STATEMENT OF
COMMISSIONER MIGNON L. CLYBURN
Re: Advanced Methods to Target and Eliminate Unlawful Robocalls, CG Docket No. 17-59
Just last week, as part of our nation’s Veterans Day observance, we paid tribute to those that 
protect and serve. We show our gratitude in a great many ways to the men and women who fought for and 
defend our country, not just by saying thank you when we pass them by, but also by donating to veterans' 
causes. 
So, it is extremely disheartening to read press reports about scammers who prey on our gratitude. 
That fraudulent robocall which pulls at our “heartstrings by asking for money to help US military 
members:” One woman lost $2,400 because she believed that she was sending money to help a 
servicemember in need. Sadly, her story is not an isolated one. 
Scams like this happen too frequently and we must do everything within our power to stop them. 
According to the YouMail Robocall Index, 2.5 billion robocalls were made nationwide last month and a
substantial number of them were unlawful. So today we establish rules to target these unlawful robocalls, 
by giving voice service providers the ability to block those robocalls that are highly likely to be illegitimate.
Will the adoption of this Report and Order put an end to unlawful robocalls for good? Sadly no, but 
doing nothing ensures that things will get worse. The Commission has a responsibility to assess whether it 
can make a difference and even if that dent is a small one at first, it will give notice to scammers that we 
mean business. 
I asked my colleagues to include a series of questions as part of a Further Notice, that could enable 
this agency and consumers to better assess the effectiveness of our robocalling efforts. I did so because I 
believe consumers have the right to know what kind of job their voice provider is doing. We already have 
valuable data at our disposal through the FCC’s Consumer Complaint Data Center and coupled with a 
reporting obligation on providers and a Commission-issued report on the state of robocalling, I believe we
will be better positioned to evaluate our efforts to-date and whether alternative means for combating this 
persistent problem are needed. 
I am grateful to the Chairman for agreeing to add this language and thankful to the Consumer and 
Governmental Affairs Bureau for your ongoing efforts to stop unlawful robocalls.