Congress is hoping to go home by Christmas and is
rushing to make progress on several bills
Colleagues:
Congress is hoping to go home by Christmas and is rushing to
make progress on several bills. Although the Senate is busy with
health care reform, the House is plugging away with votes on a
large amount of legislation, including a couple of major bills
important to NCISS. The House is scheduled to consider HR 2221,
the "Data Accountability & Trust Act" this week. The bill will
be considered under "suspension of the rules", a House procedure
that requires a 2/3 vote for passage. Usually that procedure is
reserved for non-controversial bills, and no amendments from the
floor are permitted. NCISS was most concerned that this bill
might be amended to restrict access to credit headers. That
issue was not addressed in the bill when it passed committee.
Because HR 2221 is being considered under "suspension of the
rules", amendments dealing with credit headers and restrictions
on the use of Social Security numbers cannot be offered. (Larry
Sabbath tells me there is a rare procedure which could permit
the issue to be included whereby the bill is changed between
committee consideration and votes on the House floor, but it is
highly unlikely).
Also, legislation to establish the Consumer Financial Protection
Agency is on the schedule. HR 4173, the Wall Street Reform
and Consumer Protection Act of 2009, includes eight bills plus
the "''Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act of 2009''. It is
a huge, over 1,200 page bill that revamps the way our financial
system is regulated. When the consumer agency bill was passed by
the Financial Services Committee, it transferred enforcement of
the Fair Credit Reporting Act from the Federal Trade Commission
to the new consumer agency. HR 4173 would give the new agency
jurisdiction over the Fair Credit Reporting Agency but leave
enforcement issues relating to consumer reporting agencies in
the FTC. NCISS has opposed moving enforcement to the new agency.
We are pleased that the bill to be voted on will leave the FTC
in charge of enforcement.
Although the bill is on the schedule for next week, the rules
for consideration of the bill will be set by the Rules
committee. The bill could change before going to the floor
because several other committees have jurisdiction. It is likely
that the Rules committee will allow those committees to offer
amendments to the bill. Unlike HR 2221, this bill will not be
considered under suspension of the rules. While the House is
acting with dispatch on this legislation, the Senate version of
the bill is in an early state of development. We will keep you
posted.
As I reported earlier, Francie Koehler and I will be attending
an FTC forum on privacy issues on Monday at the Federal Trade
Commission, along with Larry Sabbath. Several meetings in
Congress are also on the schedule. All in all, it will be a very
busy week in the nation's capital.
I'm sorry for all the technical "inside the beltway" jargon
contained in this posting. It's critical to understand the
nuances of how our laws are made, even it it's not pretty.
I'll continue to keep you updated,
Jimmie Mesis
NCISS Legislative Chairman
Email:jim@nciss.org
NCISS
7501 Sparrows Point Blvd.
Baltimore, Maryland 21219-1927
(800) 445-8408 . Fax: (410) 388-9746
Email: jim@nciss.org
**********
Remember, your donations are critical to our mission and
continued success. Contributions in any amount are greatly
appreciated and may be sent to:
NCISS Legislative Fund
7501 Sparrows Point Blvd.
Baltimore, Maryland 21219
|
 |
