Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights Act of 2009

Floor Speech

CREDIT CARDHOLDERS' BILL OF RIGHTS ACT OF 2009 -- (House of Representatives - April 30, 2009)

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Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

First I need to thank Chairman Frank, Chairman Gutierrez, and my colleague, Representative Maloney, for their tireless leadership on this very important bill before us today. This bill takes real steps to curb the unfair, unreasonable, and deceptive practices that nearly 175 million Americans with credit cards are subject to.

Late fees, over-the-limit fees, arbitrary interests, increases in interest rates, the credit card companies have gotten away with far too much for far too long. It is time we level the playing field now for small businesses, families and individuals.

In Maine, like so many places across the country, this is one of the most important issues on the minds of hardworking men and women. If they have not themselves been the victim of arbitrary rate increases, double-cycle billing, and deceptive fees buried in pages of indecipherable terms, then they know someone who has.

While these deceptive and misleading practices have always been unfair, they have devastating financial consequences during this time of economic difficulty when more and more people are using their credit cards to buy gasoline, to pay for their health care bills, or put food on the table.

In Maine, not only have we been customers, but we are also employees of a credit card company. And as employees, we have seen firsthand the pervasive and unethical methods that these companies employ. When MBNA--now Bank of America--came into our community, people who had traditionally built homes or been fishermen found themselves using deceptive company practices to sell their neighbors credit they couldn't afford, and it took its toll.

Last fall, Nightline profiled Cate Columbo and Jerry Young of Camden, Maine, who worked 10-hour shifts at MBNA pushing customers into taking huge cash advances that they couldn't afford. The company urged employees to take advantage of parents sending their kids to college, homeowners, even veterans. In the Nightline piece, Cate said, ``I would come home, and I would literally be crying in the sink doing dishes.'' The deceptive and misleading practices that Cate, Jerry and thousands of others were pressured to enforce ran squarely counter to the core values that Mainers and those across this country live by every day. That is why it is so important to pass this landmark bill today.

I strongly support the bill before us, but I want to be sure that it is implemented as soon and as well as possible. It is very important that we, as Congress, should be diligent about making sure that the industry and the regulators hold up their end of the legislation. My amendment simply requires that the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System reports on the level of implementation every 90 days until he can report full industry adoption.

Mr. Chairman, consumers have demanded that Congress act to stop the egregious practices of credit card companies, and it is our responsibility to provide the accountability and oversight that is necessary to ensure this happens. As we move to rebuild our economy in a way that is honest and fair, this commonsense legislation will allow cardholders to responsibly manage their finances.

Today, this body has the opportunity to change course by fixing a broken credit card system. I urge a ``yes'' vote on the amendment and the underlying bill.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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