Many of us in East Tennessee purchase caller ID to protect our privacy, to provide security by identifying an incoming caller and to give us the opportunity to decide whether or not to answer a call.

But some of the most frequent calls -- those from telemarketers -- appear with the message "out of area." There is no reason for legitimate telemarketers to hide their telephone numbers.

That is why I have co-sponsored H.R. 3100, The Know Your Caller Act. This legislation simply requires all people making telephone solicitations to clearly identify themselves and provide their phone numbers on caller ID devices. There are currently 55 cosponsors of this legislation.

Those who use the phone to advertise or sell their services, ask for contributions, encourage the purchase of property or goods, or for any other commercial purpose, should be required to have the names of their businesses and telephone numbers disclosed on caller ID.

If you have asked to have your name removed from telemarketers' phone lists, you should also be able to track these companies to make sure that they don't call back again.

This legislation can also help separate the legitimate telemarketers from fraudulent operations. While a majority of telemarketers are legitimate business people attempting to sell their product or service, some unscrupulous individuals and companies violate telemarketing rules and scam consumers.

Consumers pay a monthly service fee to subscribe to caller ID because they want to protect their privacy and their pocketbooks. This bill will allow them to do just that.