mr. speaker , i yield myself such time as i may consume . 
mr. speaker , this is the most special interest-vested bill that i have ever dealt with in my career in congress . 
it massively tilts the playing field in favor of banks and credit card companies and against working people and their families . 
i have never , ever faced such a piece of legislation . 
that explains to me why it took 8 years to get this thing up here , because they kept fixing it up , making it wrong . 
mr. speaker , all i want to say as we open this debate is that to those who assert that this bill cracks down on creditor abuse , i would ask them to realize that this bill does absolutely nothing to discourage abusive , underage lending ; nothing to discourage reckless lending to the developmentally disabled ; nothing to regulate the practice of sub-prime lending to persons with no means or little ability to repay their debts ; nothing to crack down on the sharks , the lenders , that charge members of the armed forces up to 500 percent interest per year or more . 
they hang around the bases and lure them in . 
what this is is something that we should all be truly embarrassed about . 
this bill is opposed by every consumer group , by all the bankruptcy judges , the trustees , law professors , by all of organized labor , by the military groups , by the civil rights organizations , and by every major group concerned about seniors , women , and children . 
please , if we do not do anything else in the 109th congress , let us not let this bill get out of the house of representatives . 
mr. speaker , i reserve the balance of my time . 
