House Approves Legislation to Enhance Credit Users' Rights, Fight Identity Theft
Dreier Sponsored Financial Literacy Public Service Campaign Included in Bill

November 24, 2003

Washington, DC - Congressman David Dreier (R-CA), Chairman of the House Rules Committee, voted Friday night for legislation ensuring the viability of the American credit market system. H.R. 2622, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) Conference Report, which makes permanent the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) uniform national standards and enacts consumer protection provisions, passed with a strong bipartisan support, 379-49, 1 present.

"The FCRA enhances American consumers' ability to access credit at reasonable rates, which facilitates investment and commerce and improves economic efficiency," Dreier said. "Making permanent the FCRA's uniform national standards ensures that consumers can continue to enjoy the benefits of easy access to capital and enhanced purchasing power. Since 1997, consumers have saved an estimated $30 billion each year due to increased competition in the credit card industry."

The FCRA, enacted in 1970, establishes a consumer's rights in relation to his or her credit report, as well as permissible uses for credit reports, disclosure requirements, and requirements for users of consumer credit reports and consumer reporting agencies (CRA). It is designed to promote accuracy, fairness, and privacy of information in the files of every CRA.

Dreier noted that the measure enhances consumer protection from credit fraud and identity theft. "Enacting strong provisions that carefully balance consumers' ability to access credit and guard against the misuse of personal information is critical to ensuring confidence in the uniform national credit reporting standard," Dreier said. Specifically, this legislation includes language to increase the effectiveness of consumer initiated fraud alerts, enable consumers to block fraudulent information in their personal credit records, increase consumer awareness of their rights if they believe they may be victims of fraud or identity theft, and require financial institutions to develop procedures to identify possible cases of identity theft.

Dreier lauded the bill as part of an effort to enhance Americans' understanding of personal finance. It calls for a national financial literacy public service campaign, which was the aim of H.R. 3294, the Financial Literacy Enhancement Act, introduced by Dreier. "In today's 21st Century economy it is imperative that Americans have a clear understanding of the wide array of financial instruments available to them," Dreier said. "Improving financial literacy will help many Americans have the opportunity to plan for the future and succeed financially."