Federal Communications Commission	FCC 20-9

STATEMENT OF
COMMISSIONER GEOFFREY STARKS

Re:	Scott Rhodes a.k.a. Scott David Rhodes, Scott D. Rhodes, Scott Platek, Scott P. Platek, File No.:  EB-TCD-18-00028178.

This is yet another case of illegal robocalling with egregious facts, this time including commentary full of racial animosity and anti-Semitic overtones aimed at disrupting our democratic processes.  The harm inflicted upon those who were targeted in the calls and those who received the calls is likely far beyond what we can measure, so the large penalty in this case is clearly justified.  I thank the Enforcement Bureau for their hard work in chasing down every lead to uncover the full extent of these harmful messages from multiple robocalling campaigns, and I strongly support this item.
I am further encouraged that now, with last month’s enactment of the Pallone-Thune TRACED Act, we have more tools at our disposal to combat the ever-growing problem of unwanted robocalls.  With a longer statute of limitations and elimination of the need to warn unlawful robocallers before proposing a penalty, we can be more effective enforcers of the Truth In Caller ID Act and our implementing regulations.