WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-07) voted Wednesday in favor of the House-passed H.R. 1500, the Consumers First Act, to reverse the Trump Administration’s attempts to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). 

“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was created to level the playing field and protect the financial security of every American. The CFPB is responsible for returning nearly $12 billion to 30 million consumers – many of whom are seniors and servicemembers – who were harmed by financial institutions, but has been gutted by the Trump Administration,” Sewell said. “The CFPB must get back to work protecting Americans from unfair, deceptive or abusive financial practices. The Consumers First Act is a critically important step in ensuring the Bureau is fully empowered to carry out its mission.”

The Consumers First Act reverses the sweeping anti-consumer actions taken under the Trump Administration by restoring the CFPB’s supervisory and enforcement powers and increasing the transparency and accountability needed for the Bureau to carry out its important mission.

Among other provisions, the legislation would require the Bureau’s consumer complaint database to remain public; eliminate the director’s ability to limit the legal reach of its fair lending office, re-empowering the Bureau to fight discriminatory lending practices ; restore interest rate protections for active-duty servicemembers and their families; and establish an Office of Students and Young Consumers to help protect 44 million student loan borrowers against predatory practices in student lending.