[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 20190]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         SUPPORT CREDIT CARDHOLDERS' BILL OF RIGHTS ACT OF 2008

  (Mrs. MALONEY of New York asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute.)
  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Madam Speaker, later today, this House will 
consider H.R. 5244, the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights. It is 
landmark reform that will level the playing field between credit card 
companies and consumers.
  For too long, card issuers have been able to do anything they want 
any time they want, and cardholders can take it or leave it. But credit 
cards have become an essential part of most households, and when rates 
are hiked retroactively, double-cycle billing charges interest on 
balances already paid, and when multiple over-limit fees are charged 
for just one over-limit transaction, something has gone haywire and 
consumers on Main Street often face the same kind of credit crunch that 
Wall Street is now coping with. Even the Federal Reserve calls these 
credit card practices ``unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive.''
  Every game needs an umpire, and today the House can help ``backstop'' 
American consumers with these reforms by passing the Credit 
Cardholders' Bill of Rights. I urge support for this important 
legislation.

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