Financial Protections
We are still recovering from the most severe financial crisis since the Great Depression. Home values crashed, savings accounts shrank, millions of jobs were lost or eliminated, and access to credit became nonexistent. Many Americans were left with loans they were unable to afford based on misleading promises of low payments that ballooned at the worst possible time. This was the result of Wall Street greed, deregulation, and the failure of federal regulators to act in the interests of consumers.
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which passed in 2010, overhauled the financial industry and reined in Wall Street abuses. It included my amendment to protect seniors from abusive terms in reverse mortgages.
In order to ensure basic consumer protections and clear disclosure of relevant loan or other consumer financial information, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act also included a provision to establish a national watchdog of the financial industry. I supported the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from the beginning because I believe that the safety of financial products is as important as the safety of any consumer good. Finally, consumers have a single place where they can go to for help with credit cards, mortgages, student loans, and other financial products.
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WASHINGTON— Today, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), a Senior Chief Deputy Whip and Chair of the Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, introduced the Franchisee Freedom Act. This legislation ensures that small business owners who enter into franchise agreements with big corporations will be afforded the opportunity to address claims against the franchisor, putting them on a level playing field.
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, the House passed legislation by Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Chair of the Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee, and Congressman Tony Cárdenas (CA-29), Vice-Chair of the Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee, to restore the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) 13(b) consumer protection powers to return money to defrauded consumers.
WASHINGTON - Today, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, a Senior Chief Deputy Whip and Chair of the Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee, announced the introduction of a package of legislation to address serious problems that have emerged during the COVID-19 crisis.
EVANSTON – Today, House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce Chair Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law Chairman David N. Cicilline (D-RI), Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) introduced the COVID-19 Price Gouging Prevention Act to protect American consumers from price gouging during the COVID-19 pandemic.
EVANSTON - Today, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), a Senior Chief Deputy Whip and Chair of the Energy and Commerce Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee; Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Chair of the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee; Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Chair of the House Appropriations Committee; and, Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee reintroduced legislation to strengthen oversight of federal funds invested in COVID-19 research and development, and to protect patients from being price-gouged on CO
EVANSTON – Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, a Senior Chief Deputy Whip, released the following statement on her reappointment as Chairwoman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce's Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee:
"I'm honored to have been selected by my colleagues to serve a second term as chair the Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee. Consumer protection is what drew me to public life, and I will continue to focus on the safety of products our families, especially our children, use every day.
WASHINGTON – On Monday, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), a Senior Chief Deputy Whip, and Chair of the Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee, voted for legislation to provide relief to families and small businesses struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic. The legislation passed also includes comprehensive funding language to keep the federal government in operation through the 2021 fiscal year.
Today, the full House considered bills that I ushered through my subcommittee, the Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee (CPCS).
WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, Chair of the Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, cheered the passage of seven bills out of the full Energy and Commerce Committee which had moved through her subcommittee. The legislative bills deal with artificial intelligence, senior and pandemic scams, and consumer product safety.
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, Chair of the Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee, and Senator Richard Blumenthal, Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Manufacturing, Trade, and Consumer Protection, subcommittees with oversight over the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), urged that action be taken to protect consumers turning to Google for answers concerning their Economic Impact Payments from the IRS, following the release of a