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)

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Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, I rise as an enthusiastic supporter of the legislation that has been prepared by the gentlewoman from New York. Credit card abuse is rampant, and her legislation helps us to correct some of the most egregious abuses.

I have just come from the Subcommittee on Health on which I serve. It's well known that the number one item in terms of credit card debt is for medical bills and that health care costs are the number one cause of personal bankruptcy in this country.

When we wrote the bankruptcy bill a few years ago, what began as a reasonable reform to deal with problems with debtors became an entirely one-sided piece of legislation that ignored these rampant abuses in the credit card industry. So it's appropriate here, under new leadership and a Democratic Congress and the leadership of the gentlewoman from New York, we are finally belatedly addressing some of these abuses.

But all of this will be for naught unless this measure becomes part of the great Wall Street bailout that the President has proposed. Once again, the proposal being advanced from this administration, not unlike our old debate about the bankruptcy laws, is all one-sided: give to those who cause the problem, give taxpayer money to those who cause the problem, and let those who cause the problem decide how that money is distributed. It's all one-sided.

If such a bill in any form is to be passed--and I think there's great debate about the wisdom of approving anything in this area of the type that has been advanced--but if such a measure is to be approved, it is essential that we do just a little bit for the consumers who have been entrapped, in many cases, with massive amounts of credit card debt. And incorporating the modest but very important reforms that the gentlewoman from New York has advanced into this legislation is absolutely essential.

We need not negotiate just over the unsatisfactory proposal that was advanced by the Treasury Department.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.

Mr. WELCH of Vermont. Mr. Speaker, I will yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. DOGGETT. We need not be limited by just trying to improve an unsatisfactory proposal advanced by the administration; we need to add to that negotiating list key consumer reforms like this so that the protection is just not for the wrongdoers on Wall Street, but it's for the average consumer struggling to make ends meet with a huge credit card debt. And I applaud the gentlewoman from New York for her leadership.

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