Providing for Consideration of H.R. 5244, Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights Act of 2008

PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 5244, CREDIT CARDHOLDERS' BILL OF RIGHTS ACT OF 2008 -- (House of Representatives - September 23, 2008)

Mrs. MALONEY of New York. I thank the gentleman for yielding and for his leadership.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the rule on H.R. 5244, the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights. The rule before us gives the House an opportunity to have a clear up-or-down vote on meaningful credit card reforms that will level the playing field between cardholders and credit card companies.

This legislation passed the House Financial Services Committee on July 31 on a vote of 39-27 and has the support of 155 cosponsors in this House.

For too long our constituents have found themselves on the wrong side of a very uneven playing field between them and their credit card companies. This bill restores fairness to credit cards and brings back the notion that a deal is a deal.

The bill that this rule will allow for consideration represents a work product that the committee and I started at the beginning of this Congress. We met with the stakeholders, issuers, consumer groups and the regulators and economists. We listened to real consumers and experts in consumer law and economics. We held six hearings in my subcommittee on the reforms contained in this bill and the reforms that are proposed by the Federal Reserve.

A year ago I held a round table which produced gold standard principles to guide voluntary issuer action. Several issuers announced changes in policy consistent with the principles, and I applaud their efforts.

In May, the Federal Reserve, the Office of Thrift Supervision, and the National Credit Union Administrator released proposed rules to prohibit unfair and deceptive acts and practices that track the key provisions of my legislation. These regulations have received an astonishing, record-breaking 56,000 comments from consumers in support, the largest ever in history.

But without legislation, regulations can be stopped or scaled back, and lucrative abuse of practices will continue, and issuers who gave them up will lose profits and their market share. We need legislation to level the playing field for consumers and issuers so that the normal forces of the free market can work together again.

The bill has been endorsed by 12 consumer groups. I would like to place their names in the Record and applaud their hard work. Labor unions, including the AFL-CIO, and especially the SEIU, and civil rights organizations, the Leadership Council on Civil Rights, the NAACP, and the National Council of La Raza. Editorials and op-eds endorsing the need for credit card reform have run in more than 55 newspapers across the Nation, and these editorials can be seen on my Website. Commentators from Pat Robertson of Christian broadcasters and Lou Dobbs of CNN have consistently supported this effort. Senator Barack Obama has called for a Credit Cardholder's Bill of Rights, and Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin has said that Republicans should get on this issue and not leave it to Democrats. So it is a bipartisan effort.

Even four of the five banking regulators have called for the specific reforms contained in this bill. I say this because some on the other side may argue against this rule. But I want the American people to understand all of the work that has gone into this work product. This bill, this process has been open and bipartisan.

Today, with the rule now before us, we get to preserve the core principles of this legislation, and this rule gives us a chance to have a clean up-or-down vote on meaningful credit card reform. I support this rule and look forward to the underlying debate.

I would like to conclude by saying that it is now clear that in the area of consumer credit, the same lack of reasonable regulations, transparency and prudent lending has led to a level of pain on Main Street that matches or exceeds the pain on Wall Street. This is our chance to do something about it.

We are called upon to come forward with a $700 billion backstop for Wall Street. This legislation gives a backstop and support to Main Street.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

H.R. 5244--The Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights

There are 155 Cosponsors, 153 Democrats, 2 Republicans.

Passed House Financial Services Committee on July 31st on vote of 39-27.

Endorsed by consumer groups, labor unions, civil rights organizations and editorial boards from across the nation.

Consumer Groups: U.S. Public Interest Research Group, Consumers Union, Consumer Action, Center for Responsible Lending, National Consumer Law Center, De 8mos: A Network for Ideas & Action, Consumer Federation of America, ACORN, National Association of Consumer Advocates, National Association of Neighborhoods, and National Fair Housing Alliance.

Labor Unions: American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and Service Employees International Union.

Civil Rights Organizations: Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), National Council of La Raza.

Editorial Boards: New York Times, Frederick News Post, Detroit Free Press, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Staten Island Advance, The Miami Herald, The Philadelphia Inquirer, San Gabriel Valley Tribune (California), Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Florida), The Boston Globe, The Herald (SC), Buffalo News (New York), Knoxville News-Sentinel (TN), The Columbus Dispatch (OH), The St. Petersburg Times (FL), Daily and Sunday Review (PA), The Lebanon Daily News (Pennsylvania), Asbury Park Press (New Jersey), Newsday (NY), The Charleston Gazette (W. VA), The Dallas Morning News, The Baltimore Sun, The Times Union (Albany, NY), The Toledo Blade (OH), The Burlington Free Press (Vermont), St. Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota), Brattleboro Reformer (Vermont), The Ithaca Journal (New York), The Macon Telegraph (Georgia), The Kansas City Star, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pennsylvania), The Denver Post, The Record (Bergen County, NJ), Lowell Sun (Massachusetts), The Oregonian (Portland, Oregon), The Columbus Dispatch (Ohio), St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri), San Diego Union Tribune, Albuquerque Journal (New Mexico), Portland Press Herald (Maine), USA Today, The News & Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina), The Olympian (Washington), Morning Call (Allentown, Pennsylvania), The Cincinnati Enquirer (Ohio), The Seattle

Post-Intelligencer, Grand Rapid Press (Michigan), The Providence Journal (Rhode Island), The Detroit News (Michigan), The Roanoke Times (Virginia), Lancaster New Era (Pennsylvania), The Myrtle Beach Sun-News (South Carolina), and The State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL).

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