[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 99 (Wednesday, June 7, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2007-S2009]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Welch, and Mr.
Vance):
S. 1838. A bill to amend the Electronic Fund Transfer Act to require
the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve system to prescribe
regulations relating to network competition in credit card
transactions, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Banking,
Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of
the bill be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be
printed in the Record, as follows:
S. 1838
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Credit Card Competition Act
of 2023''.
SEC. 2. COMPETITION IN CREDIT CARD TRANSACTIONS.
(a) In General.--Section 921 of the Electronic Fund
Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. 1693o-2) is amended--
(1) in subsection (b)--
(A) by redesignating paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) as
paragraphs (3), (4), and (5), respectively; and
(B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
``(2) Competition in credit card transactions.--
``(A) No exclusive network.--
``(i) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of the Credit Card Competition Act of 2023, the
Board shall prescribe regulations providing that a covered
card issuer or payment card network shall not directly or
through any agent, processor, or licensed member of a payment
card network, by contract, requirement, condition, penalty,
technological specification, or otherwise, restrict the
number of payment card networks on which an electronic credit
transaction may be processed to--
``(I) 1 such network;
``(II) 2 or more such networks, if--
``(aa) each such network is owned, controlled, or otherwise
operated by--
``(AA) affiliated persons; or
``(BB) networks affiliated with such issuer; or
``(bb) any such network is identified on the list
established and updated under subparagraph (D); or
``(III) subject to clause (ii), the 2 such networks that
hold the 2 largest market shares with respect to the number
of credit cards issued in the United States by licensed
members of such networks (and enabled to be
[[Page S2008]]
processed through such networks), as determined by the Board
on the date on which the Board prescribes the regulations.
``(ii) Determinations by board.--
``(I) In general.--The Board, not later than 3 years after
the date on which the regulations prescribed under clause (i)
take effect, and not less frequently than once every 3 years
thereafter, shall determine whether the 2 networks identified
under clause (i)(III) have changed, as compared with the most
recent such determination by the Board.
``(II) Effect of determination.--If the Board, under
subclause (I), determines that the 2 networks described in
clause (i)(III) have changed (as compared with the most
recent such determination by the Board), clause (i)(III)
shall no longer have any force or effect.
``(B) No routing restrictions.--Not later than 1 year after
the date of enactment of the Credit Card Competition Act of
2023, the Board shall prescribe regulations providing that a
covered card issuer or payment card network shall not--
``(i) directly or through any agent, processor, or licensed
member of the network, by contract, requirement, condition,
penalty, or otherwise--
``(I) inhibit the ability of any person who accepts credit
cards for payments to direct the routing of electronic credit
transactions for processing over any payment card network
that--
``(aa) may process such transactions; and
``(bb) is not on the list established and updated by the
Board under subparagraph (D);
``(II) require any person who accepts credit cards for
payments to exclusively use, for transactions associated with
a particular credit card, an authentication, tokenization, or
other security technology that cannot be used by all of the
payment card networks that may process electronic credit
transactions for that particular credit card; or
``(III) inhibit the ability of another payment card network
to handle or process electronic credit transactions using an
authentication, tokenization, or other security technology
for the processing of those electronic credit transactions;
or
``(ii) impose any penalty or disadvantage, financial or
otherwise, on any person for--
``(I) choosing to direct the routing of an electronic
credit transaction over any payment card network on which the
electronic credit transaction may be processed; or
``(II) failing to ensure that a certain number, or
aggregate dollar amount, of electronic credit transactions
are handled by a particular payment card network.
``(C) Applicability.--The regulations prescribed under
subparagraphs (A) and (B) shall not apply to a credit card
issued in a 3-party payment system model.
``(D) Designation of national security risks.--
``(i) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of the Credit Card Competition Act of 2023, the
Board, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury,
shall prescribe regulations to establish a public list of any
payment card network--
``(I) the processing of electronic credit transactions by
which is determined by the Board to pose a risk to the
national security of the United States; or
``(II) that is owned, operated, or sponsored by a foreign
state entity.
``(ii) Updating of list.--Not less frequently than once
every 2 years after the date on which the Board establishes
the public list required under clause (i), the Board, in
consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, shall update
that list.
``(E) Definitions.--In this paragraph--
``(i) the terms `card issuer' and `creditor' have the
meanings given the terms in section 103 of the Truth in
Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1602);
``(ii) the term `covered card issuer' means a card issuer
that, together with the affiliates of the card issuer, has
assets of more than $100,000,000,000;
``(iii) the term `credit card issued in a 3-party payment
system model' means a credit card issued by a card issuer
that is--
``(I) the payment card network with respect to the credit
card; or
``(II) under common ownership with the payment card network
with respect to the credit card;
``(iv) the term `electronic credit transaction'--
``(I) means a transaction in which a person uses a credit
card; and
``(II) includes a transaction in which a person does not
physically present a credit card for payment, including a
transaction involving the entry of credit card information
onto, or use of credit card information in conjunction with,
a website interface or a mobile telephone application; and
``(v) the term `licensed member' includes, with respect to
a payment card network--
``(I) a creditor or card issuer that is authorized to issue
credit cards bearing any logo of the payment card network;
and
``(II) any person, including any financial institution and
any person that may be referred to as an `acquirer', that is
authorized to--
``(aa) screen and accept any person into any program under
which that person may accept, for payment for goods or
services, a credit card bearing any logo of the payment card
network;
``(bb) process transactions on behalf of any person who
accepts credit cards for payments; and
``(cc) complete financial settlement of any transaction on
behalf of a person who accepts credit cards for payments.'';
and
(2) in subsection (d)(1), by inserting ``, except that the
Bureau shall not have authority to enforce the requirements
of this section or any regulations prescribed by the Board
under this section'' after ``section 918''.
(b) Effective Date.--Each set of regulations prescribed by
the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System under
paragraph (2) of section 921(b) of the Electronic Fund
Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. 1693o-2(b)), as amended by subsection
(a) of this section, shall take effect on the date that is
180 days after the date on which the Board prescribes the
final version of that set of regulations.
______
By Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Mrs. Shaheen):
S. 1855. A bill to reauthorize the Special Diabetes Program for Type
1 Diabetes and the Special Diabetes Program for Indians; to the
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Ms. COLLINS. Madam President, I rise today to introduce the Special
Diabetes Program Reauthorization Act of 2023 with Senator Jeanne
Shaheen, my colleague from New Hampshire and cochair of the Senate
Diabetes Caucus. Our bipartisan bill would reauthorize and strengthen
vital type 1 diabetes research happening at the National Institutes of
Health and renew critical treatment, education, and prevention programs
for at-risk populations, specifically Native American and Alaska Native
communities, who experience type 2 diabetes at nearly three times the
national average. Together, these programs have become the Nation's
most strategic and effective effort to combat diabetes and its
complications, but, without an extension, both programs are at risk of
expiring on September 30, 2023.
For more than 25 years, the Special Diabetes Program--comprised of
the Special Statutory Funding Program for Type 1 Diabetes Research and
the Special Diabetes Program for Indians, SDPI--has delivered
meaningful resources and research breakthroughs for those with type 1
diabetes and also for Native Americans and Alaska Natives. This
research has also led to advancements to the broader community,
including the 37 million Americans with diabetes and 96 million with
prediabetes. Our bill would continue these investments in the research
aimed at developing a cure for diabetes and support the programs that
help prevent and treat the disease and its complications.
In one of my very first meetings as a new Senator, I met a young
Mainer with type 1 diabetes. I will never forget this 10-year-old boy
looking up at me and telling me that he wished he could take just 1 day
off from having diabetes--his birthday or Christmas--but of course he
could not. This meeting led me to start the bipartisan Senate Diabetes
Caucus and to begin fighting for a cure for this devastating disease.
Since then, we have made tremendous progress thanks to investments
like the Special Diabetes Program. From new technologies that are
making these children's lives easier to manage to treatments that can
potentially delay the clinical diagnosis of type 1 diabetes, this
program has generated a strong return on investment. Renewal of the SDP
is absolutely critical to accelerating the progress we have made over
the past two decades to treat and one day cure type 1 diabetes. Today's
research represents tomorrow's cure.
As the cochairs of the Senate Diabetes Caucus, Senator Shaheen and I
recently led a letter signed by 60 Senators advocating for the
program's reauthorization and outlining why investing in the Special
Diabetes Program is a cost-effective investment toward improving lives
and reducing healthcare expenditures. The driving force behind this
program is curing one of the United States' most costly diseases in
both human and economic terms.
Our bill would reauthorize both components of the SDP through
December 2025 at an annual funding level of $170 million per program.
Congress has reauthorized the SDP with bipartisan support numerous
times since the program's inception in 1997. Yet funding has not
increased since fiscal year 2004. During this time period, the cost of
research has increased, as has the size of the Indian Health Service
population and the cost of medical care. For that
[[Page S2009]]
reason, our bill also proposes a $20 million increase per program. This
would be the first increase for this program in 20 years.
The two programs in this reauthorization bill have had transformative
effects on diabetes care. The first program is the Special Statutory
Funding Program for Type 1 Diabetes Research, which provides funds to
NIH's National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases,
NIDDK, for life-changing preventive diabetes research. For example,
SDP-funded research laid early groundwork for artificial pancreas, AP,
systems--or closed-loop ``all-in-one'' diabetes management systems--
that have shown great promise in improving glucose monitoring and
insulin delivery. Advances in technology have helped reduce costly and
burdensome complications and improved the quality of life for those
with the disease. There are now multiple FDA-approved artificial
pancreas systems, enabling individuals with type 1 diabetes and their
doctors to choose the system that works best for them. According to one
study, the use of AP systems in adults could save Medicare roughly $1
billion over 25 years.
SDP research has also helped researchers identify genes and
environmental factors linked with type 1 diabetes, led to changes in
clinical practice guidelines for diabetic eye care, and supported
clinical trials on therapeutics to prevent and treat the disease. For
example, landmark research conducted by SDP-funded TrialNet
demonstrated for the first time ever that early preventive treatment
with a drug targeting the immune system delayed onset of clinical-type
1 diabetes for 2 years. This drug has since been approved by the FDA
and is the first ever disease modifying therapy for type 1 diabetes.
Continued investment in this program is essential to continue large-
scale trials, plan next steps for research programs, conduct outreach
and education, and allocate research resources effectively. As Dr.
Griffin Rodgers, Director of the NIDDK, said when testifying at a
Senate Aging Committee hearing I chaired in 2019, ``with continued
research, it is possible to imagine that people could lead a life free
of the burden of Type 1 diabetes and its complications.''
Our bill would also provide $170 million per year to sustain a second
program, the Special Diabetes Program for Indians, SDPI. SDPI supports
type 2 diabetes treatment and prevention strategies for Native American
and Alaska Native populations who are disproportionately burdened with
type 2 diabetes at a rate of nearly three times the national average.
In Maine this program benefits five Tribal communities across the
state, providing approximately 5 million dollars in support for
diabetes prevention activities in those Tribal populations. This
Federal support is critical to reducing disparities. As Chief William
Nicholas of the Passamaquoddy Tribe in Maine recently explained,
``Special Diabetes Program funding is instrumental and necessary to
educate and address high rates of diabetes in Indian Country. Native
Americans are high risk for diabetes, and the funding will continue the
much-needed support, education, and treatment in our communities.''
Tremendous improvements are occurring in diabetes outcomes for Alaska
Natives and Native Americans, and the SDPI has played a key role, just
as Congress envisioned when the program was created. Although diabetes
rates among the IHS service population remain high, with the help of
this program, diabetes rates in youth in these communities have not
increased in more than 10 years, and diabetes rates in Alaska Native
and Native American adults have not increased since 2011. Communities
with SDPI-funded programs have actually seen the diabetes incidence
rate decrease consistently since 2013.
The program is effective by other measures as well. Since SDPI began,
there has been a 50-percent reduction in diabetic eye disease rates
among Alaska Natives and Native Americans; hospitalizations for
uncontrolled diabetes among Alaska Native and Native American adults
have dropped by 84 percent; and the rate of end-stage renal disease has
fallen by more than 50 percent. These positive clinical outcomes have
reduced the risk for blindness, amputations, and kidney failure, in
addition to preventing the onset of type 2 diabetes.
The Special Diabetes Program is funding research that is leading
directly to the development of new insights and therapies that are
improving the lives of those with diabetes and accelerating progress
toward curing and preventing the disease. Ruby Anderson, a young Mainer
with type I diabetes who testified before the 2019 JDRF Children's
Congress, put an even finer point on the need to reauthorize the SDP.
Ruby she said she doesn't want her brother or sister to have to go
through what she has experienced. As she told Senators, ``We need more
research to find a cure. We need even better devices. And we need to
figure out what causes TID so we can stop it.''
I couldn't agree more with Ruby, and I am confident the Special
Diabetes Program will make these objectives possible. I urge my
colleagues to support a multi-year extension of this important program
so that one day we will find a cure to this debilitating disease.
____________________