The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS” mentioning Tim Scott was published in the Senate section on pages S4902-S4904 on July 14.
Of the 100 senators in 117th Congress, 24 percent were women, and 76 percent were men, according to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Senators' salaries are historically higher than the median US income.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mr. KAINE (for himself, Mr. Casey, Ms. Hassan, Ms. Duckworth,
Mr. Reed, Mr. Wyden, Mrs. Gillibrand, and Ms. Rosen):
S. 2344. A bill to award grants for the creation, recruitment, training and education, retention, and advancement of the direct care workforce and to award grants to support family caregivers; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Mr. KAINE. Mr. President. With a growing number of older adults and people with disabilities in the U.S., our Nation is becoming increasingly reliant on the direct care workforce and family caregivers who support older adults and people with disabilities. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this need.
The direct care workforce, such as direct support workers, home care workers, personal care workers or other paid workers who support older adults and people with disabilities in their homes and communities, has long experienced staffing shortages in part because of low wages and high turnover. Currently, 4.5 million workers--including nearly 2.3 million home care workers--make up the direct care workforce, and this industry is expected to grow by more than a million jobs by 2028, not including the jobs that will need to be filled as existing workers leave the field or exit the labor force. The shortage of direct care workers often puts pressure on family caregivers. The number of American caregivers providing unpaid caregiving has increased over the past 5 years, and 23 percent of caregivers say that caregiving has made their health worse.
Today, I am pleased to introduce the Supporting Our Direct Care Workforce and Family Caregivers Act along with my colleagues Senators Bob Casey, Maggie Hassan, Tammy Duckworth, Jack Reed, Ron Wyden, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Jacky Rosen. Our legislation would direct the Department of Health and Human Services, through the Administration on Community Living (ACL), to award grants to states or other eligible entities for initiatives to build, retain, train and educate, and promote the direct care workforce, including self-directed workers and direct care supervisors or managers, and to provide education and training support for family caregivers to help ease stresses associated with caregiving. Grants could be used for preapprenticeship and on-the-
job training opportunities, apprenticeship programs, career ladders or pathways, specializations or certification or other activities to recruit and retain direct care professionals in the field. Additionally, the bill creates a technical assistance center at ACL to bolster coordination across Federal agencies, provide consultation to States, and make policy recommendations to support the direct care workforce and family caregivers.
The bill aligns with President Biden's American Jobs Plan, which calls for substantial investments to meet the demand for home and community-based services and invests in our country's care infrastructure. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to see the Supporting Our Direct Care Workforce and Family Caregivers Act as an opportunity to invest in the direct care workforce and family caregivers--both critical pieces of the care team who provide support for millions of Americans every day, ensuring they can live their lives independently and with dignity.
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By Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina (for himself and Mrs. Shaheen):
S. 2348. A bill to establish within the Office of Entrepreneurial Development of the Small Business Administration a training curriculum relating to businesses owned by older individuals, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina. Mr. President, American entrepreneurship and innovation is the backbone of the American economy. American entrepreneurs provide new job opportunities for millions, bring new technologies to the marketplace, and drive forward our shared American Dream. Small businesses account for half of our gross domestic product, more than half our jobs, and three-fourths of new jobs created each year. Contrary to popular belief, not all of America's entrepreneurs are young tech-focused individuals starting companies in their garages.
In fact, millions of older Americans represent a powerful and growing share of American entrepreneurs. Today, the average age of successful entrepreneurs in America is 45, and in 2018, 3 in 10 entrepreneurs were over the age of 50, an increase of 50 percent since 2007. Today, entrepreneurs ages 55 and over represent 55 percent of all small business employers. Not only do seniors represent the majority of small business employers, but their life experiences help drive their businesses to the top 0.1 percent of the highest growth startups in the country based on growth in the first 5 years of operation.
In my conversations with older entrepreneurs in South Carolina. I have learned how they combine their years of experience, networks. and dreams to start countless successful small businesses. I have also learned that older entrepreneurs often face unique challenges in today's economy. Those challenges include the need for enhanced digital and technical skills. mentorship opportunities, business growth and hiring training; along with resources for estate and retirement planning for their businesses. These obstacles can prevent small businesses owned by older Americans from reaching their full growth potential. This untapped business growth potential leaves capital on the sidelines and slows innovation and job creation.
That is why today I am introducing the Golden-preneurship Act. The Golden-preneurship Act would take a meaningful step in helping catapult senior-owned small businesses into the next level of success by establishing a new training program for ``Golden Entrepreneurs'' at the Small Business Administration. The newly developed ``Golden Entrepreneurs'' training program would equip proven senior entrepreneurs with the necessary tools to increase their business's market share and help bring jobs and capital to communities around the country. ``Golden Entrepreneurs'' would be a 7-month training program with two years of benchmark check-ins to fill the market gap and bridge the knowledge divide in digital and technical skills, business growth and hiring training, estate and retirement business planning, and provide new mentorship opportunities. The Golden-preneurship Act also requires the Small Business Administration to track the loans and grants provided to older Americans, valuable information we need to ensure America's older entrepreneurs are receiving the help they need.
With the Golden-preneurship Act we will ensure that today's Golden Entrepreneurs have the tools and resources to create tomorrow's jobs, new technologies, and opportunities.
Thank you.
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By Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Blumenthal, and Mr.
Whitehouse):
S. 2349. A bill to amend the Truth in Lending Act to establish a national usury rate for consumer credit transactions; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:
S. 2349
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Consumers from Unreasonable Credit Rates Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) attempts have been made to prohibit usurious interest rates in America since colonial times;
(2) at the Federal level, in 2006, Congress enacted a Federal 36-percent annualized usury cap for servicemembers and their families for covered credit products, as defined by the Department of Defense, which curbed payday, car title, and tax refund lending around military bases;
(3) notwithstanding such attempts to curb predatory lending, high-cost lending persists in all 50 States due to loopholes in State laws, safe harbor laws for specific forms of credit, and the exportation of unregulated interest rates permitted by preemption;
(4) due to the lack of a comprehensive Federal usury cap, consumers have paid as much as approximately $14,000,000,000 on high-cost overdraft loans, $9,000,000,000 on storefront and online payday loans, $3,800,000,000 on car title loans, and additional amounts in unreported revenues on high-cost online installment loans;
(5) cash-strapped consumers pay on average approximately 400-percent annual interest for payday loans, 300-percent annual interest for car title loans, 17,000 percent for bank overdraft loans, and triple-digit rates for online installment loans;
(6) a national maximum interest rate that includes all forms of fees and closes all loopholes is necessary to eliminate such predatory lending; and
(7) alternatives to predatory lending that encourage small dollar loans with minimal or no fees, installment payment schedules, and affordable repayment periods should be encouraged.
SEC. 3. NATIONAL MAXIMUM INTEREST RATE.
Chapter 2 of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1631 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 140B. MAXIMUM RATES OF INTEREST.
``(a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no creditor may make an extension of credit to a consumer with respect to which the fee and interest rate, as defined in subsection (b), exceeds 36 percent.
``(b) Fee and Interest Rate Defined.--
``(1) In general.--For purposes of this section, the fee and interest rate includes all charges payable, directly or indirectly, incident to, ancillary to, or as a condition of the extension of credit, including--
``(A) any payment compensating a creditor or prospective creditor for--
``(i) an extension of credit or making available a line of credit, such as fees connected with credit extension or availability such as numerical periodic rates, annual fees, cash advance fees, and membership fees; or
``(ii) any fees for default or breach by a borrower of a condition upon which credit was extended, such as late fees, creditor-imposed not sufficient funds fees charged when a borrower tenders payment on a debt with a check drawn on insufficient funds, overdraft fees, and over limit fees;
``(B) all fees which constitute a finance charge, as defined by rules of the Bureau in accordance with this title;
``(C) credit insurance premiums, whether optional or required; and
``(D) all charges and costs for ancillary products sold in connection with or incidental to the credit transaction.
``(2) Tolerances.--
``(A) In general.--With respect to a credit obligation that is payable in at least 3 fully amortizing installments over at least 90 days, the term `fee and interest rate' does not include--
``(i) application or participation fees that in total do not exceed the greater of $30 or, if there is a limit to the credit line, 5 percent of the credit limit, up to $120, if--
``(I) such fees are excludable from the finance charge pursuant to section 106 and regulations issued thereunder;
``(II) such fees cover all credit extended or renewed by the creditor for 12 months; and
``(III) the minimum amount of credit extended or available on a credit line is equal to $300 or more;
``(ii) a late fee charged as authorized by State law and by the agreement that does not exceed either $20 per late payment or $20 per month; or
``(iii) a creditor-imposed not sufficient funds fee charged when a borrower tenders payment on a debt with a check drawn on insufficient funds that does not exceed $15.
``(B) Adjustments for inflation.--The Bureau may adjust the amounts of the tolerances established under this paragraph for inflation over time, consistent with the primary goals of protecting consumers and ensuring that the 36-percent fee and interest rate limitation is not circumvented.
``(c) Calculations.--
``(1) Open end credit plans.--For an open end credit plan--
``(A) the fee and interest rate shall be calculated each month, based upon the sum of all fees and finance charges described in subsection (b) charged by the creditor during the preceding 1-year period, divided by the average daily balance; and
``(B) if the credit account has been open less than 1 year, the fee and interest rate shall be calculated based upon the total of all fees and finance charges described in subsection
(b)(1) charged by the creditor since the plan was opened, divided by the average daily balance, and multiplied by the quotient of 12 divided by the number of full months that the credit plan has been in existence.
``(2) Other credit plans.--For purposes of this section, in calculating the fee and interest rate, the Bureau shall require the method of calculation of annual percentage rate specified in section 107(a)(1), except that the amount referred to in that section 107(a)(1) as the `finance charge' shall include all fees, charges, and payments described in subsection (b)(1) of this section.
``(3) Adjustments authorized.--The Bureau may make adjustments to the calculations in paragraphs (1) and (2), but the primary goals of such adjustment shall be to protect consumers and to ensure that the 36-percent fee and interest rate limitation is not circumvented.
``(d) Definition of Creditor.--As used in this section, the term `creditor' has the same meaning as in section 702(e) of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C. 1691a(e)).
``(e) No Exemptions Permitted.--The exemption authority of the Bureau under section 105 shall not apply to the rates established under this section or the disclosure requirements under section 127(b)(6).
``(f) Disclosure of Fee and Interest Rate for Credit Other Than Open End Credit Plans.--In addition to the disclosure requirements under section 127(b)(6), the Bureau may prescribe regulations requiring disclosure of the fee and interest rate established under this section.
``(g) Relation to State Law.--Nothing in this section may be construed to preempt any provision of State law that provides greater protection to consumers than is provided in this section.
``(h) Civil Liability and Enforcement.--In addition to remedies available to the consumer under section 130(a), any payment compensating a creditor or prospective creditor, to the extent that such payment is a transaction made in violation of this section, shall be null and void, and not enforceable by any party in any court or alternative dispute resolution forum, and the creditor or any subsequent holder of the obligation shall promptly return to the consumer any principal, interest, charges, and fees, and any security interest associated with such transaction. Notwithstanding any statute of limitations or repose, a violation of this section may be raised as a matter of defense by recoupment or setoff to an action to collect such debt or repossess related security at any time.
``(i) Violations.--Any person that violates this section, or seeks to enforce an agreement made in violation of this section, shall be subject to, for each such violation, 1 year in prison and a fine in an amount equal to the greater of--
``(1) three times the amount of the total accrued debt associated with the subject transaction; or
``(2) $50,000.
``(j) State Attorneys General.--An action to enforce this section may be brought by the appropriate State attorney general in any United States district court or any other court of competent jurisdiction within 3 years from the date of the violation, and such attorney general may obtain injunctive relief.''.
SEC. 4. DISCLOSURE OF FEE AND INTEREST RATE FOR OPEN END
CREDIT PLANS.
Section 127(b)(6) of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1637(b)(6)) is amended by striking ``the total finance charge expressed'' and all that follows through the end of the paragraph and inserting ``the fee and interest rate, displayed as `FAIR', established under section 141.''.
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