Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise to speak about my interchange fee amendment that was incorporated into the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. There are some important aspects of the amendment that I want to clarify for the record. First, it is important to note that while this amendment will bring much-needed reform to the credit card and debit card industries, in no way should enactment of this amendment be construed as preempting other crucial steps that must be taken to bring competition and fairness to those industries. For example, a key component of the Senate-passed version of my amendment was a provision that would prohibit payment card networks from blocking merchants from offering a discount for customers who use a competing card network. This provision was unfortunately left out of the final conference report, but the need for this provision remains undiminished. It is blatantly anticompetitive for one company to prohibit its customers from offering a discounted price for a competitor's product, and I will continue to pursue steps to end this practice. Additionally, in no way should my amendment be construed as preempting or superseding scrutiny of the credit card and debit card industries under the antitrust laws. Section 6 of the Dodd-Frank act conference report contains an antitrust savings clause which provides that nothing in the act shall be construed to modify, impair, or supersede the operation of any of the antitrust laws.…”