October 13, 2009 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H11257 DAVID R. OBEY, which have not been any part of a pat- As a cosponsor of this important DAVID E. PRICE, tern of abuse of credit cards, were inad- change which will simply ensure that JOSE´ E. SERRANO, vertently swept into this. the 21-day requirement only applies to CIRO D. RODRIGUEZ, The gentleman from Vermont (Mr. credit card accounts, I urge immediate C. A. DUTCH WELCH) and the gentleman from Mis- passage of H.R. 3606. RUPPERSBERGER, souri (Mr. SKELTON) called this to the I reserve the balance of my time. ALAN B. MOLLOHAN, NITA M. LOWEY, attention of the committee, as did the Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. I yield LUCILLE ROYBAL-ALLARD, National Credit Union Administration 4 minutes to the gentleman from SAM FARR, and the Credit Union National Associa- Vermont, the lead author of this bill, STEVEN R. ROTHMAN, tion; the latter, of course, being the Mr. WELCH. Managers on the Part of the House. private association of credit unions, Mr. WELCH. I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. FRANK) and ROBERT C. BYRD, the former being the administrative DANIEL K. INOUYE, agency. They asked us to fix it. They my colleague. I thank the gentleman PATRICK J. LEAHY were quite correct. from New York (Mr. LEE) and Mr. (with a reservation Credit unions are a very important SKELTON. on the EB–5 agree- part of the structure of this country You know, Mr. Speaker, one of the ment), and it serves our consumers. And so things the American people have a BARBARA A. MIKULSKI, this bill would correct that error and right to expect of us in Congress is that PATTY MURRAY, allow the credit unions to continue to when we pass legislation, we step back MARY L. LANDRIEU, perform their function. after its passage and listen to the peo- FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, ple affected by it to see if there are JON TESTER, I reserve the balance of my time. ARLEN SPECTER, Mr. LEE of New York. Mr. Speaker, I some mistakes that we made that need GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, yield myself such time as I may con- correction, and in this case, there is a THAD COCHRAN, sume. mistake. Mr. LEE just outlined what it JUDD GREGG, I rise today in support of H.R. 3606, is and the chairman did the same. RICHARD C. SHELBY, the Credit CARD Technical Corrections I think a number of us, including Mr. SAM BROWNBACK, Act of 2009, and appreciate my friend SKELTON, when we were home, heard LISA MURKOWSKI, from Vermont (Mr. WELCH) for his lead- from our credit card companies as to Managers on the Part of the Senate. ership in bringing this important meas- the over-inclusive nature of the legisla- f ure to the floor. tion that would adversely affect the Earlier this year, Congress enacted CREDIT CARD TECHNICAL good work that they’re doing. The the Credit Card Accountability, Re- CORRECTIONS ACT OF 2009 CARD Act, as you know, had a number sponsibility, and Disclosure Act in of very good provisions, including the Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. order to provide consumers with more 21-day notice requirement. That’s in- Speaker, I move to suspend the rules transparency regarding their credit tended to make sure that financial in- and pass the bill (H.R. 3606) to amend card accounts and protect them from stitutions give individuals enough time the Truth in Lending Act to make a potential predatory practices, includ- to pay a bill, and it established a min- technical correction to an amendment ing unwarranted rate increases on ex- imum level of fairness. But for credit made by the Credit CARD Act of 2009. isting balances and short-cycle billing. unions and their members, this change The Clerk read the title of the bill. One important provision of this new would actually have made things more The text of the bill is as follows: law required that financial institutions difficult. H.R. 3606 deliver credit card statements to cus- Credit unions use consolidated state- Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Rep- tomers no later than 21 days before the ments, so home loans, auto loans, sav- resentatives of the United States of America in payment due date. ings accounts, checking accounts, and Congress assembled, Unfortunately, between the time credit card bills are all in one package, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. when the House passed the CARD Act and that’s for the convenience of the This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Credit and when it was signed into law, a consumer, not to create confusion for CARD Technical Corrections Act of 2009’’. change was made to suggest that this the consumer. This is the model, in SEC. 2. TECHNICAL CORRECTION. new requirement should be applied to fact, of how the system should work. Section 163(a) of the Truth in Lending Act all open-ended loan accounts, including It’s straightforward and transparent. (U.S.C. 1666b(a)), as amended by section home equity lines of credit, rather The 21-day notice requirement would 106(b) of the Credit Card Accountability Re- than just to credit card accounts. have had an unintended impact of re- sponsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009, is This is especially problematic for quiring credit unions to split up those amended by inserting ‘‘a credit card account credit unions who offer their members consolidated statements and transform under’’ after ‘‘payment on’’. monthly consolidated statements cov- transparency into confusion. This The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- ering all loan accounts, the flexibility wouldn’t help consumers and, obvi- ant to the rule, the gentleman from of determining their payment dates, ously, wouldn’t add to transparency. Massachusetts (Mr. FRANK) and the and the convenience of payroll deduc- So the bill that has the support of Mr. gentleman from New York (Mr. LEE) tions. Because these services will in SKELTON and Mr. LEE and myself would each will control 20 minutes. many cases violate the new 21-day rule, clarify the intention of the CARD Act The Chair recognizes the gentleman financial institutions will be forced to and allow credit unions to continue the from Massachusetts. discontinue these important benefits to very commonsense and, I think, con- Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. customers. sumer-friendly approach of sending Speaker, I yield myself such time as I In addition, if left as-is, the resources their customers a single statement may consume. We made an error, Con- needed to comply with these new rules every month. gress did, when we passed the credit will no doubt force institutions to pass Mr. LEE of New York. Mr. Speaker, I card bill, not in passing the bill. The on increased costs to consumers have no further requests for time and only error we made there was we didn’t through higher loan fees and interest yield back the balance of my time. make it go into effect immediately be- rates and not to mention the confusion GENERAL LEAVE cause the abusive behavior by the cred- many will face, all from a law that was Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. it card companies has been even worse intended originally for their benefit. Speaker, first I would ask unanimous than some people have feared, and I This is clearly an unintended con- consent that all Members have 5 legis- hope we will soon be trying to move up sequence that needs to be rectified im- lative days in which to revise and ex- that effective date. But there was a mediately. The legislation before us tend their remarks and submit extra- drafting error in which the restrictions right now will correct this and ensure neous material both on this bill, H.R. applied not just to credit cards if you that credit unions and community 3606, and the preceding bill, H.R. 1327. read the bill literally, as you have to, banks can continue to offer quality The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there with the bill, but all open-end credit service to their members and cus- objection to the request of the gen- agreements. Credit unions in America, tomers. tleman from Massachusetts? VerDate Nov 24 2008 03:40 Oct 14, 2009 Jkt 089060 PO 00000 Frm 00083 Fmt 7634 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A13OC7.095 H13OCPT1 jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with HOUSE H11258 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE October 13, 2009 There was no objection. concerned when they receive multiple state- NATIONAL CREDIT UNION Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Fi- ments from their credit union, depending on ADMINISTRATION, nally, Mr. Speaker, this has been well- how many loans they have outstanding. Alexandria, VA, September 22, 2009. covered by the two Members, the gen- Credit union relationships with their mem- Hon. BARNEY FRANK, bers will suffer, all in an effort to comply Chairman, House Committee on Financial Serv- tleman from Vermont (Mr. WELCH) and ices, Rayburn House Office Building, Wash- the gentleman from New York (Mr. with an unintended application of a law that is intended to benefit consumers. ington, DC. LEE), who have been major movers in DEAR CHAIRMAN FRANK: I appreciate the it. I would just ask, although we have CREDIT UNION MEMBERS MAY NO LONGER BE opportunity to offer comments to you and general leave, I would note that I am ABLE TO CHOOSE THEIR PAYMENT DATE your staff regarding credit union industry concerns about the Credit Card Account- inserting in the RECORD a letter from For certain loans, particularly vehicle ability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of the National Credit Union Administra- loans, credit union members are often per- 2009 (Credit CARD Act).