Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd said he intends to tuck four major consumer protection initiatives generally opposed by the banking industry into an economic stimulus package Congress plans to tackle in a lame duck session after the election.
At a press conference Tuesday, the Connecticut Democrat said he plans to offer legislation to address mortgage bankruptcy reform, clamp-down on credit card practices, prevent predatory lending, and call for a 90-day foreclosure moratorium.
Though Sen. Dodd praised the Treasury Department's decision to inject capital into institutions, he criticized the Bush administration for failing to do enough to protect homeowners from foreclosure or to offer relief to consumers.
"Unless we get to the bottom of the foreclosure problem this will persist," he said. "Any effort to talk about the American financial system without also addressing the American consumer is lopsided and not going to work. There are steps that are needed as well to protect the American consumer."
