[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 61 (Wednesday, April 20, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E537]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  H.R. 4161 SCRA RIGHTS PROTECTION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. TULSI GABBARD

                               of hawaii

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 20, 2016

  Ms. GABBARD. Mr. Speaker, as members of Congress, one of our most 
sacred responsibilities is to serve those who protect our nation. As 
far back as the Civil War, Congress has enacted laws to safeguard the 
rights of our military men and women, so they may devote their full 
attention to the defense of the United States.
  These laws, like the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) and the 
Military Lending Act, provide protection from repossessions, 
foreclosures, predatory lending, and other civil actions that could 
occur while a servicemember is on active duty or deployed. Those 
protections allow the servicemember to remain solely focused on 
protecting the nation while on active duty or deployed. One of the 
protections the SCRA provides is to require banks and businesses to 
obtain a court order before repossessing a servicemembers' car or home. 
Requiring a court order ensures that any action to take away a 
servicemembers' property will be reviewed by a judge, where the judge 
can evaluate whether the servicemembers' military duties will inhibit 
him or her from responding to the action in a timely manner. Through 
the court system, the judge can also ensure the servicemember wasn't 
victim to predatory lending practices, or other actions protected under 
the SCRA.
  Unfortunately, banks and businesses have found a way around those 
protections. Many mortgages, car loans and other financial agreements 
now include fine print that requires any dispute over the property to 
be resolved through a new process that avoids the courts: Forced 
arbitration. By including that clause in the fine print, banks can 
still threaten servicemembers' homes, cars and other property by 
requiring them to enter into a costly arbitration process while they 
are still in active duty service. This process has resulted in men and 
women finding out that a bank is taking away their family car, or home, 
while they are in Iraq or Afghanistan. For example, Army National Guard 
Sergeant Charles Beard was serving in Tikrit, Iraq when he found out 
that his family car had been illegally repossessed. His wife was 
threatened and told she would be imprisoned if she resisted. Sergeant 
and Mrs. Beard spent four years fighting the case, and ultimately did 
not get back their car or receive compensation. Sadly, they are not 
alone. In 2012, the Government Accountability Office found 300 cases of 
improper foreclosures on servicemen and women while they were still on 
active duty, along with 15,000 other violations of the SCRA. We must 
ensure that our brothers and sisters in combat don't have to worry 
about whether or not their families will not become homeless while they 
are gone. We must close this loophole.
  I am proud to partner with Congressman Jones as the Democratic lead 
sponsor of H.R. 4161, the SCRA Rights Protection Act of 2015, to do 
just that. The SCRA Rights Protection Act restores the rights enshrined 
in the SCRA by not allowing forced arbitration for contracts governed 
by the SCRA unless the servicemember agrees to that process after a 
dispute has arisen.
  Our military men and women sacrifice so much in the service of our 
nation. It is our duty to defend their rights here at home.

                          ____________________