Congress has already banned forced arbitration in mortgage contracts and in lending for armed services members and their families. Both steps “have been enormously beneficial to consumers,” Bland said.
At the end of the day, “consumers—not corporations—should be able to decide whether they want to go through the public court system, through mediation, or through arbitration,” Chairman Brown said at the hearing.
Among the co-sponsors of the Senate bill were Democrats Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey of Massachusetts, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Alex Padilla of California, Ron Wyden of Oregon, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York. Vermont independent Bernie Sanders is also a co-sponsor.