off from the
entire electoral process.”
People can sign up for the voluntary registry at www.stoppoliticalcalls.org.
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