Bill to deter U.S. companies from outsourcing jobs reintroduced in Congress

A bipartisan bill to deter American companies from shipping call center and service jobs to foreign countries has been reintroduced by Democrat Gene Green and Republican David McKinley in the U.S. Congress.

The U.S. Call Center and Consumer Protection Act

would deter companies from shipping American jobs overseas and incentivize them to locate in the U.S. by creating a public list of 'bad actors' consisting of those that shipped all or most of their service work overseas.

"There are 54,000 call center jobs in the Greater Houston area alone and 2.5 million nationwide. It is important that American workers continue to have access to good service sector jobs and receive a livable wage. Unfortunately, we have seen call center jobs moved overseas to India, the Philippines, and other countries. This bipartisan legislation will protect call center workers in Texas and throughout the country, and American consumers from unfair treatment," said Green.

In the last decade, there has been an increase in companies relocating their call centers overseas where foreign workers are often exposed to dismal labor conditions and paid cheaper wages.

"Our number one priority in Congress is protecting and creating American jobs," said McKinley.

"Plain and simple, we should not be rewarding companies for moving jobs offshore. This bill does not mandate that companies keep call centers here in America, but simply says if you move call center jobs offshore, you don't receive funding from the government. This should be common sense," he added.