STATES OF AMERICA CONTENTS t of S. 2825, S. 2825 amendment, and S. 3072... ALPHABETICAL LIST OF WITNESSES 5, Brig. Gen. W. W., Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Military ersonnel Policy), the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., accompanied by k, Hon. Ramsey, Deputy Attorney General, Department of Justice, ich, Warren, Jr., vice president, Shenandoah Telephone Co., Edin- le, Hon. Rosel H., Acting Chairman, Federal Communications Com- tz, Hubert, operating vice president, American Telephone & Tele- t, Adm. William C., executive vice president, U.S. Independent Tele- a_ gers, Paul, general counsel, National Association of Railroad & Utilities LETTERS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD rk, Ramsey, Deputy Attorney General, Department of Justice, May 11, 966_ , John G., American Telephone & Telegraph Co., 1730 K Street NW., rtz, H. L., American Telephone & Telegraph Co., May 27, 1966----. New York Times, April 4, 1966. New York Times, April 27, 1966. Evening Bulletin, April 28, 1966. The Evening Star, May 10, 1966- Compilation by States showing number of abusive calls. Senator Claiborne Pell's memorandum in support of legislation__. Attachments to Mr. Hyde's statement: "What you can do about obscene, harassing, or threatening phone 36-42 ABUSIVE AND HARASSING TELEPHONE CALLS WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 1966 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON COMMUNICATIONS, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10 a.m., in room 5110, New Senate Office Building, Hon. John O. Pastore (chairman of the subcommittee) pres.ding. Senator PASTORE. The hour of 10 having been reached, at which time this hearing was scheduled, the hearing will come to order. During the hearings conducted by this subcommittee last November, the growing practice of using the telephone for abusive and obscene purposes was dramatically revealed. The most glowing and vicious of the various examples involved the malicious calls made to families with a loved one killed or wounded in Vietnam where the anonymous caller uses obscene or abusive language or gloats over the death of the serviceman involved. I asked the Federal Communications Commission to look into this matter of obscene and harassing telephone calls. In its report to me in January of this year, the Commission indicated that the Bell System received approximately 375,000 complaints a year concerning abusive telephone calls that threaten or harass the recipients. It was also revealed that only 38 States had statutes making it a crime to make such calls. Most of the statutes are classed as misdemeanors with fines ranging from $100 to $500 and with prison terms ranging from 90 days to 2 years. Incidentally, each of these 38 statutes has been incorporated and printed in full in the hearing record this committee developed last November regarding the anonymous recorded telephone messages. Most important, however, was the disclosure that there is no Federal statute covering threatening, harassing, or abusive telephone calls. Over and above the fact that there were 12 States without statutes on this subject, the significance of the interstate nature of the problem becomes more obvious when one turns to a metropolitan area like Washington, D.C. It has Virginia and Maryland on its borders. This, of course, is true of many States as well. Here it is simple to dial from one area to another area. With direct dialing a way of operation in telephony, a call from one area to another is merely a simple dialing maneuver. This immediately raises jurisdictional questions. In view of the fact that the Federal Government has undertaken. under the Communications Act of 1934 to establish a comprehensive Staff counsel assigned to this hearing: Nicholas Zapple. scheme of regulation of the telephone system, it is logical that this obvious loophole regarding the interstate use of threatening and abusive purposes must be closed. This is the primary purpose of my bill, S. 2825, and S. 3072, introduced by my distinguished colleague from Missouri, Senator Edward Long. Since the introduction of S. 2825, this problem has grown in leaps and bounds. For instance, in the April 27 issue of the New York Times there appears the following statement: Crank telephone calls-some obscene, some threatening, all annoying-have become so epidemic and evil that the New York Telephone Company has set up an Annoyance Call Bureau to shield the victims. This bureau, created five weeks ago, already has received more than 1,000 complaints. The crank trend is up. Last year the Bureau of Policewomen of the Police Department recorded 11,810 complaints from women who had received obscene calls. That was a 30 per cent increase over 1964. The New England Telephone Co. has estimated that 1,500 abusive calls a month are made in its area. In order to assist in the apprehension of these anonymous, abusive callers, the Bell System has developed new techniques to trace these calls: One is a tone set, a box equipped with an on-and-off switch. The box is connected by a wire to the annoyed customer's phone on the customer's premises. When a crank call is received, the customer flips a switch which places a 20,000cycle tone on the circuit and also activates an alarm in the central office, alerting a switchman on duty to start tracing the call. This tone cannot be heard by either party but the switchman can pick it up on a test set that expedites his tracing procedures. 2 Other Devices: Another device is a pen register attached to the line of a prime suspect in a crank-call case. This instrument records the time, the call for later comparison with the complainant's log. A third device, mounted in a central office, puts the calling number, called number, date and time on a punch card. The telephone company representatives will give the committee a demonstration of these new techniques later this morning. I want to make it perfectly clear that there is no effort on my part to limit the freedom of speech as it applies to the use of the telephone. It would be unwise to place severe limitations on the use of telephones. This is why I have endeavored to be as specific in the legislation as one possibly can, but at the same time recognizing the gaping loophole that must be closed if we are to avoid the abusive and threatening calls that are increasing as each day goes by. Take, for example, the dreadful telephone call received by Mrs. Edna Klobe of Festus, Mo., on February 19. The anonymous caller said that he was from the War Department and this is what he said, and this is a quote: Your son has been wounded in Vietnam. He is being transferred to the New York Naval Hospital and you are wanted there immediately. Mrs. Klobe, 45 years old, has a weak heart, but she chose to carry the burden alone. She didn't want to worry her husband. After a careful check, it was established that the call had been a fake and that the young boy was safe and healthy. In my judgment there is no penalty too strong to impose on a warped individual who taunts a widow or parent about the death or health of their loved ones in Vietnam. This is cruel and vicious. |