I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4328 
To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to protect certain consumers affected 
by a shutdown, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 
Ms. WATERS (for herself, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. WEXTON, and Mr. 
GARCI´A of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to protect certain 
consumers affected by a shutdown, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Innocent 
Consumers Affected by a Shutdown Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF EMPLOYEE AFFECTED BY A SHUT-
DOWN. 
Section 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 
U.S.C. 1681a), as amended by section 302(b)(1) of the 
Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Pro-
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process for a consumer to self-certify as an employee 
affected by a shutdown under section 630.’’. 
SEC. 5. DATABASE AND SELF-CERTIFICATION FOR EMPLOY-
EES AFFECTED BY A SHUTDOWN. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Fair Credit Reporting Act 
(15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new section: 
‘‘§ 630. Database and self-certification for employees 
affected by a shutdown 
‘‘(a) DATABASE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to each shut-
down, the consumer reporting agencies described in 
section 603(p) shall jointly establish a database that 
includes employees affected by the shutdown as re-
ported pursuant to paragraph (2). 
‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF DATABASE.— 
‘‘(A) FURLOUGHED EMPLOYEES AND CON-
TRACTORS.—Each authority of the executive, 
legislative, or judicial branch of the Federal 
Government or District of Columbia shall pro-
vide to the consumer reporting agencies de-
scribed in section 603(p) a list identifying— 
‘‘(i) employees of such authority that 
are furloughed, excepted from furlough, or 
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not receiving pay because of a shutdown; 
and 
‘‘(ii) to the extent practicable, employ-
ees of contractors of such authority. 
‘‘(B) 
SELF-CERTIFIED
CONSUMERS.—A 
consumer that self-certifies as an employee af-
fected by a shutdown pursuant to subsection 
(b) shall be included in the database, unless the 
Bureau determines such consumer is not an 
employee affected by a shutdown. 
‘‘(3) ACCESS TO DATABASE.—The consumer re-
porting agencies described in section 603(p) shall 
make the database established under this subsection 
available to the Bureau, other consumer reporting 
agencies, furnishers of information to consumer re-
porting agencies, and users of consumer reports. A 
consumer reporting agency described in section 
603(x) shall periodically access the database to con-
firm the accuracy of information such an agency has 
that identifies a consumer as an employee affected 
by a shutdown. 
‘‘(b) SELF-CERTIFICATION PROCESS.—A consumer 
shall be deemed to be an employee affected by a shutdown 
if such consumer self-certifies through— 
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‘‘(1) the website established under subsection 
(c); or 
‘‘(2) a toll-free telephone number established by 
a consumer reporting agency. 
‘‘(c) WEBSITE.—The consumer reporting agencies 
described in section 603(p) shall jointly establish a website 
for a consumer to self-certify as an employee affected by 
a shutdown. Such website may not include any advertise-
ment or other solicitation.’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The table 
of contents of the Fair Credit Reporting Act is amended 
by adding at the end the following new item: 
‘‘630. Database and self-certification for employees affected by a shutdown.’’. 
SEC. 6. PROHIBITION ON ADVERSE ACTIONS AGAINST EM-
PLOYEES AFFECTED BY A SHUTDOWN. 
Section 604 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 
U.S.C. 1681b) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(h) PROHIBITION ON ADVERSE ACTIONS AGAINST 
EMPLOYEES AFFECTED BY A SHUTDOWN.—If a user of 
a consumer report knows that a consumer is an employee 
affected by a shutdown, such user may not take an adverse 
action based on— 
‘‘(1) any adverse item of information contained 
in such report with respect to an action or inaction 
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taken during a covered shutdown period by the em-
ployee; or 
‘‘(2) information on the consumer included in 
the database established under section 630.’’. 
SEC. 7. BUREAU REGULATIONS OR GUIDANCE. 
Not later than 30 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Pro-
tection shall issue rules or guidance, as appropriate, to 
carry out the requirements of this Act. 
Æ 
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