[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 70 (Thursday, May 7, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S5252]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                           CREDIT CARD REFORM

  Mr. TESTER. Madam President, I rise this morning to speak about an 
important plan to protect American consumers. Specifically, I call on 
the Senate to pass tough new reforms in the credit card industry. I 
have been working for months with my colleagues on the Senate Banking 
Committee to write this important new legislation. I am proud to have 
played a part in Chairman Dodd's bill, the Credit CARD Act.
  This bill includes legislation I introduced last year to outlaw what 
is called universal default. That is the term given when the credit 
card companies raise interest rates on customers if their credit scores 
fall for any reason--even if those customers pay their credit card 
bills on time. They may call that universal default, but where I come 
from in Montana, they call that a ripoff.
  This reform legislation puts common sense and honesty back into the 
credit card industry. It will establish a new set of standards at a 
time when hard-working, honest folks are getting squeezed in this tough 
economy.
  Simply put, Montanans are not happy with the credit card companies. 
All of us are getting fed up with hidden fees, high interest rates, and 
confusing small print. Every day, I get calls and letters and e-mails 
from folks back home who want the Senate to take action to rein in 
these predatory practices of the credit card industry. I have here in 
my hand a few of those examples.
  The first one is from a man from Belgrade, MT, in Gallatin County. He 
writes this--and I will quote him at length:

       These institutions have bilked us. They took the bailout 
     money and had no qualms about undertaking more irresponsible 
     actions to loot the American taxpayers and consumers again. I 
     will use myself--a small business owner so small you might 
     call us a nano-business--as an example. Four or five months 
     ago, we hit a bump in the road and got behind with [our 
     credit card company]. Knowing that this was going to be a 
     temporary situation pending the closing on the sale of some 
     property we owned, I stayed in at least weekly contact with 
     [our credit card company] to keep them informed and assured 
     them that we had every intention of meeting our obligation, 
     which we did. What happened then is almost unbelievable. My 
     interest rate was increased to over 27%. I was charged 
     various fees for being late that amounted to over $1100.00. . 
     . .What really made me feel ripped off is that I had been a 
     card holder [with that company] FOR TWENTY-SIX YEARS!!!

  Madam President, I am all about personal responsibility. Folks need 
to make good decisions on their purchase obligations. But plastic 
personal debt can be very dangerous and addictive. Ordinary Americans 
can get in over their heads very quickly, and that is why the Senate 
needs to pass commonsense legislation to protect consumers from abuse.
  A lady wrote me from Glacier County, MT, and said this:

       I hope you will be willing to stand up to the banks when it 
     comes to credit card regulation and oversight. Consumers need 
     protection. In our home, we just saw interest rates on many 
     of our credit cards jump for no reason. . . .How are we 
     supposed to be participating in an economic recovery when our 
     cash is being siphoned off for these unfair charges? You have 
     a chance to do something about that--

  She went on to say--

       I hope that you will.

  I, too, hope that we will. I hope the Senate will pass the Credit 
CARD Act. This bill will ban universal default, the jacking up of 
interest rates even when the account in question is in good standing. 
It will protect consumers who pay their bills on time by outlawing 
interest charges on debt paid on time. It gives consumers another week 
to pay their monthly bills. It limits fees and penalties. It ensures 
that cardholders will know the small print. And it protects young 
Americans, who are often most vulnerable, from predatory practices by 
the credit card companies.
  I voted against the Wall Street bailout because handing bags of money 
to big Wall Street bankers and hoping the money would trickle down to 
Main Street small businesses and working families made no sense to me. 
Now we see some of the recipients of taxpayer bailouts jacking around 
the regular working folks who make this country run and who are having 
a hard time in this difficult economy, brought on by mismanagement here 
and by crooked deals on Wall Street.
  It is important to note that not everyone in the banking industry is 
guilty of gross exploitation of the American consumer. But the bad 
actors on Wall Street and the credit card companies need to be reined 
in, and the rights of the regular public need to be protected.
  I am pleased President Obama had the credit card executives down to 
the White House the other day to encourage them to treat consumers 
fairly. I call on the Senate to step to the plate and deliver 
meaningful legislation that will put in place commonsense consumer 
protections.
  Thank you, Madam President. I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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