Straight Talk With Sam (Protecting Our Troops at Home)

Straight Talk

Protecting Our Troops at Home

As many brave American troops fight in the war on terrorism overseas, here at home we appreciate their courage and sacrifice. Serving your country in a time of war is a noble calling, but it also requires time away from loved ones. The front lines of the War on Terror are filled with daily dangers we can only imagine.

That is why I cannot understand why some pay day loan lenders would target American troops here at home with loans whose annual percentage rate many times neared 800%. Yet that is exactly what is happening today in the United States. A Department of Defense study confirmed that predatory lenders cluster around military bases more than any other location and directly target our service men and women.

Because this problem is so great, I have worked for the past two years to pass legislation to make this type of predatory lending illegal. After two years of hard work, and with the help of Senator Jim Talent and the more than 80 military, veterans, consumer, and civil rights groups that worked alongside me, I was able to include the language from my bill, the Servicemembers Anti-Predatory Lending Protection Act, in this year's National Defense Authorization Act. My legislation caps interest rates at 35 percent and prohibits automatic rollovers. Our president is expected to sign this important legislation into law in the next few days.

Companies will no longer be able to specifically target soldiers and offer them short term, high interest loans which seem like quick cash. These interest rates would quickly rise and automatically rollovers would put our soldiers so far in debt that they couldn't get out of it. My legislation will make this illegal, so we can do better for our troops. Soldiers who protect us overseas should not be taken advantage of at home.

http://www.house.gov/graves/straighttalk/2006issue41.htm