Equal Employment for All Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of a bill I introduced earlier today: the Equal Employment for All Act. A companion bill was introduced in the Senate today by Senator Elizabeth Warren.

According to a recent report, an increasing number of employers have been using credit reports, specifically consumer reports bearing on the consumer's creditworthiness, credit standing or credit capacity, as part of their hiring process. However, unless the job position involves significant financial responsibility, the use of a credit check for employment raises the obvious issue that a person's credit history has little to do with his or her qualifications for a job.

Far too often, employers turn down ``credit challenged'' applicants because they have erroneously linked credit scores to potential job performance. Even worse, the ``credit challenged'' have fallen victim to deceptive marketing practices by credit report companies or credit counseling services that charge outlandish fees that supposedly rehabilitate credit scores to help with employment.

The Equal Employment for All Act would right this wrong by amending the Fair Credit Reporting Act to prohibit the use of consumer credit checks by employers as part of the hiring or firing process unless the job involves national security, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation clearance, or significant financial responsibility.

With the passage of the Equal Employment for All Act, some of our most vulnerable, ``credit challenge'' citizens including students, recent college graduates, low-income families, senior citizens, and minorities, would be given the opportunity to begin rebuilding their credit by obtaining a job.

I also want to thank Senator Warren for her leadership and partnership on this important piece of legislation.
I urge my colleagues to help pass this bill.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source