[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11349]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        KEEP THE DURBIN AMENDMENT IN THE WALL STREET REFORM BILL

  (Mr. WELCH asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WELCH. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster) 
and I are speaking to you today about credit card relief for small 
businesses and merchants, and as we are, credit card lobbyists are 
roaming the halls trying to water down a very key provision in the Wall 
Street reform legislation. They know that if the conferees keep the 
Durbin swipe fee amendment in the bill, small business and consumers 
will gain, and the monopoly pricing of the credit card industry will 
lose.
  Just yesterday, several Vermont small business owners told me how 
much the credit card and debit swipe fees are hurting their business. 
Katy Lesser, who owns Healthy Living Market in Burlington, told me her 
business paid $250,000 in fees last year. This year it will be 
$350,000. And Sheryl Trainor, who runs a Mobil station in Queechee, 
told me she could plow the money she spends on swipe fees into better 
wages and more jobs.
  I call on my colleagues in the conference committee to put small 
businesses before the credit card industry and maintain the Durbin 
amendment in the final package.

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