Text of US HB 1488 (2011)

I 112TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1488 To amend the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to prohibit discrimination on account of sexual orientation or gender identity when extending credit. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 12, 2011 Mr. ISRAEL (for himself, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. ANDREWS, Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. BERKLEY, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. CAPUANO, Ms. CHU, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. CLAY, Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. FILNER, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. HOLT, Mr. HONDA, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, Mr. LUJA´N, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. MORAN, Mr. NADLER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PETERS, Ms. PINGREE of Maine, Mr. POLIS, Mr. QUIGLEY, Ms. RICHARDSON, Mr. ROTHMAN of New Jersey, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. SUTTON, Mr. STARK, Mr. TOWNS, Ms. TSONGAS, Mr. WAXMAN, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. ENGEL, and Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To amend the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to prohibit discrimination on account of sexual orientation or gender identity when extending credit. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Mar 15 2010 23:40 Apr 13, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1488.IH H1488 pwalker on DSKD5P82C1PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1488 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Freedom from Dis- 2 crimination in Credit Act of 2011’’. 3 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION AGAINST DISCRIMINATION ON AC- 4 COUNT OF SEXUAL ORIENTATION OR GEN- 5 DER IDENTITY. 6 Subsection (a)(1) of section 701 of the Equal Credit 7 Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C. 1691) is amended— 8 (1) by striking ‘‘on the basis of race, color, reli- 9 gion, national origin, sex or marital status,’’; and 10 (2) by inserting ‘‘on the basis of race, color, re- 11 ligion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender 12 identity, or marital status,’’. 13 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 14 Section 702 of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (15 15 U.S.C. 1691a) is amended— 16 (1) by striking subsections (f) and (g); and 17 (2) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol- 18 lowing new subsections: 19 ‘‘(f) The term ‘gender identity’ means the gender-re- 20 lated identity, appearance, or mannerisms or other gen- 21 der-related characteristics of an individual, with or with- 22 out regard to the individual’s designated sex at birth. 23 ‘‘(g) The term ‘person’ means a natural person, a 24 corporation, government or governmental subdivision or 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 23:40 Apr 13, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1488.IH H1488 pwalker on DSKD5P82C1PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1488 IH agency, trust, estate, partnership, cooperative, or associa- 1 tion. 2 ‘‘(h) The term ‘sexual orientation’ means homosex- 3 uality, heterosexuality, or bisexuality. 4 ‘‘(i) Any reference to any requirement imposed under 5 this title or any provision of this title shall be deemed to 6 include a reference to the regulations of the Board under 7 this title or the provision of this title in question.’’. 8 Æ VerDate Mar 15 2010 23:40 Apr 13, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1488.IH H1488 pwalker on DSKD5P82C1PROD with BILLS