Political Quotes

“first let me just say I do rise in strong support of the Waters amendment to protect Californians', Californians' mind you, financial privacy laws and identity theft provisions. I applaud my colleague from California for her leadership on this issue, for identifying a mistake that was made, and really for just trying to correct it in a very rational way. That is what this amendment does. It corrects a mistake that was made. This bill is a bipartisan bill. We all wanted to support it; but coming from California, the gentlewoman has figured out a way that we should support this, and it would be a win-win for all of us. The FTC, Mr. Chairman, reported on September 3 that 27.3 million Americans have been victims of identity theft in the last 5 years, including 9.91 million people, or 4.6 percent of the population in the last year alone. Now, these are epidemic levels, and we must do everything we can do to prevent identity theft and to help the victims of this horrendous crime. That is why this amendment is so important. It would preserve very important California laws on identity theft. These are California laws. Let us be clear. If we do not adopt the Waters amendment today, Californians will lose vital identity theft provisions currently provided in California law. Victims of identity theft will lose the right to a free monthly credit report.”