National Consumer Protection Week, 2024, 15949-15951 [2024-04876]

Agencies

• Executive Office of the President

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 6, 2024)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 15949-15951]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-04876]




                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 89 , No. 45 / Wednesday, March 6, 2024 / 
Presidential Documents

___________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President

[[Page 15949]]

                Proclamation 10707 of March 1, 2024

                
National Consumer Protection Week, 2024

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                As my Administration continues to build an economy that 
                works for everyone, we cannot let fraud, cybercrimes, 
                or unfair business practices interrupt the progress we 
                have made. During National Consumer Protection Week, we 
                recommit to protecting the rights of consumers and 
                spreading awareness about the resources people have to 
                defend themselves from predatory acts.

                Since I took office, we have made enormous progress in 
                building an economy from the middle out and the bottom 
                up. To date, we have created nearly 15 million jobs, 
                driven stable economic growth, and brought down 
                inflation by two-thirds from its peak. Still, I know we 
                have more work to do to protect the progress we have 
                made by defending American consumers from unfair 
                business practices.

                In my first year in office, I issued an Executive Order 
                on Promoting Competition in the American Economy, which 
                directs and encourages Federal agencies to find ways to 
                address powerful corporations' use of their market 
                dominance to inflate prices of consumer goods and 
                services. These corporations are also decreasing the 
                quality of goods and services, deterring innovation, 
                and limiting job mobility. Since then, agencies across 
                the Federal Government have taken decisive action to 
                encourage competition and lower costs for American 
                households.

                The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade 
                Commission (FTC) are cracking down on anticompetitive 
                mergers, price fixing and price gouging, and other 
                unfair practices that harm consumers. The Department of 
                Agriculture has joined the effort to enforce antitrust 
                and consumer protection laws in food and agriculture, 
                which not only protect American families but farmers as 
                well. At the same time, the FTC is working on a rule 
                that would, if finalized as proposed, put an end to 
                noncompete agreements, which restrict 30 million 
                workers from switching jobs, even if they have 
                opportunities that offer better pay and benefits. The 
                FTC is also engaged in a rulemaking that proposes to 
                require that companies make it as easy to cancel an 
                online enrollment as it was to sign up so you are not 
                left paying unwanted subscription fees because of a 
                difficult cancellation process. The FTC is working with 
                law enforcement to counter predatory student loan 
                scams, mortgage scams, and identity theft.

                My Administration is fighting to eliminate hidden junk 
                fees that some banks, airlines, health care companies, 
                and other organizations use to rip off their customers. 
                Since 2021, 15 of the 20 largest banks have responded 
                to my call to stop charging customers for bounced 
                checks and reduce overdraft fees, saving Americans $5.5 
                billion annually in eliminated junk fees. The Consumer 
                Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has proposed a rule 
                that will slash credit card late fees from an average 
                of $31 when I took office to a new cap of $8, which 
                will save Americans more than $9 billion annually. The 
                CFPB is also taking steps to cut the average overdraft 
                fee by more than half, down from its typical amount of 
                over $30, a move that would save $150 per year for the 
                more than 20 million households that pay these fees. 
                The CFPB has also banned banks and credit unions from 
                charging fees for basic services, like checking an 
                account balance

[[Page 15950]]

                or retrieving old bank records. In addition, it has 
                proposed a new rule that would make it easier for 
                customers to switch banks, encouraging them to compete 
                for customers based on the quality of their services.

                The Department of Labor proposed a new rule that would, 
                if finalized as proposed, minimize junk fees in 
                retirement products by requiring financial advisers to 
                provide retirement advice in the best interest of the 
                saver. The Department of Health and Human Services and 
                the Department of the Treasury have proposed a rule 
                that would protect Americans from getting ripped off by 
                health plans offering junk insurance that discriminate 
                based on pre-existing conditions and trick consumers 
                into buying insurance that provides little or no 
                coverage when they need it most. Further, the 
                Department of Transportation has challenged airlines to 
                improve unfair business practices. Some airlines have 
                already responded by eliminating fees that charge 
                parents just to sit next to their child on a plane. 
                Many have also begun guaranteeing free rebooking and 
                reimbursement for hotels, meals, and ground 
                transportation if a flight cancellation or delay is the 
                airline's fault. Just last year, we saw the lowest rate 
                of flight cancellations in a decade.

                The FTC has enhanced its translation resources to make 
                it easier for consumers to submit fraud reports and 
                learn how to spot and avoid scams in languages other 
                than English. Meanwhile, we are continuing to work with 
                partners across the Government and in our communities 
                to amplify and expand language access for consumers. 
                Last year, the FTC proposed a rule that would ban 
                hidden fees across the economy and require all 
                companies to show consumers the all-in pricing of 
                products upfront.

                The American people should never be played like 
                suckers. It is up to each of us to protect one another 
                from harmful anticompetitive business practices. This 
                National Consumer Protection Week, I encourage every 
                American to visit consumer.ftc.gov to learn more about 
                the resources available to defend the rights of 
                consumers. I also encourage people to report cases of 
                suspected fraud, issues with a consumer financial 
                product, aggressive debt collection, inaccurate credit 
                reporting, or unfair medical billing and other issues 
                by visiting consumerfinance.gov/complaint online.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of 
                the United States of America, by virtue of the 
                authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws 
                of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 3, 2024, 
                through March 9, 2024, as National Consumer Protection 
                Week. I call upon government officials, industry 
                leaders, and advocates across the Nation to share 
                information about consumer protection and provide our 
                citizens with information about their rights as 
                consumers.

[[Page 15951]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                first day of March, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                eighth.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2024-04876
Filed 3-5-24; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F4-P