Al Franken: “I rise to discuss the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recently finalized rule to limit the use of predispute…”

“I rise to discuss the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recently finalized rule to limit the use of predispute, forced arbitration clauses in contracts for financial services and products. I strongly oppose the Congressional Review Act resolution to dismantle this vital consumer protection. Forced arbitration clauses force individuals to sign away their right to go to court as a condition of buying a product or a service, and they allow corporate America to take advantage of a shadow justice system that is inherently biased toward the corporation and offers no meaningful appeals process. To put it bluntly, these clauses serve one purpose and one purpose alone, to help make sure the giant corporations still come out on top if they have wronged consumers. Thankfully, we started to make some progress in addressing forced arbitration. Five years ago, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau began an intensive study of forced arbitration clauses in consumer financial services contracts for things like credit cards, savings accounts, and private student loans. The study confirmed that forced arbitration stacks the deck against consumers and in favor of powerful corporations. Of the 341 reviewed cases of forced arbitration in which consumers made claims against financial institutions, the CFPB found that consumers obtained relief in just 32 disputes. That is 32 out of 341--9 percent of the time.…”