[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 138 (Monday, September 30, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11868-S11870]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             OMNIBUS CONSOLIDATED APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1997

  The Senate continued with the consideration of the bill.
  Mr. FORD. Mr. President, I want to express my disappointment that the 
banking provisions of the omnibus appropriations bill currently before 
us fails to include a very important licensing provision for bank 
insurance sales. Over the past few weeks, I have heard from hundreds of 
insurance agents in Kentucky who believe it is only fair that all 
professionals who sell insurance, regardless of what institution one 
may be affiliated with, be licensed by the appropriate State agency. 
Regretfully, in the push to leave town and adjourn for the year, the 
negotiators failed to include this important measure in the banking 
provisions of the appropriations legislation.
  The State licensing question recognizes one simple straightforward 
issue--the commonsense notion that anyone selling insurance should be 
licensed. No one questions the fact that lawyers, doctors, real estate 
agents, and other professionals must pass examinations and be licensed 
by the appropriate State authority. Insurance agents are professionals, 
whether they work for a bank or an insurance agency. I see no 
distinction.
  Mr. President, the licensing standard would establish an important 
safeguard to ensure fair competition in the insurance marketplace. 
Allowing bankers or any other professional to escape licensing 
standards represents an unfair advantage over insurance professionals 
who have diligently met such standards for years. Anyone selling 
insurance to consumers, bankers and agents alike, should be sanctioned 
by the proper State authority.
  Perhaps more importantly, Mr. President, this issue is about more 
than a level playing field for insurance agents. It is about confidence 
and trust. By requiring licensing for insurance sales, Congress will 
reassure American consumers as they seek insurance protection for their 
families, homes, automobiles, and their lives, that their agent has a 
license, meets State education requirements, and all appropriate 
qualifications. This is no small consideration. I believe American 
consumers rely on and trust the individuals they consult for financial 
decisions, whether that individual is an insurance agent, lawyer, or a 
realtor.

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 We must ensure that minimal standards are met in order to preserve 
this important confidence.
  Mr. President, it is my sincere hope that Congress will address this 
important issue next year when we return. I believe it is about common 
sense and fairness. However, above all, this issue represents sound, 
public policy and would safeguard the trust consumers place in 
insurance professionals. Again I say, Mr. President, I hope that 
Congress will take action soon after we return next year to ensure this 
trust continues.
  I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BRYAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. BRYAN. I yield myself 7 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. BRYAN. I rise today to bring to my colleagues' attention the 
enactment of a vital piece of consumer legislation. In fact, I believe 
that the Fair Credit Reform Act of 1996, which is incorporated in the 
continuing resolution that we are about to vote upon, marks the most 
significant piece of consumer legislation enacted in this Congress.
  This legislation will improve the accuracy of credit reports and it 
will reduce the frustration of tens of thousands of Americans as they 
experience difficulties with inaccurate information in their credit 
reports and the consequent difficulties of getting that inaccurate 
information removed.
  Mr. President, it has been more than a quarter of a century since the 
original Fair Credit Reporting Act was enacted by the Congress. While 
the credit reporting industry has initiated a number of improvements 
voluntarily, the time has come to update the law. Senator Bond and I 
have been working on problems that individuals experienced with 
correcting inaccuracies in their credit files for more than 5 years. 
Errors in consumer credit reports have been the No. 1 item of complaint 
at the Federal Trade Commission and States attorneys general have 
experienced similar levels of complaint.

  That is why this legislation is so vitally needed. Credit financing 
has become a way of life for us in America. It is an integral part of 
our economy and it is hard to imagine our lives without it. Without the 
credit reporting system consumers would not have the easy access to 
credit that they now enjoy and America's economy would suffer as a 
consequence.
  The credit reporting industry keeps files on more than 190 million 
Americans, sells more than 1.5 million credit reports each and every 
day, and makes over 2 billion new entries each and every month. With 
this kind of overwhelming data flow there are bound to be mistakes in 
the system. Most of the time, errors are unintentional but they can be 
very damaging. While we expect mistakes when 2 billion bits of 
information are entered into a credit reporting system every month, 
what we should not tolerate are companies that show little regard for 
the accuracy of the information they provide to credit bureaus, and we 
should not accept the frustrations that consumers experience in trying 
to get erroneous information removed from their records.
  Mr. President, even as I speak, people are being turned down for 
student loans, car loans and mortgages. People are being turned down 
for jobs and for promotions all because of faulty information in their 
credit reports. While we will never eliminate human error or computer 
error altogether, I believe we can and should do a substantially better 
job. Over the past 5 years I have been working on this, the Senate has 
held extensive hearings on this topic. We heard that the credit 
reporting system, in a majority of cases, works extremely well and 
benefits American consumers by providing them with ready access to 
credit. However, we also heard from far too many consumers who endured 
frustrating experiences in getting errors removed from their credit 
files.
  I remember a hearing that we had in Nevada in which two cases come to 
mind. One involved a Bill and Barbara Kincade from a small town in 
northern Nevada, McDermitt, who corrected a mistake on their credit 
report that arose when their bank sold their mortgage to another 
institution. They believed that they had corrected that information. 
Three years later, they discovered that the erroneous entry had 
reappeared on their credit history when they were turned down for a 
loan to finance a satellite dish. Our legislation would prohibit the 
reinsertion of deleted information without notifying the consumer 
first.
  I also remember the story of Mary Lou Mobley who almost had to drop 
out of graduate school after she was denied a school loan because her 
credit report reflected that she was married to a man from Arizona with 
numerous financial defaults. The problem, Mr. President, is that Mary 
Lou had never been married, never been to Arizona. Although Mary Lou 
had an excellent credit history other than this erroneous entry, she 
was required to obtain a cosigner on a student loan and pay a 
significantly higher interest rate in order to process her loan. Four 
years later, after graduating from school, she was victimized once 
again by the same erroneous information and denied a car loan. These 
kind of stories demonstrate the need to improve our system of getting 
errors fixed.
  There are two provisions in this legislation which are especially 
important to fix the gaps in the current system. First, the bill 
creates a consumer friendly process for removing mistakes from your 
file. Anyone who has tried to correct a mistake in their credit history 
knows firsthand the immense frustration it causes.
  The consumer has to prove the information in his or her report is 
erroneous. This can often be exceedingly time consuming, costly and, in 
some cases, nearly impossible to prove the negative; namely, that the 
individual whose credit history is erroneously inserted in the 
applicant file for credit is not that same individual. Consumers should 
not be burdened with these costs and these frustrations.
  The legislation, which we will adopt in a few hours, changes the 
burden of proof from the consumer to the credit reporting agency when 
the consumer notifies the credit reporting agency that the information 
reportedly contained in his or her file is erroneous. Once that notice 
is given to the reporting agency, the reporting agency has 30 days to 
verify the information. If the reporting agency is unable to verify the 
information, the erroneous information must be removed.
  The second critical feature of this bill deals with those companies 
that furnish information to credit bureaus. The information in the 
credit bureau database is only as good as the data sent in by banks, 
retailers, and other furnishers of credit information. This legislation 
makes these furnishers of information liable if they fail to correct 
mistakes after consumers brought such mistakes to their attention.
  While none of us want to discourage companies from supplying accurate 
information to credit bureaus, it is equally important to hold them 
accountable for the accuracy of the data they supply. This legislation 
will provide companies with the necessary incentives to improve their 
reporting and, thus, result in fewer mistakes.
  Mr. President, I want to say a word about one of my colleagues with 
whom I have worked on this issue for the past 5 years--Senator Bond. He 
and I have worked closely on this legislation. With his support and 
that of his staff, we have been able to progress to the point where in 
a few short hours, this legislation will have passed the Congress and 
on its way to the President for signature.
  Interested parties have very strong feelings about this legislation. 
Senator Bond and I have spent countless hours trying to bridge these 
differences. And I greatly appreciate his persistence and determination 
in working toward reform of the credit reporting system.
  Let me also say, as every one of my colleagues know, major 
legislation such as this is not enacted without the strong and 
continuous support of very effective staff backup. I want to cite one 
of my staff members in particular, and mention some others before 
concluding my comments.
  Andy Vermilye has given literally hundreds and hundreds of hours, a 
frustrating experience as progress was offset by other problems that 
surfaced as

[[Page S11870]]

this legislation was processed. In the 103d Congress, we had this 
legislation cleared in both Houses. A change was made at the last 
minute, and because it was the concluding day or two of the session, 
one colleague was able to hold up this legislation and literally wipe 
out the work of Senator Bond and our respective staffs, but 
particularly my legislative director, Andy Vermilye.
  So back again we came, and now we are on the threshold of victory. 
The record on this legislation should reflect that without Andy 
Vermilye's patience and persistence, this legislation would not have 
occurred.
  Other staffers need to be mentioned: Kris Siglin, Maggie Fisher, and 
Mark Kaufman, who have gone on to greener pastures, but labored 
mightily in behalf of the cause. John Kamart, Susan McMillan, Doug 
Nappi, and Kimberly Cobb worked long and hard on this bill. Amy Friend 
and David Medine were instrumental in getting this passed. Michele 
Meier, Ed Merwinski, Emmitt Carlton, Mike MacInney, Tim Jenkins, and 
Barry Connely deserve recognition for their contributions on this bill 
as well because all sectors--both the business community and consumer 
interests --are involved in making this legislation a reality.

  Mr. President, this legislation marks an important event for 
consumers in our country. We are making significant improvements in the 
credit reporting system, and the lives of thousands of Americans who 
have encountered difficulty in their credit reports will be made easier 
as a result of the changes made by this legislation.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  Mr. HATFIELD addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.

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