U.S. Reps. Ryan, Strickland vote against legislation

With two call centers in each district, the Democrats want to protect jobs.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- U.S. Reps. Tim Ryan and Ted Strickland were among only eight members of the U.S. House to vote against legislation to make sure the national do-not-call telemarketing list goes into effect next week.
The Thursday vote came in response to a Tuesday ruling by a U.S. District Judge in Oklahoma that the Federal Trade Commission does not have the power to create and operate the do-not-call program. Judge Lee R. West said the Federal Communications Commission was the proper authority to oversee the registry, but he didn't order the FTC to stop the list.
The House voted 412-8 to give the FTC the authority to operate the list. Ryan of Niles, D-17th, and Strickland of Lisbon, D-6th, were two of the three Democrats to vote against the bill. The five other no votes came from Republicans.
Even if the bill is signed into law by President Bush, it doesn't automatically nullify the court order, according to the Associated Press. Judge West must still dismiss the case brought by telemarketers in order for the list to move ahead, the AP reports.
In February, the House approved the Do-Not-Call Implementation Act that banned telemarketers from phoning people who asked not to be called, and collected fees from telemarketers to pay for maintaining the list for the next five years. Ryan and Strickland voted against that legislation as well and were the only Democrats to do so. Also, five Republicans voted against the measure.
Democrats' views
Ryan and Strickland say they don't support the do-not-call legislation because there are several call centers in their congressional districts, and to not permit those centers' employees to call people could cost them their jobs. There are at least three call centers each in Ryan's and Strickland's districts.
Strickland freely acknowledges that getting calls from telemarketers is an inconvenience.
"The inconvenience of an unwanted call is tolerable, but job loss is devastating to the person deprived of resources" by being fired, he said. "I have about 1,000 constituents who depend on jobs at call centers for their livelihood. I've also got a region of Ohio where there are high levels of unemployment. These calls are aggravating, but they're tolerable."
Strickland said he was also concerned that call centers would just move out of the country and continue to telephone U.S. citizens because the bill doesn't restrict that activity.
"We would have deprived people of jobs and would have failed to accomplish the goal of stopping unwanted calls," he said.
Strickland realizes his vote isn't going to be popular and probably wasn't the smartest move politically, but he made a judgment call.
Ryan also said his vote was about keeping people working.
"My vote against a national Do-Not-Call list is about jobs for my district," Ryan said. "In the 17th District of Ohio, thousands of men and women work as telemarketers. These are good people who deserve the right to make a living. This area cannot afford to lose one more job."
Requirements
The FTC expects the do-not-call list to block 80 percent of telemarketing calls; exemptions include calls from charities, pollsters and from those calling on behalf of politicians, the AP reports.
Telemarketers are required to check the list every three months to update their records. Telemarketing companies that call people on the do-not-call list face up to $11,000 in fines for each violation.
The do-not-call list is scheduled to take effect Wednesday. The FTC says there are currently 50.6 million residential telephone numbers on the list, all of whom signed up in the past three months.
skolnick@vindy.com