Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 6225.

Video: Congressman Murphy Speaks in Favor of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act for the 21st century. (7/29/08)

I would like to thank Chairman FILNER and Ranking Member BUYER as well as Chairwoman HERSETH SANDLIN and Ranking Member BOOZMAN for their leadership on behalf of veterans and for including my bill, the 21st Century Servicemembers Protection Act, in this great legislation.

Mr. Speaker, my bill addresses a problem that a JAG attorney in the 101st Airborne brought to my attention soon after my election to Congress.

He alerted me to the disturbing fact that some of our troops have had their credit reports damaged during their deployments overseas.

They are having trouble suspending or breaking their contracts with cell phone companies or internet service providers--even if they present deployment orders.

In fact, the JAG attorney who called me was able to suspend one of his own contracts during his deployment, but to do so he was forced to pay a costly fee.

Looking into this further, I also discovered that some financial institutions are slow or unwilling to reduce servicemembers' interest rates during deployments ..... even though these creditors are already required to do so by law.

Mr. Speaker, we owe our brave troops, and their brave families better than this. While facing the strain of long deployments, they should not have to face repeated harassment by collection agencies.

As we continue to send a new generation into harm's way, it is our duty to protect these brave troops and do right by their families.

Our servicemen and women should be allowed to focus on completing their mission and returning home safely--they should not have to worry about creditors harassing their family, or if their cell phone company is ruining their credit.

Mr. Speaker, my portion of this bill expands the existing Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to cover 21st century service contracts such as cellular phones, utilities, cable television, and internet access.

Quite simply, my measure will allow troops with deployment orders to terminate or suspend their service contracts without fee or penalty and it will force creditors who knowingly or negligently fail to reduce interest rates to face penalties.

While I believe this to be a serious problem faced by our troops, most service providers take steps to allow servicemembers facing deployment or change of station to terminate or suspend service without penalty, and I appreciate the input I have received from a variety of industries on this bill.

Most companies have programs in place, and train their customer service representatives to deal appropriately with these situations. However, I recognize that mistakes do happen, especially in large companies with millions of customers and many thousands of employees.

My intention is not to use the most severe penalties available under this bill to punish occasional innocent mistakes. Instead, the penalties that are included in this bill should be applied proportionally with consideration given to the frequency, severity, and intent of the violation or violations.

In instances where a servicemember is only minimally inconvenienced, and the serviceprovider promptly rectifies the situation, no criminal penalty may be necessary at all. However, when the violations are intentional and repeated, the full penalty available should be applied.

Mr. Speaker, as a veteran of the United States Army and the war in Iraq, I know how important it is that our troops be able to focus on accomplishing their mission without worrying about credit trouble back at home.

This is not a Democratic or Republican issue. This is about doing what's right for our troops. With that, I would again like to thank Chairman Filner and Mr. Buyer for their leadership.