As chairman of the New York State Senate Consumer Protection Committee and sponsor of the law creating the NYS Telemarketer 'Do Not Call' Registry, I wish to applaud the Federal Trade Commission for their efforts to follow this state's lead and institute a national 'Do Not Call' Registry to further protect consumers.

With fines of up to $5,000 per violation, the NYS 'Do Not Call' Registry has been recognized as one of the nation's toughest consumer protection laws. In just two years, it has become the nation's largest 'Do Not Call' Registry with over 1.8 million registered consumers and over $570,000 collected from telemarketer companies that have violated the law.

New York State's success has undoubtedly convinced the Federal Trade Commission to institute this consumer protection service nationwide. A national 'Do Not Call' Registry will give New York State registered consumers an additional layer of protection from potential telemarketer fraud which the FBI estimates to cost consumers and the elderly over $40 billion each year throughout the US.

Charles J. Fuschillo, Jr.

New York State Senator