Federal Communications Commission	"FCC  XX-XXX"


STATEMENT OF
CHAIRWOMAN JESSICA ROSENWORCEL
Re: 	Call Authentication Trust Anchor, WC Docket No. 17-97, Sixth Report and Order and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (March 16, 2023).
The scammers behind robocalls are relentless.  They are always looking for loopholes and new ways to advance old schemes.  But today we shut down a gap we found in our policies, demonstrating that we can be even more nimble than the bad actors responsible for these junk calls.    
In this order, we require the first intermediate providers in a calling path to use call authentication technology.  What does this mean?  For some time, we have required carriers that originate and terminate calls to use technology like STIR/SHAKEN to prove that a caller truly is who they say they are and not a scammer using the network to further some fraud.  But the intermediate providers who may help carry a call from one carrier to another never had the same consistent obligation to use call authentication technology.  This was a gap in our rules, a way to let junk calls sneak into our networks and reach unassuming consumers.  No more.  Today we close this loophole and require intermediate providers that are the first to pick up a call from an originating carrier to use STIR/SHAKEN.  We also insist that they, along with all other providers, register in our Robocall Mitigation Database.  Then we go one step further and prohibit downstream carriers from accepting calls from intermediate providers not listed in the database.  Finally, we ask questions in a rulemaking to further explore how third-party caller ID authentication can help build on this framework to stop unauthorized traffic.  
Thank you to the Robocall Response Team for this effort.  Thank you also to our Enforcement Bureau because they have already demonstrated the power of this database.  In fact, last year, they used it to kick seven voice providers off our networks for sending junk calls.  Now that it will be even more comprehensive, we are going to have more tools to go after those behind these scams.  Thank you also to the Attorneys General we have partnered with in a Memorandum of Understanding to crack down on illegal robocalls.  We are up to 44 state Attorneys General nationwide.  To the six who are remaining, you will be hearing from us, and I promise we can be relentless, too.
Thank you to the staff responsible for this order and rulemaking, including Allison Baker, Erik Beith, Callie Coker, Elizabeth Drogula, CJ Ferraro, Trent Harkrader, Jonathan Lechter, Jodie May, Zach Ross, and Merry Wulff from the Wireline Competition Bureau; Kenneth Carlberg, David Furth, and Debra Jordan from the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau; Jerusha Burnett, Aaron Garza, Alejandro Roark, Karen Schroeder, Mark Stone, Kristi Thornton, and Kimberly Wild from the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau; Loyaan Egal, Daniel Stepanicich, Kristi Thompson, and Lisa Zaina from the Enforcement Bureau; Denise Coca, Kimberly Cook, Jim Schlichting, and Thomas Sullivan from the International Bureau; Michele Ellison, Valerie Hill, Richard Mallen, William Richardson, and Derek Yeo from the Office of General Counsel; Eugene Kiselev, Giulia McHenry, Virginia Metallo, Mark Montano, Michelle Schaefer, and Emily Talaga from the Office of Economics and Analytics; and Cara Grayer and Joy Ragsdale from the Office of Communications Business Opportunities.



2