Rep. Doggett Calls Out Republican Efforts to Undermine Consumer Protections
Washington, D.C.— Today, U.S. Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Ranking Member of the House Ways & Means Tax Policy Subcommittee calls out Republican efforts to give a parting gift to big banks before the House adjourns for the August district work period. The Republican bill would block the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) recently released arbitration rule, which protects American consumers and allows them to hold financial institutions accountable in a court of law.
You can view Rep. Doggett's remarks here and below: https://youtu.be/mFhqKasPdLA
The House today will consider H.J. Res 111, a resolution under the Congressional Review Act to disapprove of the CFPB's rule to prohibit banks and lenders from using forced arbitration in consumer finance contracts to block consumer class actions which hold financial institutions accountable in a court of law. This rule is supported by 5.5 million servicemembers represented by the Military Coalition, 29 other servicemember and veteran groups, and over 300 consumer, civil rights, labor, veteran, and non-profit organizations.
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Rep. Lloyd Doggett
House Floor
July 25, 2017
"I think Republicans are just scared. They're afraid to leave town this week without doing another favor for Wall Street. And this proposal to undermine consumer rights is the next gift that they want to bestow on the Big Banks. Republicans can never seem to find their voice, no matter how outrageous the latest Trump tweet might be. They cannot pass meaningful legislation on other subjects, but they feel compelled to answer when Wall Street comes a-calling, as it has on this bill.
"Only last month, Republicans approved a bill to give President Trump the power to fire the chief cop on the beat – that would be the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, who Trump could now dump for actually trying to do his job of protecting consumers from abusive financial practices. And of course, we see daily that Trump thinks the White House is just a new venue for the latest sequel of The Apprentice, with him declaring, "You're fired!" to one person after another, no matter how much damage he does to our national security or to the economic security of families that are struggling.
"Well, today's Republican gift to Wall Street is about denying any effective remedy to those who are abused by big banks. A bank can rightfully go to court if a consumer abuses it, and that happens every day in courts across America with good reason – because it's not a one-way street. But in the non-negotiable, deceitful fine-print at the back of the contract, the bank can deny the consumer the very same opportunity to go to court if that consumer is abused. It's called arbitration, but what it really means is if a consumer has been treated wrong, neither a judge nor a jury can ever evaluate the facts and conclude for the consumer. And since usually, the arbitrator depends upon the same bank or group of banks to get repeat business, the arbitrator has an incentive to rule against the consumer and for the bank. Often, arbitration is little better than going to the bank's own attorney and asking, ‘Do you think your client did anything wrong, and if so, should they do any more than say I'm sorry?'
"Arbitration is the very scheme that Wells Fargo relied upon to obstruct any opportunity for ordinary consumers to try to hold their bank accountable for creating accounts to which they never gave any consent, and charging them for it. Wells Fargo used those arbitration clauses to kick the consumers out of court and to continue its fraud against consumers across America for another two years. And that's the kind of practice that we'll have more of if this legislation is approved.
"In the Military Lending Act of 2007, Congress showed the good sense to try to protect our servicemembers who are defending our country all over the world, in certain of their loan agreements, in having a lender impose a mandatory arbitration agreement. And today, what we should be doing is supporting similar protections for other Americans who can be exposed to the same type of abuse.
"Today's bill to undermine consumer protection is opposed by the Military Coalition and 29 other servicemember and veterans groups representing millions of people. This sorry bill is also opposed by a number – I think literally hundreds – of consumer, civil rights, labor, and community groups. All we're saying in rejecting this bill is to give consumers their day in court. Give them the same rights the banks want. In fact, treat consumers as if they were banks, because they should be treated with the same dignity and the same rights, and we do that by rejecting this bill and rejecting it soundly."