Credit Cardholders' Bill Of Rights Act Of 2009

Floor Speech

Credit Cardholders' Bill Of Rights Act Of 2009

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Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. I thank the chairman of the full committee, Mr. Frank. I thank Mr. Gutierrez, our chairperson of the Financial Institutions Subcommittee. I would like to thank the ranking member, whom I have a great relationship with and I look forward to working with. And I would like to move quickly now to why I am supporting this legislation.

Mr. Chairman, the right time to do right is right now. We do not want to allow ourselves to become victims of something known as the paralysis of analysis. We have analyzed this bill for years. It is now time for us to act.

It is right for us to do something about retroactive rate increases. This bill does something about it. If you have a balance and the rate goes up, should the interest rate increase apply to your previous balance or should it apply to balances going forward? That's what this bill does. It does not allow it to apply to charges that you've already made.

Should a person who is not emancipated, who is younger than 18 years of age receive a credit card? I don't think so. This bill prohibits this.

Should persons have adequate notice to deal with rate increases? Forty-five days is really not unreasonable if you get a rate increase on your credit card. This bill accords 45 days' notice of rate increases.

Should a person have the right to have the payment go to the lowest interest rate so as to pay off that rate first as opposed to the highest interest rate? Well, I think that we ought to let people pay off the highest interest rate so that they can make sure that they are not going to have higher bills in the future.

The right time to do right is right now. Let's not become a victim of what's known as the paralysis of analysis. Let's move forward. Let's pass this legislation.

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