Bob Dole: “ever since my days as Deputy Special Assistant to the President for Consumer Affairs in the Nixon administration…”

“ever since my days as Deputy Special Assistant to the President for Consumer Affairs in the Nixon administration, followed by 5 years on the Federal Trade Commission, consumer education has been a top priority, especially with regard to helping individuals protect their credit and improve their financial literacy. In fact, back in my days with the White House Consumer Office, we prepared an extensive manual called ``Consumer Education K through 12.'' I traveled the country and encouraged schools to use this material so that students could learn the importance of financial literacy at an early age. So this is truly an issue that is near and dear to my heart, and I am pleased that the Senate Banking Committee held a hearing just last week entitled, ``Shopping Smart and Avoiding Scams: Financial Literacy During the Holiday Season.'' As I said at that hearing, it is unfortunate that today there is a particularly harmful practice called identity theft, an all too prevalent problem we must continue to deal with.”