Congressman Gianforte Tells Tragic Robocall Story, Urged Action

The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee held a hearing on “Legislating to Stop the Onslaught of Annoying Robocalls” on Tuesday. Congressman Greg Gianforte spoke on behalf of Montanans in an effort to fix the problem of robocalls. Gianforte says Montanans reasonably think that being on the National Do Not Call list means they won’t get called, but that is not the case. He says Montanans are getting called a lot and they’re sick and tired of it.

“Alvin, a 70-year-old man from Kalispell, receives over 20 calls a day,” Gianforte said. “His provider allows him to block 12 numbers and clearly that is not enough. Connie in Missoula asked me to get back to her about an issue by email, not by phone. Why? Because she is getting inundated by robocalls and doesn’t pick up her phone.”

He shocked the committee when he told a tragic story about a specific robocall that took place in Montana.

“A young woman from Bozeman received a call from her little brother’s phone number, but it wasn’t her brother,” Gianfore said. “It was a scammer calling from her little brother’s number. Unfortunately, her little brother had died of a heroin overdose a couple of months previously. She was shaken and shocked.”

He wants this practice to end so that no one has to go through what this woman did. He believes there is bipartisan agreement to fix the problem of robocalls and asked that action be taken.