On the recordMay 5, 2010
I rise today to speak about a bipartisan amendment which Senator Lugar and I have filed based on our bill, the Fair Access to Credit Scores Act of 2010. This amendment is cosponsored by 17 of our colleagues from both sides of the aisle, which I have to say is a rare bipartisan piece of legislation. Our amendment corrects one of the fundamental inequities in our financial system by giving Americans free annual access to their credit score. The problem is that most people have been misled to believe that people have access to a free credit score, but that simply is not true. They only have access to their report. A credit report tells consumers what outstanding credit accounts they have open, such as student loans or credit cards, perhaps a car or home loan. Unfortunately, it tells Americans little else. On the other hand, your credit score, which our legislation makes available, has the critical information consumers need to know. This score is the very first point of entry into our entire financial system which rates each and every one of us.
