[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 70 (Thursday, May 7, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1105-E1106]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             CREDIT CARDHOLDERS' BILL OF RIGHTS ACT OF 2009

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. MAXINE WATERS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 29, 2009

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration of the bill (H.R. 627) to 
     amend the Truth in Lending Act to establish fair and 
     transparent practices relating to the extension of credit 
     under an open end consumer credit plan, and for other 
     purposes:

  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Chair, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 627, 
the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights, and would like to thank 
Financial Institutions Chairman Luis Gutierrez and Congresswoman 
Maloney for their continued dedication and leadership on this issue.
  I am proud to be an original cosponsor of H.R. 627. Thanks to this 
legislation, abusive billing practices will end. No longer will a 
company be able to harm consumers by engaging in double-cycle billing. 
No longer will a company be able to harm consumers by applying their 
payments to the lowest-interest balance. No longer will these companies 
be able to harm consumers through arbitrary interest rate increases or 
universal default practices.
  This bill also requires--as a result of an amendment I offered at 
markup--that the Federal Reserve conduct a study of how credit card 
companies are treating credit lines. Some

[[Page E1106]]

companies are reducing the credit lines of consumers based on 
information such as where they shop--including the type of store and 
the neighborhood in which it is located. I am also aware that some 
companies have reduced credit lines based on the identity of the 
consumer's mortgage lender. This type of behavior is tantamount to 
redlining.
  I hope that the Federal Reserve study contained in this bill will 
provide the Congress with the information we need to reign in these 
abusive practices.
  I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 627, the Credit Cardholders' 
Bill of Rights Act of 2009.

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