[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 51 (Tuesday, May 3, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          AMENDMENTS SUBMITTED

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                       FAIR CREDIT REPORTING ACT

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                  BRYAN AND OTHERS) AMENDMENT NO. 1667

  Mr. BRYAN (for himself, Mr. Bond, and Mr. Riegle) proposed an 
amendment to the bill (S. 783) to amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 
and for other purposes; as follows:

       On page 80, line 2, strike ``and''.
       On page 80, between lines 2 and 3, insert the following:
       ``(B) an identifier that is not unique to the consumer and 
     that is used by the person solely for the purpose of 
     verifying the identity of the consumer; and
       On page 80, line 3, strike ``(B)'' and insert ``(C)''.
       On page 80, line 20, strike ``subsection (d)'' and insert 
     ``subsections (a)(2) and (d)''.
       On page 105, strike lines 17 through 21 and insert the 
     following:
       ``(3) if the consumer certifies in writing that the 
     consumer--
       ``(A) is unemployed and intends to apply for employment 
     during the 60-day period beginning on the date on which such 
     certification is made;
       ``(B) is a recipient of public welfare assistance; or
       ``(C) has been the victim of fraud.
       On page 106, line 7, strike the quotation marks and the 
     final period.
       On page 106, between lines 7 and 8, insert the following 
     new subsection:
       ``(c) Consumer Reports at Specified Charge.--
       ``(1) In general.--Upon the written request of a consumer, 
     a consumer reporting agency that maintains a file on the 
     consumer shall make all disclosures pursuant to section 609 
     once during any 12-month period at the applicable charge 
     described in paragraph (2).
       ``(2) Applicable charge.--For purposes of paragraph (1), 
     the applicable charge shall not exceed the lesser of--
       ``(A) the total costs incurred by the consumer reporting 
     agency in making the disclosures; and
       ``(B) $3.''.
       On page 107, strike lines 16 through 18 and insert 
     ``paragraph (2); and''.
       On page 112, between lines 14 and 15, insert the following 
     new subsection:
       (d) Affiliate Sharing Notice Requirement.--Section 615 of 
     the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681m), as amended 
     by subsections (b) and (c), is amended by adding at the end 
     the following new subsection:
       ``(f) Affiliate Sharing Notice Requirement.--Whenever 
     credit or insurance for personal, family, or household 
     purposes involving a consumer is denied or the charge for 
     such credit is increased, either wholly or partly because of 
     information that is furnished to the user of the information 
     by a person related to the user by common ownership or 
     affiliated by corporate control, and that bears upon the 
     consumer's creditworthiness, credit standing, credit 
     capacity, character, general reputation, personal 
     characteristics, or mode of living, the user of such 
     information shall--
       ``(1) notify the consumer of the action, and upon a written 
     request from the consumer for the reasons for such action 
     that is received by the user not later than 60 days after 
     transmitting such notice, not later than 30 days after 
     receiving such request, disclose the nature of the 
     information to the consumer; and
       ``(2) provide to the consumer a toll-free telephone number 
     that is established and maintained by the user and that 
     enables the consumer to contact the user regarding the 
     action.''.
       On page 112, line 20, strike ``A person'' and insert 
     ``Except as provided in section 622(c), a person''.
       On page 112, line 23, strike ``subsection (c)'' and insert 
     ``subsection (b)''.
       On page 113, strike lines 1 through 3.
       On page 113, line 4, strike ``(c)'' and insert ``(b)''.
       On page 113, line 18, strike ``(d)'' and insert ``(c)''.
       On page 114, line 6, strike ``A person'' and insert 
     ``Except as provided in section 622(c), a person''.
       On page 114, line 9, strike ``subsection (c)'' and insert 
     ``subsection (b)''.
       On page 114, strike lines 10 through 12.
       On page 114, line 13, strike ``(c)'' and insert ``(b)''.
       On page 114, line 23, strike ``(d)'' and insert ``(c)''.
       On page 115, strike line 23 and all that follows through 
     page 116, line 2, and insert the following:
       ``(2) Duty to correct and update information after 
     reinvestigation.--A person who furnishes to a consumer 
     reporting agency information that is disputed by a consumer 
     in accordance with section 611 and that, as a result of an 
     investigation conducted in accordance with subsection (b), is 
     determined by the person to be inaccurate or incomplete 
     shall--''.
       On page 116, between lines 9 and 10, insert the following 
     new paragraph:
       ``(3) Duty to correct information otherwise determined to 
     be inaccurate or incomplete.--A person who regularly and in 
     the ordinary course of business furnishes to a consumer 
     reporting agency information that, other than as a result of 
     an investigation conducted in accordance with subsection (b), 
     is determined by the person to be inaccurate or incomplete 
     shall--
       ``(A) promptly notify the consumer reporting agency of that 
     determination; and
       ``(B) provide to the agency any corrections to that 
     information, or any additional information, necessary to make 
     the information provided by the person to the agency complete 
     and accurate.
       On page 116, line 10, strike ``(3)'' and insert ``(4)''.
       On page 116, line 18, strike ``(4)'' and insert ``(5)''.
       On page 117, line 1, strike ``(5)'' and insert ``(6)''.
       On page 117, strike line 9 and all that follows through 
     page 118, line 10.
       On page 118, line 11, strike ``(c)'' and insert ``(b)''.
       On page 118, line 19, strike ``25-day'' and all that 
     follows through ``611(a)(1)'' and insert the following: 
     ``applicable period under section 611(a), during which the 
     consumer reporting agency is required to complete actions 
     required by that section regarding that information''.
       On page 118, line 25, strike ``(d)'' and insert ``(c)''.
       On page 119, strike lines 1 through 3 and insert the 
     following:
       ``(1) Limitation on liability.--Sections 616 and 617 do not 
     apply to any failure to comply with paragraph (1), (3), (4), 
     (5), or (6) of subsection (a).
       ``(2) Enforcement.--Paragraphs (1), (3), (4), (5), and (6) 
     of subsection (a) shall be enforced exclusively under section 
     621 by the agencies identified in that section.
       On page 119, line 4, strike ``(2)'' and insert ``(3)''.
       On page 120, line 9, insert ``except in the case of a 
     violation of section 622(a)(1),'' after ``(D)''.
       On page 121, line 23, insert ``, except that no civil 
     penalty may be imposed for a violation of section 622(a)(1)'' 
     before the quotation marks.
       On page 123, between lines 18 and 19, insert the following:
       ``(ii) section 605, relating to obsolete information, 
     except that this clause does not affect the applicability of 
     any State law in effect on the date of enactment of the 
     Consumer Reporting Reform Act of 1994;
       On page 123, line 19, strike ``(ii)'' and insert ``(iii)''.
       On page 124, line 3, strike ``(iii)'' and insert ``(iv)''.
       On page 124, line 8, strike ``(iv)'' and insert ``(v)''.
       On page 124, line 18, strike ``under--'' and all that 
     follows through ``622(b)(2)'' and insert ``under section 
     609(c)''.
       On page 126, line 6, strike ``under--'' and all that 
     follows through line 8 and insert the following: ``under 
     section 609(c).
       ``(4) Applicability.--Notwithstanding any other provision 
     of this subsection, beginning 6 years after the date of 
     enactment of the Consumer Reporting Reform Act of 1994, a 
     State may adopt a law, or certify that the voters of the 
     State have voted in favor of a constitutional or other 
     provision, which states explicitly and by its terms that the 
     law or provision is intended to supplement this Act, if the 
     law or provision gives greater protection to the consumer 
     than is provided under this Act.''.
       On page 133, line 7, strike ``You have'' and all that 
     follows through the period on line 10.
       On page 133, line 10, strike ``also''.
       On page 133, line 14, insert the following after the 
     period: ``You are also entitled to receive a free copy of 
     your credit report if you are unemployed and intend to apply 
     for employment during the next 60 days, if you are a 
     recipient of public welfare assistance, or if you have been 
     the victim of fraud.''.

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               LIEBERMAN (AND OTHERS) AMENDMENT NO. 1668

  Mr. LIEBERMAN (for himself and Mr. Mack, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Gramm, Mr. 
Bradley, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Bingaman, Mr. DeConcini, Mr. Wellstone, 
Mr. Gorton, Mr. Shelby, Mr. Bennett, Mr. Faircloth, Mrs. Hutchison, Mr. 
Lautenberg, and Mr. Robb) proposed an amendment to the bill S. 783, 
supra; as follows:

       At the appropriate place insert:

     SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

       (a) The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) is 
     currently considering changing the Generally Accepted 
     Accounting Principle relating to employee stock options plans 
     and stock purchase plans;
       (b) FASB's proposal that would require the use of complex 
     mathematical formulas to estimate a value for employee stock 
     options at the date of grant and requires those estimated 
     values be deducted from earnings on companies' income 
     statements;
       (c) FASB has just completed an extended review of its 
     proposal which included a public comment period, numerous 
     field hearings and a field test;
       (d) FASB's proposal has generated opposition which is 
     unprecedented in both its intensity and universality;
       (e) The accounting profession, as represented by the 
     American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and each 
     of the 6 largest national accounting firms, oppose FASB's 
     proposal;
       (f) Individual investors, as represented by the United 
     Shareholders Association, oppose FASB's proposal;
       (g) Institutional investors and pension funds, as 
     represented by the Council of Institutional Investors, oppose 
     FASB's proposal;
       (h) Both the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of 
     Commerce have raised serious concerns about FASB's proposal: 
     ``Most troubling is the possibility that implementation of 
     the proposal might result in more volatile and less accurate 
     and consistent financial statements because of the extreme 
     difficulty of valuing long-term, non-marketable, forfeitable 
     stock options;''
       (i) There is a broad consensus among those who have studied 
     the FASB proposal it will diminish and not improve either the 
     integrity or comparability of information available to 
     investors;
       (j) The National economic policy implications of FASB's 
     proposal are substantial because small, growth-oriented 
     companies often lack capital and therefore regularly rely on 
     broad-based employee stock options to attract employees and 
     large business provide employee stock options and broad-based 
     employee stock purchase plans to help motivate their 
     employees and improve productivity; and
       (k) The FASB proposal will diminish the ability of small 
     companies to raise capital and attract employees and it will 
     curtail, not enhance broad-based employee ownership.

     SEC. 2. SENSE OF THE SENATE.

       It is the Sense of the Senate that
       (a) the new accounting treatment of employee stock options 
     and employee stock purchase plans, proposed by the Financial 
     Accounting Standards Board, will have grave economic 
     consequences particularly for businesses in new-growth 
     sectors which rely heavily on employee entrepreneurship;
       (b) the new accounting treatment of employee stock options 
     and employee stock purchase plans, proposed by the Financial 
     Accounting Standards Board, will diminish rather than expand 
     broad-based employee stock option plans; and
       (c) the Financial Accounting Standards Board should not at 
     this time change the current generally accepted accounting 
     treatment of stock options and stock purchase plans contained 
     in Accounting Principles Board Decision 25.
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                  LEVIN (AND BOREN) AMENDMENT NO. 1669

  Mr. LEVIN (for himself and Mr. Boren) proposed an amendment to the 
amendment No. 1668 proposed by Mr. Lieberman to the bill S. 783, supra; 
as follows:

       At the appropriate place in the amendment, insert the 
     following new section:

     SEC.   . SENSE OF THE SENATE.

       It is the sense of the Senate that--
       (1) the status of the Financial Accounting Standards Board 
     as a private body of independent accounting experts should be 
     respected and safe-guarded; and
       (2) the Congress should not impair the objectivity or 
     integrity of the Financial Accounting Standards Board's 
     decisionmaking process by legislating accounting rules.
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                       GORTON AMENDMENT NO. 1670

  Mr. BRYAN (for Mr. Gorton) proposed an amendment to the bill S. 783, 
supra; as follows:

       At the appropriate place in the bill, insert the following 
     new section:

     SEC.   . SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION, SEATTLE DISTRICT 
                   OFFICE.

       It is the sense of the Senate that the Securities and 
     Exchange Commission district office located in Seattle, 
     Washington shall not be closed, nor its services, operations, 
     or staff be reduced from the levels in effect on January 1, 
     1994. None of the operations of the Seattle office shall be 
     transferred to another office of the Securities and Exchange 
     Commission.

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