Well that didnt take too long folks!

THE HOUSE VOTED 412-8 after less than hour of debate. Lawmakers from both
parties uniformly blasted a decision by U.S. District Judge Lee R. West, who
ruled Tuesday that the Federal Trade Commission lacked authority to create
and operate the registry.
      "The judge in this case is dead wrong and I'm sure his decision will
in turn be overturned," said Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La., chairman of the House
Energy and Commerce Committee. "We should probably call the bill 'This Time
We Really Mean It Act' to cure any myopia in the judicial branch. The bill
leaves no doubt as to the intent of Congress."
      The bill says the FTC may operate the list, which was approved by
Congress last year and is scheduled to take effect Wednesday. The Senate was
expected to pass similar legislation Thursday.
      If the bill passes both chambers and is signed into law by President
Bush, that does not automatically nullify the court order. West, the
Oklahoma City judge must still dismiss the case brought by telemarketers in
order for the list to move ahead.
      White House spokesman Scott McClellan would not firmly commit Bush to
signing legislation on the registry, but he said the administration
disagrees with the ruling and supports the efforts in Congress to keep the
do-not-call list on schedule.
      The bills were hastily drafted Wednesday. The speed with which
Congress acted underscored the popularity of the list, which after less than
four months already has nearly 51 million numbers.
      "This legislation got to the House floor faster than a consumer can
hang up on a telemarketer at dinnertime," said Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass.
      The FTC expects the list to block 80 percent of telemarketing calls.
Exemptions include calls from charities, pollsters and on behalf of
politicians.
  The FTC's rules require telemarketers to check the list every three
months to see who doesn't want to be called. Those who call listed people
could be fined up to $11,000 for each violation. Consumers would file
complaints to an automated phone or online system.
      The FTC is moving ahead with the list despite the court ruling and is
encouraging consumers to continue signing up.
      "One way or another we believe this District Court decision will not
stand in the way," said Eileen Harrington, the FTC's director of marketing
practices. The FTC has asked the judge to delay the decision while it files
an appeal. Telemarketers say the list would devastate their industry and
lead to the loss of thousands of jobs. The Direct Marketing Association, one
of the groups that challenged the registry, said it hadn't decided whether
its members would stop calling people on the list starting next Wednesday.
      West ruled late Tuesday that the Federal Communications Commission,
not the FTC, has the authority to oversee a national do-not-call registry.
      West said recently adopted rules that allowed the FTC to create such
a list were invalid. But he did not issue an order directing the FTC to stop
the list.
      During the House debate, Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., held up a piece of
paper he said had the judge's phone number written on it and jokingly
threatened to distribute it.
      That idea had already occurred to angry consumers, who posted the
judge's office and home telephone numbers on Web sites after the ruling and
encouraged people to call and complain.
      Since the FTC opened the do-not-call list for registration in June,
people have submitted 31.1 million phone numbers at the Web site
www.donotcall.gov and 10.9 million by calling toll-free at 1-888-382-1222.
An additional 8.6 million numbers were transferred from existing state
lists.
      There are about 166 million residential phone numbers in the United
States and an additional 150 million cell phone numbers.