Americans have been subjected to intrusive, unsolicited robocalls from telemarketers for far too long. Just last year, there were over 54 billion robocalls that were made by telemarketers – more than in 2018 when over 48 billion were recorded. However, relief is finally on the way. On December 30th, President Trump signed the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act (the TRACED Act) into law. This bipartisan piece of legislation provides the Federal Communications Commission and law enforcement more authority to prosecute scammers and combat the scourge of malicious robocalls. Telemarketers must be held accountable for their brazen disregard of the law, and I’m so pleased that my efforts on this issue helped get the TRACED Act signed into law.
Repealing the “Widow’s Tax”
Last year, Democrats and Republicans came together to pass the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that was signed into law by President Trump on December 20th. One provision of the NDAA that is vitally important is the repeal of the “Widow’s Tax”. Before the repeal, over 65,000 spouses and families in the United States had to return military survivor benefits after their loved ones died from battle-related causes. Instead of receiving these benefits, spouses and families were left with little to nothing. This has been an issue I have fought for since I first came to congress. Along with 382 members of the House of Representatives and 77 Senators, I was proud to co-sponsor legislation to repeal the "Widow’s Tax" and give relief to the loved ones of our fallen heroes.
