Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2024

Floor Speech

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Mrs. RAMIREZ. Mr. Chair, the bottom line is this: Undermining the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau harms Americans' financial security.

That is why today I am offering my amendment supporting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the CFPB, and its independence, which is essential in protecting Americans from predatory practices.

I offer this amendment at the urging of the Illinois Coalition For Immigrant and Refugee Rights, an invaluable organization in my district.

Established after the 2008 financial crisis, the CFPB protects Americans from predatory financial practices and lenders while fighting discrimination in the financial sector. In its first 12 years, the CFPB has been able to return or restore over $17.5 billion to American consumers in compensation, canceled debts, and other relief. It has filed over 4 million complaints against companies on behalf of consumers.

My amendment affirms that Congress should not meddle in an independent agency and acknowledges the importance of the Bureau in protecting consumers from exploitative practices, including when it comes to questionable, crushing medical debt. The CFPB's work is incredibly important, especially as medical debt continues to burden communities in my State of Illinois and disproportionately impacts Black and Brown people.

Across the country, 41 percent of U.S. adults currently have unpaid medical or dental bills. I know many of them, and many of them are in my own family.

During my time serving as executive director of an organization that worked to advance economic opportunity, I have seen medical debt destroy individual's and families' financial security and rob them of their financial futures.

Medical debt puts people in impossible positions. They have to choose between seeking necessary healthcare and paying for their basic needs like food, housing, and heat when it is 20 degrees in Chicago.

While we could solve the challenge of crushing medical debt through universal healthcare and Medicare for All, medical debt continues to plague the American people.

We have to protect our communities from abusive and deceitful practices that compound the challenges that everyday Americans face when navigating medical emergencies. One of those deceitful practices is deferred interest medical credit cards. Research from CFPB is exposing the exploitive practices around these medical credit cards, which have average interest rates 10 times higher than our average credit cards.

Let's think about that. Our credit cards already have extremely high interest rates. These are 10 times higher. Patients seeking medical help who are given this option are almost always unaware of the exploitative charges and costs if the full balance is not paid by their deadline.

The CFPB's vital role also includes cracking down on debt collectors who try to trick and coerce patients into paying medical debt that unlawfully exceeds cost caps.

CFPB has been working to remove medical debt from credit reports as medical debt should never be an indicator of someone's worth and should never limit a person's opportunity for a prosperous and thriving life, including access to safe, stable housing and employment opportunities.

That is why, Mr. Chair, it is critical for the CFPB to maintain its independence from congressional meddling so that it can continue to address practices that are harming consumers, especially predatory lending that leads to medical debt, and to hold bad actors accountable.

As someone who is deeply concerned with housing access and affordability, CFPB's work to remove medical debt from credit reports would literally change the outcome for thousands of working families. It would improve the credit scores of millions of Americans, opening up access to rental housing, insurance, the purchase of their first home, and even employment for many who experience barriers due to their low credit scores.

We know that CFPB has reported that debt collectors use inaccurate or outdated information about their medical debt. It is clear that the CFPB serves an essential function in protecting hardworking, everyday Americans from predatory practices and financial exploitation.

Let me say this loud and clear: An attack on the CFPB is an attack on everyday Americans and working families. We must protect the independent funding of the CFPB, and we have to reject every assault on its funding structure.

We have to allow CFPB to move forward with its number one job of protecting the American consumer.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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