[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1551 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1551

   To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish an Office of 
Consumer Protection in the Department of Transportation, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 11, 2023

   Mr. Schatz (for himself, Mr. Welch, Mr. Lujan, Mr. Fetterman, Mr. 
Markey, and Ms. Cortez Masto) introduced the following bill; which was 
  read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
                             Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish an Office of 
Consumer Protection in the Department of Transportation, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Improved Transportation Consumer 
Protection Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF CONSUMER PROTECTION.

    Section 102 of title 49, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (e)(1)--
                    (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by 
                striking ``7'' and inserting ``8''; and
                    (B) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``and an 
                Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy'' and 
                inserting ``an Assistant Secretary for Transportation 
                Policy, and an Assistant Secretary for Consumer 
                Protection''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(j) Office of Consumer Protection.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--There is established in the 
        Department an Office of Consumer Protection (referred to in 
        this subsection as the `Office') to administer and enforce the 
        authority provided to the Department by statute--
                    ``(A) to assist, educate, and protect consumers;
                    ``(B) to monitor compliance with, conduct 
                investigations relating to, and enforce, including by 
                taking appropriate action to address violations of, 
                consumer protection, civil rights, and licensing 
                requirements; and
                    ``(C) to promulgate, as appropriate, consumer 
                protection and civil rights regulations.
            ``(2) Leadership.--The Office shall be headed by the 
        Assistant Secretary for Consumer Protection (referred to in 
        this subsection as the `Assistant Secretary').
            ``(3) Coordination.--The Assistant Secretary shall 
        coordinate with the General Counsel appointed under subsection 
        (e)(1)(E), in accordance with section 1.26 of title 49, Code of 
        Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation), on all legal 
        matters relating to--
                    ``(A) consumer protection; or
                    ``(B) the duties and activities of the Office 
                described in subparagraphs (A) through (C) of paragraph 
                (1).
            ``(4) Annual report.--The Assistant Secretary shall submit 
        to Congress and make publicly available on the website of the 
        Department an annual report that, with respect to matters under 
        the jurisdiction of the Department, or otherwise within the 
        statutory authority of the Department to address--
                    ``(A) analyzes trends in consumer protection, civil 
                rights, and licensing;
                    ``(B) identifies major challenges facing consumers; 
                and
                    ``(C) addresses any other relevant issues, as the 
                Assistant Secretary determines to be appropriate.''.
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