releases: https://web.archive.org/web/20140221164143/http://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=11992
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221164143/http://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=11992 | McCaskill to FCC: Refer Lifeline Companies to Justice Department for Criminal Investigation | 2013-09-23 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Democrat | House | MO | Claire McCaskill | M001170 | web.archive.org | legacy | WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, who has led the effort to reform the Lifeline government phone subsidy program, has called on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to refer multiple Lifeline service providers to Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors after reports of potentially criminal violations. McCaskill also called for the FCC to pursue its own enforcement actions against the companies and to significantly increase its oversight of the Lifeline program. The Lifeline program is funded by the Universal Service Fund (USF), which receives its resources from a fee telephone users pay on their phone bills. The FCC oversees the USF and, accordingly, the Lifeline program. A recent news report alleged that TerraCom Inc. and YourTel America Inc. had hired sales agents on commission who had signed up individuals for the program without their knowledge-and that they engaged in this practice on instruction from their superiors. In addition to referring the companies to DOJ officials, McCaskill, in her letter to Acting FCC Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn, demanded that the FCC aggressively pursue its own enforcement actions including seeking to assess the maximum fine of $1.5 million to both companies and barring them from further participation in Lifeline and other USF programs. "If these companies are found in violation of federal law, I expect the DOJ will prosecute those responsible to the fullest extent of the law," McCaskill's letter to Clyburn reads. "The fact that these companies were bold enough to continue to violate the law with impunity, even after they were previously fined for wrongdoing, highlights the shortfalls of FCC enforcement." McCaskill's letter to Clyburn called out the FCC's failures in oversight and enforcement of the Lifeline program-demanding the FCC dramatically improve, or face elimination of the program entirely. "I am prepared to work with you should you feel you need additional statutory authority to address the many shortcomings in the Lifeline program," McCaskill's letter to Clyburn reads. "However, I am equally prepared to aggressively pursue legislation to terminate the Lifeline program if the FCC continues to prove it cannot control the program." In 2011, McCaskill urged the FCC to provide stronger oversight of the little-scrutinized federal program-which provides subsidies to phone companies-after she received a solicitation at her home for a free cell phone from a participating provider in the Lifeline program. The mailer did not require documentation for proof of eligibility. McCaskill is not eligible for the program. Following those demands, the FCC issued new orders aimed at addressing waste, fraud, and abuse in the program. McCaskill recently called on the FCC to shift Lifeline funds into the recently-announced "ConnectED" initiative, which aims to connect 99 percent of America's students to the Internet through high-speed broadband in schools and libraries over the next five years. A copy of McCaskill's letter to Clyburn can be found on her website, HERE. Click HERE to see key highlights in McCaskill's fight to boost accountability in government. ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |