EPC Praises Congressman Ted Budd’s Floor Speech in Favor of Durbin Amendment Repeal
The Electronic Payments Coalition (EPC) today praised Rep. Ted Budd’s (R-NC) remarks on the House floor calling for repeal of the Durbin amendment. Rep. Budd was a retailer before his election to Congress.
“Rep. Budd proved once again today that he is an individual willing to stand up for free market principles and consumers,” said Molly Wilkinson, executive director of EPC. “The congressman highlighted the fact that big box merchants have broken their promises, keeping nearly $42 billion in savings from the Durbin amendment that they had promised to the American people, and harming community financial institutions in the process.”
The congressman’s comments are backed up by 11 studies that prove that retailers did not pass on their savings from the Durbin amendment. These studies outline the other harmful effects of the provision, including the loss of free checking accounts and the erosion of interchange revenues at credit unions and community banks. Retailers, meanwhile, have provided no evidence of their Durbin amendment claims.
“The congressman made it clear that the Durbin amendment is unnecessary, and harmful, and violates free market principles,” said Wilkinson. “By voting two times in two separate Congresses for a CHOICE Act that includes full repeal of the Durbin amendment, the House Financial Services Committee sent a clear message to their colleagues: it’s time to end overregulation of interchange.”
Section 735 of H.R. 10, the Financial CHOICE Act, includes the repeal of the Durbin amendment. The House Financial Services Committee passed the bill on May 4 on a 34-26 vote. The committee passed the same bill in September 2016 in the 114th Congress.
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To watch his full remarks, click here.