Issue Position: Restore Consumer Protections and Rebuild Consumer Confidence

Issue Position

Strong and fair consumer protection laws help keep hard-earned dollars in the pockets of consumers. They also level the playing field for businesses. Most businesses play by the rules; those that don't must not gain competitive advantage by making misrepresentations or engaging in unscrupulous practices. I have spent my career standing up for consumers and small businesses, first at the Federal Trade Commission, then as an attorney in the private sector representing small business owners, and most recently as a state legislator. I have taken on financial firms when they engaged in predatory lending and other unfair practices, and I prevented insurance companies from taking advantage of seniors.

In Congress, I intend to ensure that our marketplace is fair, that there are effective rules, and that those rules are enforced.

Action: Stand up for American Consumers

Reinstate consumer and business protections. We need to reinstate important financial protections that were eliminated by the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act. These rules worked for decades and a return to them will help to bring responsibility and accountability to Wall Street.

Support the newly-created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) by the Dodd-Frank Act is an important step in restoring consumer confidence and faith in our economy. Efforts to undermine the mission and legitimacy of the bureau is nothing more than pure politics. In the Budget Committee I offered an amendment to ensure that the CFPB is fully funded, but it was rejected on a party line vote. I will continue the fight to support this critical consumer watchdog.

Keep families in their homes and help the housing industry. Right now, too many people are in foreclosure or worried that they may be soon. Foreclosure impacts not only the family when they lose their home, but also the neighborhood. Oregonians should have access to every valid opportunity to prevent foreclosure. As a state legislator, I helped to pass legislation that requires lenders to give homeowners facing foreclosure the opportunity to request a meeting and to do a good faith review of a homeowner's loan modification request. I will continue to work for financial reform in Congress, because with thousands of homeowners at risk of foreclosure, taking further steps to ensure that more families are given every opportunity to stay in their home is critically important to our economic recovery.

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