United States Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act of 2017
Latest action · Mar 17, 2017 Referred to the Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedMar 2, 2017
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
United States Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act of 2017
This bill requires a business that employs 50 or more call center employees, excluding part-time employees, or 50 or more call center employees who in the aggregate work at least 1,500 hours per week, exclusive of overtime, to notify the Department of Labor at least 120 days before relocating such center outside of the United States. Violators are subject to a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per day.
Labor must make publicly available a list of all such employers that relocate a call center. It may remove from the list an employer that has relocated the call center from a location outside the United States to a location inside the United States.
Employers must remain on the list for up to three years after each relocation. An employer is ineligible for federal grants or federal guaranteed loans for five years after being added to the list, except where the employer demonstrates that a lack of such loan or grant would threaten national security, result in substantial job loss in the United States, or harm the environment. Federal or state executive agencies or military departments, when awarding a civilian or defense-related contract, must give preference to a U.S. employer that does not appear on the list.
Businesses that initiate or receive a customer service communication must require each of their employees or agents participating in the communication to disclose their physical location at the beginning of each such communication unless all involved employees or agents are located in the United States. The bill exempts any communication: (1) initiated by a consumer if the consumer knows or reasonably should know that the employee or agent is located outside the United States, or (2) related to the provision of emergency services. Upon request, businesses must transfer a customer to a customer service agent who is physically located in the United States.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) may exclude certain classes or types of business entities or customer service communications from the requirements of this bill under exceptionally compelling circumstances. The bill sets forth authority for the FTC to enforce against violations.
Cosponsors 119
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Mar 2, 2017 to Dec 19, 2018; 1 is an original cosponsor, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-TX | Gene Green | Original | Mar 2, 2017 |
| D-CA | Nanette Diaz Barragán | Apr 4, 2017 | |
| D-TX | Al Green | Apr 26, 2017 | |
| R-NJ | Frank A. LoBiondo | Apr 26, 2017 | |
| D-FL | Charlie Crist | May 17, 2017 | |
| D-MA | James P. McGovern | May 22, 2017 | |
| D-MA | Michael E. Capuano | May 22, 2017 | |
| R-PA | Brian K. Fitzpatrick | May 24, 2017 | |
| R-NY | Daniel M. Donovan, Jr. | Jun 6, 2017 | |
| R-NE | Jeff Fortenberry | Jun 6, 2017 | |
| D-NY | Hakeem S. Jeffries | Jul 6, 2017 | |
| D-NY | Louise McIntosh Slaughter | Jul 12, 2017 | |
| D-MA | Niki Tsongas | Jul 12, 2017 | |
| D-NY | Nydia M. Velázquez | Jul 12, 2017 | |
| D-FL | Darren Soto | Jul 18, 2017 | |
| D-NY | Brian Higgins | Jul 25, 2017 | |
| D-FL | Debbie Wasserman Schultz | Aug 22, 2017 | |
| D-DC | Eleanor Holmes Norton | Sep 12, 2017 | |
| R-AL | Mo Brooks | Oct 10, 2017 | |
| I-AZ | Kyrsten Sinema | Oct 31, 2017 | |
| D-NV | Jacky Rosen | Nov 8, 2017 | |
| D-FL | Stephanie N. Murphy | Nov 8, 2017 | |
| D-WI | Mark Pocan | Dec 5, 2017 | |
| D-WA | Pramila Jayapal | Dec 5, 2017 | |
| D-OR | Suzanne Bonamici | Jan 17, 2018 | |
| D-AZ | Tom O'Halleran | Jan 17, 2018 | |
| D-CA | Alan S. Lowenthal | Feb 5, 2018 | |
| D-CT | Joe Courtney | Feb 5, 2018 | |
| R-NC | Walter B. Jones | Feb 5, 2018 | |
| R-AL | Mike Rogers | Feb 14, 2018 | |
| D-AL | Terri A. Sewell | Feb 14, 2018 | |
| D-CA | Ro Khanna | Mar 20, 2018 | |
| D-NY | Kathleen M. Rice | Apr 5, 2018 | |
| D-NY | Joseph Crowley | Apr 12, 2018 | |
| D-NY | Thomas R. Suozzi | Apr 17, 2018 | |
| D-CO | Ed Perlmutter | Apr 25, 2018 | |
| R-NJ | Christopher H. Smith | May 8, 2018 | |
| D-AZ | Raúl M. Grijalva | May 9, 2018 | |
| D-NY | Adriano Espaillat | May 15, 2018 | |
| D-NY | Yvette D. Clarke | May 16, 2018 | |
| D-CA | Grace F. Napolitano | Jun 1, 2018 | |
| D-MN | Keith Ellison | Jun 1, 2018 | |
| D-AZ | Ruben Gallego | Jun 5, 2018 | |
| D-NY | Jose E. Serrano | Jun 6, 2018 | |
| D-PA | Robert A. Brady | Jun 12, 2018 | |
| D-FL | Alcee L. Hastings | Jun 13, 2018 | |
| D-NY | Eliot L. Engel | Jun 13, 2018 | |
| D-TN | Steve Cohen | Jun 13, 2018 | |
| D-CA | Julia Brownley | Jun 14, 2018 | |
| D-MN | Richard M. Nolan | Jun 14, 2018 | |
| D-NY | Carolyn B. Maloney | Jun 25, 2018 | |
| D-CA | Ted Lieu | Jun 25, 2018 | |
| D-RI | James R. Langevin | Jun 26, 2018 | |
| R-NY | Chris Collins | Jun 28, 2018 | |
| D-CA | Anna G. Eshoo | Jul 10, 2018 | |
| D-IA | David Loebsack | Jul 11, 2018 | |
| D-MO | Wm. Lacy Clay | Jul 11, 2018 | |
| R-AL | Robert B. Aderholt | Jul 12, 2018 | |
| D-MN | Betty McCollum | Jul 13, 2018 | |
| D-MN | Timothy J. Walz | Jul 13, 2018 | |
| D-PA | Dwight Evans | Jul 19, 2018 | |
| D-NY | Grace Meng | Jul 19, 2018 | |
| D-PA | Brendan F. Boyle | Jul 23, 2018 | |
| R-NE | Don Bacon | Jul 23, 2018 | |
| D-NY | Jerrold Nadler | Jul 23, 2018 | |
| D-NY | Nita M. Lowey | Jul 24, 2018 | |
| D-NY | Paul Tonko | Jul 24, 2018 | |
| D-MN | Collin C. Peterson | Jul 25, 2018 | |
| D-CO | Diana DeGette | Jul 26, 2018 | |
| D-PA | Matt Cartwright | Jul 26, 2018 | |
| D-VT | Peter Welch | Jul 26, 2018 | |
| D-MA | William R. Keating | Jul 26, 2018 | |
| D-CT | John B. Larson | Jul 27, 2018 | |
| D-NC | Alma S. Adams | Aug 3, 2018 | |
| D-ME | Chellie Pingree | Aug 3, 2018 | |
| D-IL | Cheri Bustos | Aug 3, 2018 | |
| D-PA | Michael F. Doyle | Aug 3, 2018 | |
| D-CT | Rosa L. DeLauro | Aug 3, 2018 | |
| D-PA | Conor Lamb | Aug 7, 2018 | |
| D-CA | Zoe Lofgren | Aug 7, 2018 | |
| D-NJ | Bonnie Watson Coleman | Aug 10, 2018 | |
| D-MI | Daniel T. Kildee | Aug 21, 2018 | |
| D-NC | David E. Price | Aug 21, 2018 | |
| D-GA | Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. | Sep 5, 2018 | |
| D-MD | John P. Sarbanes | Sep 5, 2018 | |
| D-TX | Lloyd Doggett | Sep 5, 2018 | |
| D-OR | Peter A. DeFazio | Sep 5, 2018 | |
| D-OH | Tim Ryan | Sep 5, 2018 | |
| D-RI | David N. Cicilline | Sep 12, 2018 | |
| D-MI | Debbie Dingell | Sep 12, 2018 | |
| D-NJ | Donald Norcross | Sep 12, 2018 | |
| D-OH | Joyce Beatty | Sep 12, 2018 | |
| D-FL | Theodore E. Deutch | Sep 12, 2018 | |
| D-VA | A. Donald McEachin | Sep 17, 2018 | |
| D-MD | Jamie Raskin | Sep 17, 2018 | |
| D-CA | Mark Takano | Sep 17, 2018 | |
| D-CA | Mike Thompson | Sep 17, 2018 | |
| D-TX | Vicente Gonzalez | Sep 17, 2018 | |
| D-NH | Ann M. Kuster | Sep 20, 2018 | |
| D-CT | Elizabeth H. Esty | Sep 20, 2018 | |
| D-CA | Jerry McNerney | Sep 24, 2018 | |
| D-OH | Marcy Kaptur | Sep 24, 2018 | |
| D-IL | Daniel Lipinski | Sep 25, 2018 | |
| D-TX | Filemon Vela | Sep 25, 2018 | |
| D-WI | Gwen Moore | Sep 25, 2018 | |
| D-TX | Beto O'Rourke | Sep 26, 2018 | |
| D-NC | G. K. Butterfield | Sep 26, 2018 | |
| D-MA | Joseph P. Kennedy III | Sep 26, 2018 | |
| D-FL | Val Butler Demings | Sep 26, 2018 | |
| D-GA | Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. | Sep 27, 2018 | |
| D-MO | Emanuel Cleaver | Sep 28, 2018 | |
| D-TN | Jim Cooper | Sep 28, 2018 | |
| D-CA | John Garamendi | Sep 28, 2018 | |
| D-NJ | Bill Pascrell, Jr. | Oct 16, 2018 | |
| D-CA | Brad Sherman | Oct 16, 2018 | |
| D-VA | Robert C. "Bobby" Scott | Oct 16, 2018 | |
| D-MI | Brenda L. Lawrence | Oct 23, 2018 | |
| D-CA | Karen Bass | Oct 26, 2018 | |
| D-TX | Marc A. Veasey | Dec 19, 2018 |
Committees 4
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Energy and Commerce Committee | Referred Mar 2, 2017 |
| Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee | Referred Mar 17, 2017 | |
| House | Armed Services Committee | Referred Mar 2, 2017 |
| House | Oversight and Government Reform Committee | Referred Mar 2, 2017 |
| House | Education and Workforce Committee | Referred Mar 2, 2017 |
Actions 3
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Mar 17, 2017Referred to the Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection.
- Mar 2, 2017Introduced in House
- Mar 2, 2017Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Armed Services, Oversight and Government Reform, and Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 163, no. 37, March 2, 2017, page H1530.
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 515 | United States Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act of 2017 | Related bill | Mar 2, 2017 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To require the Secretary of Labor to maintain a publicly available list of all employers that relocate a call center overseas, to make such companies ineligible for Federal grants or guaranteed loans, and to require disclosure of the physical location of business agents engaging in customer service communications, and for other purposes.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- United States Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act of 2017
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Commerce.
- Administrative law and regulatory procedures
- Business records
- Commerce
- Consumer affairs
- Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
- Government information and archives
- Government lending and loan guarantees
- Military procurement, research, weapons development
- Public contracts and procurement
- Telephone and wireless communication
- Unemployment
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Mar 2, 2017Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
