Testimony on Need for Strong Consumer Regulations

We’ve submitted a statement for the record as the Senate Banking Committee holds two important hearings this week, yesterday’s hearing on “Assessing Consumer Regulations” and tomorrow’s hearing on the “Semi-Annual Report of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).” (These hearings are live on video at 10am each day and post-hearing, video archives and written testimony of in-person witnesses is available at that site.)

Our statement focuses on three issues:

1. Defend the CFPB, It Works
2. Defend the CFPB’s Public Consumer Complaint Database, It Works
3. Defend the Durbin Amendment Reducing Some “Swipe Fees” Merchants Pay Credit Card Networks, It Works

We also associate the PIRGs with over a dozen statements from other Americans for Financial Reform (AFR) coalition members. Each of our AFR statements provides detail on 1-2 important consumer regulations; all statements also point out, in their own words, that “the idea of the CFPB needs no defense, only more defenders.”