Political Quotes

“Mr. President, at its very core, this amendment is about protecting consumers. It is about making sure the Federal Trade Commission has the authority to act in coordination with the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is created in the underlying bill. This amendment would equip the FTC to cover dangerous gaps in consumer protection and to go after dishonest, fly-by-night operators targeting our society's weakest members. In the Commerce Committee, we discovered those folks are frequent and everywhere. For nearly 100 years, the FTC has been protecting consumers in the gray areas where other regulatory bodies have failed to act. This amendment will make sure the situation of the FTC and its ability to act does not change. Since 1914, the Federal Trade Commission has served the American public as our preeminent consumer watchdog. The Commission's core consumer protection mission is to enforce and regulate against ``unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting interstate commerce.'' This broad prohibition is at the heart of the FTC's underlying authority under its authorizing statute, the Federal Trade Commission Act. This bipartisan amendment is very simple. It is a savings clause. That is really all it is. It fully preserves the FTC's enforcement and regulatory authority under the FTC Act as it is today. The underlying bill creates a new consumer protection bureau within the Federal Reserve, and I fully support that effort.…”