Credit Card Rate Freeze Act of 2009

Floor Speech

CREDIT CARD RATE FREEZE ACT OF 2009 -- (Senate - November 18, 2009)

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Mr. SCHUMER. I thank the Senator for his usual graciousness. I commend my colleague from Connecticut for the outstanding job he has done on this issue. I regret that the consent to move to the legislation has been blocked.

The bottom line is this: We know there are real problems in the credit card industry. We know that things are happening you would never imagine would happen. People are moving interest rates--maybe you had your balance at $4,000, 7 percent, and you know your family budget, and then it goes up to $23,000. This legislation would have stopped that.

What the banks are doing now is jumping the gun and moving things ahead in a way that is very wrong. To move up the date would simply make sure this legislation affects more people than it would have. It is a good idea. I hope we will still reconsider it later. I hope the public, who cares about this, will let all Senators from both sides of the aisle know how important this is.

With that, I thank the Senator from Connecticut. He has been such a leader in fighting for consumers throughout this session. He deserves every American's thanks.

I yield the floor.

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