The House Energy & Commerce Committee will consider providing long-term funding for the Federal Trade Commission’s national no-call registry at a markup tomorrow.
Committee members will consider a bill to provide funding for the FTC’s national do-not-call list for five years, government sources said. The markup will follow the committee’s organizational meeting, which is scheduled to start 1 p.m.
FTC officials have requested $16 million from Congress to fund the launch of the national DNC registry, which it plans to repay via the collection of fees from telemarketers for access to the list. The FTC has said it needs Congress to approve the funding by the end of January in order to launch the list on schedule at the end of this year.
Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-LA, who chairs the committee, had initially indicated he might oppose the funding and possibly delay the launch of the list until 2004. Tauzin later affirmed his support for funding and launching the list this year.
The committee had also voiced doubts about giving long-term funding to a project that had never before been attempted on a national scale, with some members suggesting that a one- or two-year trial might be appropriate instead.
A live Webcast of the meeting beginning 10 minutes prior to the meeting’s start at energycommerce.house.gov/108/markups/01292003Markup769.htm. The RealPlayer browser plug-in is required to view the Web cast.
