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June 17,2015
The Honorable Tom Wheeler
Chairman
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554
604
Dear Chairman Wheeler:
We were pleased to see that the Commission is moving forward with a vote on a proposal to
modernize aspects of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. As you know, this law provides
many important protections to consumers. And while we commend the Commission for working
to ensure the American people are protected from harassing communications, we are concerned
that proposed reforms might inadvertently harm consumers by prohibiting companies from
utilizing technological innovations to more effectively communicate with customers.
Consumers benefit from a myriad of communications across nearly all industries, including but
not limited to prescription reminders, low balance alerts, student loan debt counseling, and
school start delays. Advances in communication technology allow companies in these and other
industries to more effectively communicate with their customers. Unfortunately, because the
TCPA has not been updated to keep up with these changes, many companies are unable to
communicate in the most efficient way with their customers. For example, we have heard
concerns that the TCPA is prohibiting companies from contacting student borrowers to provide
counseling, which only exacerbates the risk that borrowers will end up in collection. Unless the
Commission acts to ensure that companies are allowed to build on their existing, legitimate
relationships, we are concerned that consumers might not receive critical communications about
their accounts.
As you evaluate ways to modernize the TCPA, we urge you to keep in mind how technology has
evolved since the law's passage and to recognize the potential chilling of communications that
may result from the law's unintended consequences. We support the TCPA and are hopeful that
your efforts will create clear parameters for well-meaning businesses to be able to contact their
customers without being stifled by the mounting threat oflitigation. Thank you for your
continued efforts to protect consumers and for your attention to these concerns.
Sincerely,
Member of Congress
Brad Ashford
Member of Congress
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