STATEMENT OF
CHAIRMAN AJIT PAI
Re: Advanced Methods to Target and Eliminate Unlawful Robocalls, CG Docket No. 17-59
As Chairman, I’ve repeatedly made clear that the FCC’s top consumer protection priority is 
aggressively pursuing the scourge of illegal robocalls.  This Report and Order and Further Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking is one more step toward fulfilling that commitment.
Among other things, our action here will allow carriers to block telephone calls that purport to 
originate from unassigned or invalid phone numbers.  These calls are very likely to be illegal or 
fraudulent; there’s no legitimate reason for anyone to spoof caller ID to make it seem as if he or she is 
calling from an unassigned or invalid phone number.  We also allow those who hold phone numbers that 
are not used to make outbound calls to request that carriers block any phone calls that purport to come 
from those numbers.  Once again, any such calls are very likely to be illegal or fraudulent.  And to 
address the rare instance when an error might be made, we encourage carriers to establish a transparent 
process for legitimate callers to challenge a blocked number and to resolve the challenge quickly.
It is important to stress that today’s action is deregulatory in nature.  We aren’t piling more rules 
upon industry.  Instead, we’re providing relief from FCC rules that are having the perverse effect of 
facilitating unlawful and unwanted robocalls.  
I thank my colleagues for their thoughtful comments to this item and for joining me in this 
bipartisan endeavor.  Make no mistake—this isn’t the end of our efforts.  We’ll need to do more, and we 
will.  But we’re building a strong foundation for fighting illegal robocalls, both by updating our rules and 
taking enforcement action. 
I am grateful to the staff for all their efforts on this Report and Order and Further Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking.  Thanks to John B. Adams, Micah Caldwell, Karen Schroeder, Kurt Schroeder, 
Mark Stone, Patrick Webre, and Lauren Wilson from the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau; to 
William Layton, Richard Mallen, Linda Oliver, and Bill Richardson from the Office of General Counsel; 
to Eric Burger from the Office of Strategic Planning & Policy Analysis; to Adam Copeland, Dan Kahn, 
and Ann Stevens from the Wireline Competition Bureau; to Brenda Boykin, Kenneth Carlberg, Robert 
Finley, David Furth, Timothy May, and Erika Olsen from the Public Safety and Homeland Security 
Bureau; to Jeffrey Gee, Lisa Gelb, Kalun Lee, and Kristi Thompson from the Enforcement Bureau; and to 
Belford Lawson and Sanford Williams from the Office of Communications Business Opportunities.