[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 160 (Thursday, November 6, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H10514-H10515]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1645
    APPOINTMENT OF CONFEREES ON H.R. 2622, FAIR AND ACCURATE CREDIT 
                        TRANSACTIONS ACT OF 2003

  Mr. OXLEY. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Financial 
Services and pursuant to clause 1 of rule XXII of the rules of the 
House of Representatives for the 108th Congress, I move to take from 
the Speaker's table the bill (H.R. 2622) to amend the Fair Credit 
Reporting Act, to prevent identity theft, improve resolution of 
consumer disputes, improve the accuracy of consumer records, make 
improvements in the use of, and consumer access to, credit information, 
and for other purposes, with a Senate amendment thereto, disagree to 
the Senate amendment, and agree to the conference asked by the Senate.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Simmons). The gentleman from Ohio (Mr. 
Oxley) is recognized for 1 hour.
  Mr. OXLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a simple motion to get us into conference with 
the Senate on H.R. 2622, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, 
which the Senate passed yesterday. We have a lot of work to do in a 
short amount of time.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the 
previous question on the motion.
  The previous question was ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Oxley).
  The motion was agreed to.


   Motion to Instruct Conferees Offered by Mr. Frank of Massachusetts

  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the motion.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Mr. Frank of Massachusetts moves that the managers on the 
     part of the House in the conference on the disagreeing votes 
     of the two Houses on the Senate amendment to the bill H.R. 
     2622 be instructed as follows:
       1. That the House conferees insist that section 304 of the 
     House bill relating to the duties of furnishers of 
     information be included in the conference report.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 7 of rule XXII, the 
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) and the gentleman from Ohio 
(Mr. Oxley) each will control 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank).
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as 
I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I should inform the membership that it is the earnest 
hope and, indeed, intention of the gentleman from Ohio and myself to 
control most of those 30 minutes apiece somewhere else other than on 
the floor of this House.
  I very much appreciated the ability to work with the chairman. We had 
a difficult issue, the fair credit bill. It is not everything I would 
have liked to have seen. It is different than it would have been if our 
side was in the majority. But nevertheless it was a genuinely 
legislated bill. There was give and take. It is, I think, an 
improvement over current law. The other body has also passed a bill 
which has similar characteristics. It is an eminently conferencable 
bill because both Houses have legislated on similar subjects not in 
diametrically opposite ways, but in similar ways.
  This instruction motion, and we have discussed this with the majority 
side, has been cut down, as a clever deduction would lead you to 
believe, since if you read the instruction motion, it consists of a 
paragraph numbered 1. Ordinarily one does not number a paragraph 1 
unless one has a 2. We did have

[[Page H10515]]

a 2; it has gone in the interest of conciliation and compromise, so we 
now have one. And it is that the House stick by its position on a very 
important subject, and I appreciate the gentleman from Ohio's support 
on this.
  What we have done in this bill, in both bodies, is to increase the 
information to consumers about credit reports. We have in various ways, 
by increasing the flow of information, given the consumers a better 
chance to know what is being said about them. But there was one flaw 
that came to me as I read the volumes of testimony that we got, namely, 
there was a problem with the input of the information at the outset, 
the accuracy. What we have is, in the law, a very low standard of care 
that the initial furnishers of the information have to have.
  I understand they are having problems. We are not trying to 
overburden them. Indeed, I have talked to the gentleman from California 
(Mr. Royce) about some ways later on to modify this to keep people from 
being flooded; but essentially what the motion says is that we stick by 
the language in our bill that makes it easier, if you get this 
information and it tells you that there was some inaccuracy about you, 
this bill, this language, makes it easier for you to get that 
corrected. It means that you are entitled to more cooperation than 
under current law to get inaccurate information about you corrected. 
That is what we do. I appreciate the gentleman from Ohio's support.
  Mr. OXLEY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. I yield to the gentleman from Ohio.
  Mr. OXLEY. I thank my friend from Massachusetts for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, let me say to my good friend that this is a bill that 
passed this House a few weeks ago with, I think, 392 votes and had 
strong bipartisan support because of the work that the committee did in 
working with all sectors of the committee on this important issue. All 
of us know that we need to reauthorize the Fair Credit Reporting Act by 
the end of this year, and so time is of the essence. I am prepared to 
not only associate myself with the remarks of the gentleman from 
Massachusetts but also to support his motion to instruct.
  Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the motion to instruct 
conferees being offered by the ranking Democratic member of the 
financial Services Committee, Mr. Frank. As a member of that committee, 
I was deeply involved in the drafting and consideration of the Fair and 
Accurate Credit Transactions Act.
  I was pleased to join with my colleagues, Representatives Bachus, 
Hooley and Biggert, in introducing this bipartisan measure. This bill 
was approved in subcommittee on a vote of 41-0, in full committee by a 
vote of 63-3 and by the full House by a vote of 392-30 with one voting 
present. Earlier this week, the Senate approved a similar version of 
this bill by 95-2.
  Mr. Speaker, this is the way Congress should work. This is the way 
our constituents want us to conduct their business. Consideration of 
this bill consistently has been bipartisan and thoughtful. All members 
of the committee with opinions and proposals on the issues raised by 
H.R. 2622 were able to offer amendments and participate in debate. The 
way in which this measure was handled made this a stronger piece of 
legislation than the version we introduced. I commend our committee's 
leadership, Chairman Oxley and Ranking Democrat Frank, for making this 
proposal.
  The instructions before us today urge the conferees to agree to 
provisions in the House bill that will enhance the accuracy of 
information which creditors, retailers and other furnishers of 
information provide to consumer reporting agencies. They also add new 
requirements that provide consumers with an additional option to 
correct their consumer files by disputing information directly with 
individual furnishers of that information.
  Mr. Speaker, the problems of inaccurate and incomplete information 
that plague the current credit reporting system are of great personal 
concern to those of our constituents who have suffered them. I'm sure 
each of us could relate instances involving constituents who have faced 
tremendous difficulty and aggravation in correcting inaccurate credit 
histories.
  This legislation directly addresses these very real problems faced by 
people every day of the year. The provisions of the motion to instruct 
will ensure that the new law does so meaningfully.
  Our credit system is the envy of every other country in the world. 
Our country, overall, does an excellent job of making credit available 
quickly and fairly to consumers and businesses. Enactment of H.R. 2622 
will preserve and strengthen this system. I urge my colleagues to 
support the Frank motion and to support the conference report that 
should be before us within a few weeks.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of 
my time.
  Mr. OXLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the previous question is 
ordered on the motion to instruct.
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to instruct 
offered by the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank).
  The motion to instruct was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.


                        Appointment of Conferees

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the Chair appoints the 
following conferees: For consideration of the House bill and the Senate 
amendment, and modifications committed to conference: Messrs. Oxley, 
Bereuter, Bachus, Castle, Royce, Ney, Mrs. Kelly, Mr. Gillmor, Mr. 
LaTourette, Mrs. Biggert, Messrs. Sessions, Frank of Massachusetts, 
Kanjorski, Sanders, Ms. Waters, Mr. Watt, Mr. Gutierrez, Ms. Hooley of 
Oregon and Mr. Moore.
  There was no objection.

                          ____________________