STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER MIGNON L. CLYBURN Re: Advanced Methods to Target and Eliminate Unlawful Robocalls, CG Docket No. 17-59; Call Authentication Trust Anchor, WC Docket No. 17-97 The phone rings, you pick it up, then you notice a distinct pause. You sigh heavily because you know that within seconds, a recording will follow saying something like this: “Congratulations! You have just been chosen to receive an all-expenses paid vacation to Florida.” We each have had our encounters with robocalls, and our feelings about them are rarely warm or fuzzy. Too often they come in at the worst possible times… during an important evening meeting, just when you are having a rare conversation with family members or friends, or right when you are about to take that next to the last bite into an already lukewarm previously frozen TV dinner. According to the latest data from the YouMail Robocall Index, 2.5 billion of those robocalls were made just last month in the United States. Equally remarkable is that four telephone numbers are responsible for more than 68 million of these calls. Given the severity and complexity of the unwanted robocall problem, this agency recognizes that it must take a multi-pronged approach to address this persistent issue. Through the combined efforts of the Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB) and the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGB), we have before us two Notices of Inquiry. The first seeks comment on how to best authenticate, certify, and identify calls in an effort to eradicate unwanted and illegal ones for good. Proper authentication and identification are necessary first steps in stopping illegal robocalls dead in their tracks. Through an authentication regime, we can better ensure that no spoofed robocall goes undetected, untargeted, or unblocked. The second Notice initiates an inquiry on how to deal with reassigned numbers. There is no denying that millions of phone numbers change hands each year. This has led to calls for establishing a reassigned number database, an undertaking that has my support. I appreciate the Chairman’s willingness to include suggested questions in the item, including the downsides of a safe harbor for robocallers and how to design a reassigned number database in such a way to maximize its use and reliability. As is evidenced by recent actions taken by the FCC, including last month’s Notice of Apparent Liability (NAL) against an individual alleged to have spoofed nearly 100 million calls, no one action will rid this nation of illegal robocalls for good. But support for both of these NOIs affirms our commitment and willingness to work together, and find new and innovative ways to make sure this Commission stays one step ahead. Thanks are due to the staff of WCB and CGB for your continuing efforts to stop unwanted and illegal robocalls.