Maxine Waters

Ms. WATERS

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Cleaver).

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez).

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen).

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Bonamici).

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to section 3 of House Resolution 380, I offer amendments en bloc No. 2.

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, Representatives Burgess and Luetkemeyer' proposed amendments would not provide stronger protections for consumers who are saddled with debt, while navigating the various challenges they have faced, through no fault of their own, by this terrible pandemic. Instead, these amendments would needlessly delay or prevent my bill, H.R. 2547, the Comprehensive Debt Collection Improvement Act, from being implemented. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to reject these amendments, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 380, I call up the bill (H.R. 2547) to expand and enhance consumer, student, servicemember, and small business protections with respect to debt collection practices, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Ms. Pressley).

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Auchincloss).

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Dean).

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Tlaib).

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time I have remaining.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green).

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Georgia (Ms. Williams).

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, this bill provides urgently needed protections to individuals and families from unfair and abusive debt collection practices. Consumers should not have to face harassment or threats from abusive debt collectors, especially in the midst of this unprecedented pandemic. It is long overdue for Congress to bring new accountability to the debt collection industry. Because of the strong protections the bill creates for consumers, the Comprehensive Debt Collection Improvement Act is supported by more than 85 consumer, civil rights, and small business organizations, including Americans for Financial Reform, Center for Responsible Lending, Color of Change, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, National Consumer Law Center, New York Taxi Workers Alliance, Public Citizen, Small Business Majority, and Student Borrower Protection Center. Mr. Speaker, you have heard the debate and the discussion on this bill today. My colleagues on the opposite side of the aisle have tried in their presentation to have the people listening to this debate believe that the bill would hurt consumers. That is absolutely not true. My friends on the opposite side of the aisle seem more interested in protecting the debt collectors. As I mentioned, we are still in the midst of a pandemic. Many of our consumers have been laid off from their jobs. Some businesses have closed down. Americans like to pay their bills. They want to pay their bills. If they cannot pay their bills, we should not have debt collectors who are harassing them, calling the commanders of servicemembers and threatening to have them penalized in some way, using all the different platforms to harass. One of the Members on the opposite side of the aisle tried to make us believe that somehow we are saying you can't use any of the platforms on the internet. We are not saying that. We are saying don't misuse them, don't abuse them. We are saying that this is about the Members of Congress who are sent here to represent their constituents being able to represent them at one of the most important times in this economy. I would ask all Members, despite what you have heard from the opposite side of the aisle, to rise to this occasion and show our consumers we care about them and do not want them to be harassed and abused. These predatory debt collectors must stop the way that they are harassing our consumers and work with them. They should be doing workouts. If you can't pay $50 a month, you can have a workout that says you can pay $10 a month or $15 a month on your debt. Of course, the predatory debt collectors can do this if they wish. One of the things you must understand is they have earned more in profits during this pandemic than any other time in recent years, so they are gouging, and they are harassing needlessly so. I would ask the Members of Congress to please join us and vote ``aye'' on this very important legislation. I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to section 3 of House Resolution 380, I offer amendments en bloc No. 1.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this set of amendments that will strengthen the protections in my bill, H.R. 2547, the Comprehensive Debt Collection Improvement Act. I thank Representatives Adams, Bonamici, Bowman, Bush, Cohen, Craig, Newman, Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, Payne, Ross, and Williams for their work on their amendments to improve the bill and provide additional protections for consumers. These amendments would create a Consumer Bill of Rights Against Abusive Debt Collection Practices, putting in plain language what debt collection protections and remedies a consumer has; require CFPB strategy to use their enforcement and other tools to combat abusive debt collection during the pandemic; study racial disparities in debt collection and develop solutions to address these disparities. Several amendments would also help students by providing private student loan borrowers with the same credit reporting protections that Federal student loan borrowers have during the pandemic; releasing cosigners in the event of the death of a private student loan borrower, regardless of when that debt occurred; studying practices and additional reforms to better protect private student loan borrowers. Finally, these amendments address new forms of communication specifically prohibiting debt collectors from harassing a consumer on social media, and studying electronic communications and developing recommendations to further protect consumers from harassment. Together, these amendments will protect our constituents from abusive debt collectors. So I urge Members to vote ``yes.'' Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Missouri (Ms. Bush).

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Bowman).

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. Craig).

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, these amendments offered by our colleagues make H.R. 2547 even stronger for our constituents who deserve to be treated fairly. I would like to again thank Representatives Adams, Bonamici, Bowman, Bush, Cohen, Craig, Newman, Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, Payne, Ross, and Williams for their work on these amendments to H.R. 2547. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support these amendments, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Auchincloss).

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the amendments offered by Representatives Luetkemeyer and Burgess. Representative Burgess' amendment does not provide any new protections for low-income consumers or consumers with no credit or poor credit history. Instead, this is an attempt to prevent my bill, H.R. 2547, from being implemented at all. Under the guise of a certification standard, Mr. Burgess' amendment would create a legal loophole for unscrupulous debt collectors to challenge and potentially block not just some, but all of the protections included in this bill for servicemembers, student borrowers, borrowers with a medical debt, and so many more. This is not a serious attempt to have low-income borrowers, it is an attempt to protect debt collectors who are making record profits during this pandemic. I do not support this poison pill amendment. Representative Luetkemeyer's amendment to study and delay misses the mark on what is needed to protect consumers from the harm of ongoing, unfair debt collection practices. Copious research has been shown that debt collection harassment and mistreatment have created undue stress and financial burdens on consumers, especially for low-income people, and in communities of color. My bill does not restrict debt collection, but rather ensures consumer protection for those who are facing harassment or other abusive tactics used by debt collectors. Millions of consumers are still struggling to make ends meet during this tragic public health pandemic. Instead of considering the amount of stress consumers feel when they get sick, need medical care, and face harassment from a debt collector, Mr. Luetkemeyer's amendment would commission a study and delay implementation of my bill by a full year. H.R. 2547 would already provide the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with a sensible 6-month implementation period, during which the Bureau can give all stakeholders guidance on how to comply. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose both of these amendments, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).