Americans are being overwhelmed by unsolicited calls claiming we have been “approved” for loans, credit, debt relief, financing, and other financial products we never requested.

This is no longer just an annoyance. It can create a serious safety problem.

After receiving unwanted calls day after day—often from spoofed or constantly changing numbers—people become conditioned not to answer calls from numbers they do not recognize.

But the next unfamiliar number could be the call that matters most.

It could be a child trying to reach a parent during an emergency, an elderly parent needing help, a doctor or hospital trying to reach a patient, a caregiver, school, patient, or another person with an urgent need.

We give our children cell phones so they can reach us. Families depend on phones to stay connected with elderly parents. Doctors, patients, hospitals, caregivers, and schools rely on phones to communicate when time matters.

When Americans are trained by relentless unwanted calls to distrust the ringing phone, that trust is lost.

We call on Congress, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), state attorneys general, telecommunications companies, and appropriate law-enforcement agencies to work together to:

• Strengthen enforcement against illegal and abusive telemarketing, robocalling, caller-ID spoofing, and deceptive financial solicitations.
• Improve technology to identify, trace, block, and report abusive calling operations.
• Identify the companies, lead generators, call centers, brokers, and individuals responsible—including those hiding behind spoofed or constantly changing numbers.
• Impose meaningful financial and legal consequences on repeat and large-scale offenders.
• Improve coordination among federal and state regulators, telecommunications providers, and law enforcement.
• Protect legitimate emergency, medical, family, school, caregiving, and business communications while combating illegal calls.
• Americans should not have to choose between answering a flood of unwanted calls and potentially missing the one call that truly matters.

A child should be able to reach a parent. An elderly parent should be able to reach family. A doctor or hospital should be able to reach a patient.

Our phones are supposed to connect us—not condition us to ignore each other.

This is about more than spam. It is about restoring trust in one of our most important means of communication.

Sign this petition and urge America's lawmakers, regulators, telecommunications companies, state officials, and law-enforcement agencies to take meaningful, coordinated action.