December 21, 2023

ICYMI: In New Op-Ed, Brown Highlights the CFPB as Servicemembers’ and Veterans’ Key Defender Against Fraud and Scams

WASHINGTON, D.C. –In Case You Missed It: U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chair of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, published an op-ed on Military.com promoting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the important work it does to protect veterans and servicemembers from fraud and scams. As the holiday season approaches, Brown emphasizes the sacrifices military families make during this time of year, and the unique financial challenges they face which make them vulnerable to fraud and scams. 

“On top of the work service members and families do and the sacrifices they make, they have the added trouble of watching out for fraudsters, identity thieves, predatory lenders, and negligent credit reporting agencies. This costs members of our military money – and it could cost them their careers. For many servicemembers, a bad mark on the credit report, means that they could lose their security clearance and their job,” said Brown. “Military families don’t have high-priced lobbyists. They don’t have corporate lawyers. It’s our job to fight for them and protect the CFPB—during the holiday season when they might be serving our country overseas, and every day.”

Head of Veterans’ Day in November, Brown chaired a hearing highlighting the work the CFPB does to help veterans and servicemembers. 

Read the entire piece here and below:

When most Americans look at servicemembers they see them as the patriots and public servants that they are. 

Sadly, when shady companies see our servicemembers, they see an opportunity to make a quick buck. It’s as reprehensible as it is cynical.

That’s why in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, my colleagues and I passed legislation to create an agency that stands up to predatory special interests. Protecting servicemembers and veterans is one of the most important things the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) does. In fact, when we created the CFPB, we made sure it included a dedicated Office of Servicemembers Affairs.

Every year, tens of thousands of servicemembers go to the CFPB seeking assistance or reporting a complaint—and the CFPB goes to bat for them, working to get their money back or fix the problem.

Protecting the CFPB is vital to protecting military families from corporate abuse—which is exactly why Wall Street and powerful special interests are trying everything they can to destroy the CFPB.

The CFPB is under attack.  These corporate interests have made it clear that they will not clean up their act on their own—and they will fight anyone who tries to make them. They’ve used every tactic they can think of to try stop the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s work – everything from trying to remove its director to frivolous lawsuits to wrongly calling it unconstitutional. 

There is no other federal agency with this level of responsiveness, efficiency, and ability to take on greedy corporations and shady lenders.

It’s how the CFPB has returned more than $175 million to servicemembers and veterans.

On top of the work service members and families do and the sacrifices they make, they have the added trouble of watching out for fraudsters, identity thieves, predatory lenders, and negligent credit reporting agencies.

This costs members of our military money – and it could cost them their careers. For many servicemembers, a bad mark on the credit report, means that they could lose their security clearance and their job. In fact, 80 percent of security clearance revocations are related to financial difficulties.

The holiday season is upon us. Soon we’ll be gathered with our families, baking cookies, and giving gifts to loved ones.

But for many serving in our nation’s military, the holidays will be spent apart this year—one of the many sacrifices they make to protect our country. 

All military families know that comes with the job.

Military families don’t have high-priced lobbyists. They don’t have corporate lawyers. It’s our job to fight for them and protect the CFPB—during the holiday season when they might be serving our country overseas, and every day.

Sherrod Brown is the senior U.S. Senator from Ohio. He chairs the Senate Banking and Housing Committee and is a senior member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee.

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